I READ with interest Adrian Kibbler’s report on concerns among local residents regarding the proposed footbridge over the River Corve as part of the Bromfield Meadow housing development. It should perhaps be named ‘the bridge to nowhere’ as it serves no conceivable practical purpose.

The main areas of concern for residents of Fishmore View in particular are as follows: The bridge does not lead to any direct routes into town.

It does not lead to any schools or other facilities, other than a small play area.

It could in fact result in serious potential danger to young children on both estates. The bridge would cross not only the River Corve itself, but also run through an area subject to extensive severe flooding after heavy rain.

The small play area on the Fishmore View side of the river would not be in sight of parents’ homes on the new development, which surely would be a major worry for them.

The need for access to this from the development is particularly puzzling, as park facilities are included in the development plan for the estate.

Residents of Fishmore View also have concerns. The bridge would allow easier access to the open ground facing their houses which is already used occasionally by various dubious characters.

The obvious place for a bridge or subway is across the railway line on to Bromfield Road, leading to schools, the recreation centre and the direct route into town via Coronation Avenue.This will itself be costly, when such factors as charges for railway closure during construction are factored in. The footbridge over the River Corve would need to be an estimated 250 metres in length and 23 metres above the bed of the River Corve in order to span both the river, its slopes and the potential flood area. An extremely expensive outlay for a bridge which leads nowhere.

The overwhelming majority of local residents, 23 out of 27 surveyed, don’t want this bridge. I am reliably informed that the developers no longer want it.

And that in fact the only people who do want it are the officers of Shropshire Council planning department. We are entitled to know their reasoning, I would suggest.

Isn’t it time that, for once, the planners started to listen to what the people whose interests they are supposed to represent actually want?

JOHN BARRATT

Fishmore View

Ludlow