Dear Sirs,
I am slightly concerned by the nature of your 'investigation' in the recent edition of the Spurtle. You swallow entirely the council line that the bridge is flawed. Might it not have been politic to examine how the closure of this public footpath is to facilitate the developers accessing their new site from the old recycling site?
They wouldn't want troublesome members of the public getting in the way of their machinery.
It would also have been professional to have comment from the Rights of Way Society.
The local public are convinced that this is a 'stitch up' between council and developers.
Dr Christopher Nicol
*****
Dear Dr Nicol,
The conspiracy theory to which you subscribe spread within minutes of the Heras fences appearing in June. I have found nothing to substantiate it since but would be pleased to hear relevant facts if you have them.
Spurtle awaits the result of a Freedom of Information request to the Council which may shed further light on the decision-making process behind closure of the bridge.
For now, there is no further news to report. We understand officials are reviewing the technical advice they have received and assessing its cost implications. They offer no timeline for this stage to be completed.
The Spurtle has covered this story twice in print (Issues 363 and 364) and, in more detail, online here. The evidence points to a genuine engineering problem poorly handled and communicated by Council officers in the first instance.
Thank you for getting in touch.
Alan McIntosh
Editor