Boxted Bridge campaigners stand firm in Essex County Council battle

Essex County Council is adamant the ageing bridge in Boxted must be replaced.

But campaigners are determined to fight to the bitter end to preserve the historic piece of their landscape.

Boxted Bridge, which has sat in the Dedham Vale for a century, was labelled dangerous by Essex Highways in 2018.

Since then, Essex County Council has furthered plans for the bridge to be replaced by a new structure which would allow easier access for emergency vehicles.

• READ MORE - Opinion: 'Boxted Bridge destruction would be an assault on local pride'

However, campaigners from the Save Our Bridge group argue the bridge is an important heritage feature to the Dedham Vale area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), adding that a wider bridge would mean more HGVs will use the route through the countryside as a rat run and risk damaging historic houses.

The pressure group has now taken issue with a raft of new documents, published by Essex County Council last month, which outline the authority’s plans for the future of the bridge.

These blueprints entail a full reconstruction of the structure to allow a significant widening of the road for fire engines, and the installing new ‘Not Suitable for HGVs’ signs on roads leading to the bridge.

Boxted Bridge (Image: Newsquest)

An official document from the authority’s environmental consultants, written by their principal landscaper, concluded the visual impacts resulting from the development will vary from negligible to moderately adverse.

One line in the document read: “As a whole, there are no significant effects proposed from the development, as although the bridge [would be] wider, it [would not be] incongruous to the structures landscape setting and [would be] similar to that of the existing bridge.”

Reasons for replacing the bridge extend beyond the council’s 2018 ruling that the bridge is dangerous, however, with documents also highlighting a new bridge would improve driver visibility and reduce the risk of head-on collisions.

But the Save Our Bridge campaign, which has accumulated almost 7,500 signatures from people supporting the repair of the structure rather than replacement, is adamant the works will destroy vegetation around the bridge, be overly costly and have a negative effect on the landscape.

Boxted Bridge (Image: Newsquest)

Added to this, Save Our Bridge commissioned a structural engineering firm, The Morton Partnership, to inspect the bridge to determine the best option for the bridge’s future.

A copy of the ten-page report, which has been shared online, sees Edward Morton argue the new bridge will look very different to the current Boxted Bridge.

He wrote: “The new bridge will be almost 0.5m higher at the centre, so around 25 per cent deeper than before, [and therefore] will be visually significantly different to the existing.

“I do consider that there is an alternative option to be considered which will retain the heritage significance of the bridge, at less cost, whilst improving the load-bearing capability.”

• READ MORE: Campaigner "will fight till the end" to save historic bridge

Lee Scott, Essex County Council’s cabinet member for highways maintenance and sustainable transport, said safety should always trump aesthetics and that the authority would repair the bridge were it the financially viable option.

He said: “The possibility of repairing the current structure was explored through a detailed and independent options study. This study clearly recommended that replacement was the best option.

He added the new bridge, were it to be constructed, would bear a strong resemblance to the current 125-year-old bridge.

“The design of a future bridge would be similar to the current bridge and we’ve worked with the local parish council on the proposals,” he added.

“Our proposed design is expected to greatly improve road safety at this location [and] we are making this decision on safety grounds this is our paramount concern.

“We are aware that those against will never agree with our proposals, but on matters of safety, expert engineering opinion should always outweigh any other.”

But Save Our Bridge campaigners are insistent they will fight on, arguing fire engines can pass the bridge as it is, and that Essex County Council has a legal duty to preserve the bridge as part of the Dedham Vale’s status as an AONB.

Stubborn – Lucinda de Jasay and Save Our Bridge campaigners have refused to back down on the issue (Image: Newsquest)

A spokesman for the campaign said: “The special, unaltered character of this beauty spot in its AONB setting will be obliterated by an absurdly oversized and ill-proportioned, brand-new facsimile bridge.

“It would not only ‘urbanise’ its setting, it would stick out like a sore thumb in the surrounding rural landscape.”

The spokesman also addressed Essex County Council’s argument relating to the current bridge’s inability to accommodate larger emergency vehicles.

“Fire engines, seen occasionally on this cross-county route, can already manoeuvre the current bridge with no problem.

“One of the repeated excuses for widening the bridge is that they do not have sufficient room to safely manoeuvre the turning this is contradicted by established practice.”

A further meeting on the future of the bridge could be held as soon as next month by Essex Highways, where the future of the bridge will be discussed further.