A Public Briefing about the Teme Bridge Tenbury refurbishment will be held at Tenbury High School on Wednesday 21st September 2011 between 7:30 and 9:30 pm.
The purpose of the briefing is to advise on arrangements during the bridge closure to traffic from 9th January 2012.
Advanced notice of issues you wish to raise at the meeting can be conveyed through:
Email - highwayscontrolcentre@worcestershire.gov.uk , or
Telephone – Worcestershire Hub 0845 607 2005
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4 comments:
The public were patronised and totally disrespected at this meeting. The officials are not interested in how closure of the bridge will affect businesses or residents. You could tell that Ken Pollock and his cronies saw this evening as a formality that had to be endured ( and laughed through, did they think we couldnt see them???). I am still trying to believe I was told to bulk buy food staples by the emergency disaster planning representative!!!!!
What a debacle.. Even WCC would have to admit that this meet turned into an uncontrollable shouting match.. A PR disaster for them that could have been avoided if they'd bothered to consult the majority of highstreet traders and locals properly before visiting bridge closure on us all as a ridiculous 'fait accompli'.
When well-meaning locals tried to suggest the town contribute to a much-needed temporary Bailey Bridge by tolls or the like - Ken Pollock and the WCC Cat Cats with their ruddy red faces just giggled.
Shocking treatment of a public that was just trying to be proactive and help save their community from turning into an ice-bound island if we have another winter as the last.
Shame on you WCC.
Treat the town's people with a glimmer of respect, spend enough to stabilise the Teme bridge so it can turn into a pedestrianised tourist attraction and give us the Teme bridge we deserve to ensure the future viability of the town!
I'm slightly confused about the claim that the closure came a surprise. I'm sure the last two bridge reports both said that closure would be required to undertake the repairs.
The state of the bridge has been on the Town Council agenda many times over the last five years.
How many shopkeepers came to the Chamber of Trade AGM where they could have raised their concerns?
The idea of a toll to pay for a temporary bridge was interesting, but mathematically seems unworkable. There is only sufficient traffic to make the smallest dent in the cost in the time available.
The chance of Tenbury getting agreement for a new bridge is unlikely. It certainly wouldn't be agreed in weeks. If everyone started lobbying now, I would doubt anything would be achieved in less than a decade. In the mean time the existing bridge needs to be repaired.
Perhaps because of the risk of the meeting turning into a shouting match, the Council will be less likely to hold meetings in the future.
This was supposed to have been a briefing, not a brainstorming of ideas & options. The time for that passed months or years ago.
"I'm slightly confused about the claim that the closure came a surprise.."
I can't see why the majority of those 32 shops polled [79%] would make it up though WR15 [I know technically there's more shops than this].. They either did think they'd been properly consulted by WCC on bridge closure or they didn't - it would seem the latter.
"Perhaps because of the risk of the meeting turning into a shouting match, the Council will be less likely to hold meetings in the future."
As a number of onlookers from different backgrounds/orgs have commented, there was very much a "them and us" vibe put across in the assembly hall. I'm sure that wasn't intentional but it really could have been handled a little better..
Senior Council staff openly sniggering at suggestions from locals, WCC purveying a "we know best but we don't actually know how it'll all work yet" attitude and then ending by saying that after all this disruption we'll still have the same traffic problems on the bridge.. I guess it's not that surprising then that all this lit the blue touch paper of many locals who clearly still felt very much out of the loop until that event.
I spoke with an ex WCC employee today and she said that Worcs County Council public meetings ended in displays of public anger and frustration more often that you'd expect.
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