Safety Concerns Over Proposal for Grove Park Footbridge
Network Rail submits plant to temporarily remove central span
Visualisation of Deans Close Bridge from Network Rail's planning submission
|
Concerns have been raised over public safety following the submission of a plan to upgrade the footbridge over the railway lines in Deans Close in Grove Park.
Few details have been given with the planning application about the timing of the work but documents show that the central span of the footbridge will have to be removed during the project.
We have asked Network Rail when this is likely to occur and for how long the bridge will be closed but are yet to receive a response.
A local residents’ group is concerned that years of hard work in getting improved lighting for the bridge may be wasted if the lights are to be lost during the changes being made to the bridge. The lights were installed just last September following a five year campaign.
Ruth Cadbury MP visits the bridge in 2015
Andy Murray, Chair of the Grove Park Group said, “Obviously we welcome any initiative to improve the state of the bridge itself, which is indeed in urgent need of upgrade.
“However, having made Hounslow Council pay for the installation of lights on their own property, it's a shame that Network Rail didn't have the foresight to upgrade the bridge then.
“Even now, we see no inclusion of the new lights in the new construction plan, so we have represented to members of the Hounslow Planning Committee that the replacement of any lights removed in the upgrade process must be made a condition of approving the plans. And if restoring lights for the safety of users is not in the current plans, it must be included in the promised, future, more detailed plans.
“In addition, residents will want to know when the works are planned and how long they will take, especially if the works take place in the winter months. The alternative route from Strand on the Green to Gunnersbury Station is via a dark path from Chiswick Village up to Wellesley Road, so it would be advisable that the necessity for this detour be kept to a minimum.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
May 24, 2021
