Residents and amenity groups have expressed frustration at the Council’s closure and subsequent handling of the Powderhall Footbridge.
The structure was closed in June after cracks were discovered which officers believed could cause the structure to collapse without warning.
At last night’s Leith Central Community Council meeting in McDonald Rd Library, LCCC and New Town & Broughton Community Council members criticised what they described as an ‘inadequate’ Briefing Note issued by Edinburgh Council last week.
Their charges and those of others in the room included:
- The bridge being closed on the ‘fairly slim evidence’ of unnamed engineers in a series of informal meetings.
- Questionable assertions that ‘suitably qualified’ Council officers had carried out inspections.
- ‘Misleading’ information in the Briefing Note which claims engineering inspections were in line with standards laid out in the Design Manual for Bridges and Structures when, allegedly, they were not. The promised ‘principal’ inspection has not been carried out.
- Insufficient consideration given to temporary repairs or a temporary ‘drop-in’ replacement bridge.
- Slow pace of information for the public and lack of engagement. The Briefing Note had taken too long (3 months) to appear, yet shows signs of having been hurried.
- Failure to make a Council officer available for questioning in public.
- ‘Disappointing’ failure by officers to update the Culture & Communities Cmte this month.
- After 6 months, failure to provide a properly signposted and lit diversion route.
- Council decisions on the bridge’s future (with multi-million-pound implications) being made without any formal assessment of its value or level of use.
[Images: Ella Taylor-Smith.]
Cllr Caldwell (Ward 11), who was present at last night’s meeting, said he had listened carefully and would continue to work with locals and colleagues to resolve the issues as soon as possible.
Cllr McNeese-Mechan (Ward 11), also present, said she had pressed officers to walk the diversion route rather than treat it as a desktop map-exercise. They have not, she said, replied. She was concerned that a new timber bridge might not be any more durable than the one it replaced.
LCCC and NTBCC members will now jointly present their concerns to the Council in writing and make a spoken deputation to the Transport & Environment Cmte on 13 November.
They mean to exert maximum pressure and trust that fast-approaching Council elections in May 2027 will help concentrate the minds of elected representatives.
Got a view? Tell us at spurtle@hotmail.co.uk
For previous Spurtle coverage of the Powderhall Footbridge debacle, see:
‘Powderhall Bridge Closed’ (25 June 2026).
‘Bridge Closed for Foreseeable Future’, Issue 364 (1 August 2026).
‘No New Powderhall Footbridge until 2028’ (28 August 2026).
'Footbridge Design Life Was No Guarantee' (16 October 2026).