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THE Autumn 2004 issue of Your
Cheshire - a 12-page publication sent by Cheshire County Council
to all residents of the county - contains an article on the back page about two
awards won by Nantwich's Thomas Fairfax Bridge (below). 
What a pity that controversy is still raging over an, as yet, unopened link road
(below) that uses
this ground-breaking bridge over the River Weaver! At the moment all anyone can
do is look at the crossing point. The bridge can be seen in the distance in the
picture above.
The bridge was named after Sir Thomas Fairfax, the man who led forces to lift a
siege of the town in 1644 during the English Civil War. It was constructed more
than a year ago to carry traffic to a new housing development on Kingsley
Fields, but it has remained unused ever since because of a dispute between
Cheshire County Council and the developers, Bellway Homes.
According to a recent edition of The Nantwich Chronicle a meeting between the two parties
was taking place "in a bid to speed up the opening of the bridge."
County Councillor Arthur Moran, who represents Nantwich on that august body,
and who, as the then Chairman of Nantwich Town Council, opened the bridge, was quoted as
saying: "The delay over the opening is absolutely ridiculous."
The county council is apparently saying the housing estate developers are to
blame for the delay, while Bellway Homes are saying it is the council's fault.
The bridge carries a road that will eventually link the town's High Street (and
another bridge) to the housing development, and to accommodate this, the traffic
lights at the junction of the link road, High Street, Welsh Row and the
Waterlode (of which the link road is a continuation) have been altered so that
each of the four roads in turn get right of way. This had led to long delays for
traffic in the area.
Not that that is entirely a waste of time. The short section of road up to where
the wire fence blocks the road leads to one of the t own's car parks, but I
suppose it is a question of whether the road-by-road phasing is necessary just
yet when there are not so many vehicles needing access to the car park as
there will be using the link road when it is opened.
Residents of the housing development are not, of course, trapped in their homes.
The link road - which is but one half of the inner ring road -
has a second access near to Malbank School at the far end of Welsh Row from
where they can travel towards Chester or come into town and join the traffic
queues . . .
County Councillor Moran was assured the road over the bridge would be opened
"in a matter of weeks" - but that was 15 months ago.
The Chronicle quoted a Bellway Homes spokesman as saying (of the meeting):
"We are hopeful we will reach a compromise so that the road opens sooner
rather than later. There have been several amendments to the scheme over the
last 12 months and we will be discussing them with the county council to see who
is responsible for footing the bill."
On the other hand, Cheshire County Council said: "It is a private road that
belongs to Bellway Homes at the moment and we will not adopt it and open it up
as a through road until we are satisfied it is safe."
Another Nantwich newspaper, the Guardian, said the outstanding work needed
before the council will adopt the road includes installing street lighting,
safety barriers and bollards and completing surfacing work. The "sticking
point", the paper said, is a wrangle over who will pay.
As I recall, it is the idea that heavy traffic will avoid Welsh Row, where there
are several historic buildings which suffer from vibrations when heavy vehicles
pass, and use the link road as part of their route through Nantwich. There is,
of course, an outer ring road a little further away from the town centre which
means that vehicles that have no reason to visit Nantwich can avoid us all
together.
So - to go back to the bridge - just what is it about it that led to the two
awards? Well, it was constructed on a
pre-fabricated basis, although it looks as through it was built brick by brick.
It was apparently brought to the site in several parts on a low-loader. The two
auxiliary arches (apart from the main one for the river) are used by
pedestrians, but are intended in time of flooding to be extra escapes routes for
the water.
Your Cheshire says the bridge "owes its grace to a
design spanning the centuries." (Nice pun!) It has won the Best North
West Small Structure award of the Institution of Structural Engineers, as
well as the top Merit Award of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
The bridge was designed by the county council's Engineering Service
"echoing themes of much older structures - but built using modern materials
and construction methods." But as long as the controversy
rolls on, the awards pale into insignificance.
Let's hope things can be sorted out quickly.
lUnfortunately,
the link road isn't the only controversy facing Bellway Homes at the moment.
They want to build two apartment blocks on a piece of land next to the housing
development. Neat, you might think. But this has upset
Nantwich Walled Garden
Society who is opposed to the idea because the land in question was once an
Elizabethan walled garden. The society wants it preserved as an attraction for
Nantwich people and tourists alike.
lReturn
to Letters Index page.
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DECEMBER 2004:
At last the inner link road is open! Traffic is now using the road from
Welsh Row bridge