Pressure on council as bridges battle steps up gear

FRUSTRATION with Dumfries and Galloway Council was expressed at a meeting about the Annan Bridges last week. More than four years after the Cuthbertson Memorial and Diamond Jubilee pedestrian crossings collapsed in a freak storm, a community-led campaign to have them replaced has reached an impasse after the council said it would not adopt the bridges if reconstructed. Now, representatives of ‘Annan - A Tale of Two Bridges’ action group met Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell and South of Scotland MSP Craig Hoy to discuss the situation and their frustrations. The meeting was prompted by the refusal of the local authority to provide a vital letter of intent to maintain and carry out periodic checks on any replacement Annan River footbridges. This written commitment is seen as an essential to progress funding applications with potentially significant sources of funds for the project. Both parliamentarians signed a petition raised by the action group calling on the council to reconsider its position, allowing the bridges to progress. Mr Mundell said: “This bureaucratic blockage is sadly only too familiar to me with issues involving Dumfries and Galloway Council. “The lack of a ‘can do’ mentality amongst officials is especially irritating as I understand the local authority facilitated periodic inspections and repairs on the old bridges. “People would rightly expect that any new bridges, which would no doubt meet all high-spec modern standards, would be covered by warranties and not require a lot of maintenance work by the council in the early years.” Mr Hoy, Scottish Conservative candidate for Dumfriesshire, said: “I was pleased to give my support to the two bridges campaign and hope that all other candidates for the Holyrood election will also sign their petition.” You can sign the petition online HERE