Ovingham Bridge Safe but no replacement in sight

11.12.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 1st Oct 2005

At a meeting of Prudhoe Town Council on Wednesday 28th September 2005 an officer of the County Council came to speak to councillors on the situation regarding the Ovingham Bridge. He confirmed that the bridge is safe but that major works had to be done on the bridge to protect the foundations of the bridge. The costs of this work meant the money set aside for a major consultation on the future of the Ovingham / Prudhoe river link had to be allocated on this work, further postponing this important issue into the next financial Year. The officer confirmed that the bridge would need substantial investment over the next three years in the region of £600,000 and would be expensive to maintain. He ran through a number of options for an additional link, the only one of which that would increase capacity - a link road and bridge with the A69 was said to be likely to cost £20m. It was stated that the chances of this happening were low.

Lib Dem Cllr Neil Bradbury speaking at the meeting stated, "there is a crisis with the lack of capacity on the bridge. This shows what happens when you let a town grow but don't invest in infrastructure to match that growth." Commenting later he said "I say that it may take a long term campaign to get this bridge but if that is what it takes lets start the pressure early. Defeatism is not the answer. I hope the people of Prudhoe tell the people at County Hall loud and clear that the bridge at Ovingham is not acceptable as a link with the A69 and that the town needs a dedicated link avoiding the small villages on the other side of the Tyne."

The consultation will start in 2006 and the Liberal Democrats will keep you informed on the progress of this.