Race against time to save Leicester's Bowstring Bridge
Campaigners fear they have only a week to save a historic bridge from demolition.
Yesterday, workers started to remove girders from the Bowstring Bridge, in Leicester's West End.
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Work to remove girders from the historic Bowstring Bridge has already got under way
Members of Leicester Civic Society are now clinging to the hope that a last-ditch effort to have the bridge listed is a success.
Chairman Stuart Bailey said the society had expected to hear this week the results of an appeal against a Government decision not to give the bridge protected status.
Work to remove the structure is already under way after Leicester City Council agreed it should be torn down to make way for De Montfort University's plans to build a sports centre.
Mr Bailey said it was "almost game-over" because, if the appeal does not bring a result in their favour by the end of next week, too much damage will have been done to the bridge to save it.
He said: "Hope is slipping away for the bridge, but we have to hang on and stay hopeful – it would be too easy to give up and walk away.
"My guess is that by the end of next week the work on the bridge will be so far advanced that there's no turning back – it'll be game over.
"We'll have no choice but to walk away."
He believes it is "highly likely" the area around the Pump and Tap and the nearby Bowstring Bridge will sit undeveloped because of the credit crunch, despite the university's proposals.
"We have asked the university through the Freedom of Information Act to see the plans for the site," he said. "The response was that we couldn't see them because they didn't have any definite plans in place.
"I think we're a long way from any development happening because of the difficulty in raising money to build anything in the current climate.
"It all depends on how quickly they can raise the funds."
A university spokesman said: "Our aim is to complete the preparation of the site, including the demolition of the Pump and Tap pub, as soon as possible. We will then go through the process of putting out tenders for the design and obtaining planning consent.
"Once we have reached this stage we will seek tenders to construct the new sports centre. This overall process can take a while to complete."
Workers moved in to pull down the bridge, near Braunstone Gate in the city's West End, in early October.
The city council's cabinet agreed in August to spend up to £472,000 on removing it.
English Heritage, which advises the Government on listing cases, said six applications to have the bridge listed had been turned down since 1999 because its history and architecture are not interesting enough.
11 Comments
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by C, west end
Friday, November 06 2009, 12:56PM
“Not another story about the bridge and pub! Hopefully these storries will stop in a weeks time when the bridge is gone.
It's time to stop dwelling, publishing several 'non-news' stories on this a week and move on...”
by imnotcurrupt, leicester
Friday, November 06 2009, 12:44PM
“well said loraine.as has been said all along there was and still is underhanded goings on, if the DMU want it , they click there fingers and they get it.”
by Lorraine, Woodgate
Thursday, November 05 2009, 3:39PM
“Speaking as a protestor, I wanted to express my feelings to the way that the De Monfort University and Leicester City Council together are destroying our heritage. I remember when the DMU was a little tiny Leicester Polytechnic up near to Oxford Street and The Newarke, but slowly year by year they have expanded like a cancer in the heart of our neighbourhood. Now, we are seeing the DMU playing their usual tricks in convincing our city council to get rid of the Bowstring bridge and Pump and Tap pub to make way for their swimming pool and sports centre plans. Don't forget the DMU proposed to turn the land into their sports area around May 2002 and makes me think why the previous owners of the Pump and Tap pub had their redevelopment plans turned down and low and behold the DMU was there to buy the pub and surrounding land, I call this insider trading because the council knew the DMU was interested in the land and subsequently refused planning consent to the previous owners of the pub and then the DMU were in to acquire the pub and land for a cheap price. Also the Leicester City Council has been trying to find a reason to demolish the bridge since around 1998/9.
People have said the bridge is an eye-sore and that's only because our city council has maliciously neglected it in order to demolish it without too much public decent. Even if the bridge was in absolute mint and perfect condition, the DMU still wants to demolish the northern end of the viaduct to make way for the sports area and because part of the viaduct is a supporting structure for the bridge then logic tell us the bridge will also have to be demolished, no viaduct, no bridge. The DMU if they wanted to could have incorporated the bridge into their plans and would have been a good gesture by them to the residents of the West End. As it turns out, the DMU cannot see the beauty of having something historic as a backdrop to their modern sports centre. I have seen the results in my neighbourhood of so-called demolitions to make way in the name of progress and all we have now is boarded up buildings and advertising boards and this is so ugly for the area. All I can say is shame on the DMU and Leicester City Council for their part in turning our once historic city into what looks like a war-torn battlefield. I was proud to be a citizen of Leicester but not now !!”
by Chet's Dad, Leicester
Thursday, November 05 2009, 3:07PM
“I wish they would hurry up and knock this bridge down!! Their stupid road barricade is preventing me from going my usual route to the gym. Because of this I now have to drive further, which means more petrol is used, which means more money is spent filling up my tank. Also none of this is helping the environment!!”
by Kulgan, Crydee
Thursday, November 05 2009, 3:05PM
“I myself think that the bridge serves no purpose and should be demolished (but paid for by those who benefit most from its removal) but that is my opinion. Whilst I do not agree with the protestors, I respect their right to have their opinion and their right to protest. The people who have insulted the protestors should apologise.”