A REPLACEMENT crossing for the one which was dramatically swept away during the floods in Pooley Bridge should be built sooner rather than later to help struggling businesses.

The claim follows Monday’s visit to the area by Patrick McLoughlin, the Secretary of State for Transport, when it was announced that flood ravaged communities in Cumbria and Lancashire could benefit from £40 million of emergency funding aimed at rebuilding damaged bridges and transport links.

The new funding is in addition to the £6.1 billion the Government has committed to local authorities across England between now and 2021 to help maintain the condition of local roads.

Mr McLoughlin, together with Penrith and the Border MP Rory Stewart and Carlisle MP John Stevenson, visited some of the worst hit areas on Monday, including Pooley Bridge, Eamont Bridge and the A591 near Thirlmere.

Engineers from Highways England have been helping Cumbria County Council to assess the extent of flood damage and they will be focusing on three key engineering projects:

• Rebuilding the A591, which runs north to south through the heart of the Lake District, to allow it to be reopened as soon as possible;
• Investigating what can be done to replace Pooley Bridge after it was swept away by flood water;
• Examining how Eamont Bridge can be rebuilt to be more resilient against future flooding.

Pooley Bridge, which sits at the northern end of Ullswater, was effectively cut off following last month’s flood and lack of access is costing one business £1000 per week.

Mandy Watson, who runs Pooley Bridge Post Office, said her business had suffered and she was not encouraged by the Transport Secretary’s visit.

He had promised the bridge would be repaired but said it would take a “long time”. “He’s not keen on putting in a temporary bridge but Rory [Stewart] said they were looking into it. Rory was into doing something like that,” she said.

“We will have to get something or we will not be here — we won’t survive without a good summer.”

Mrs Watson said that if a temporary footbridge was installed it could help local businesses. She added: “We would prefer a road bridge but a footbridge would ease the pain because if we don’t get anything we will lose the steamers.”

Chris Battersby, chairman of Eamont Bridge Parish Council, said he had spoken to Mr McLoughlin and added: “I think what he said was fair. They can’t do anything until they get a report on the bridge to find out what’s happening with it. In Pooley Bridge they’ve got no alternative at all and a temporary solution, I would imagine, would be the best way forward.”

Floods minister Mr Stewart echoed Mrs Watson’s call and said: “The Lake District must be open for business as soon as possible, and this means mending and reopening the A591, and fixing Pooley Bridge and Eamont Bridge as quickly as possible.

“These are crucial links for our communities, our businesses, and of course our tourists, and tourism is the income on which our entire Cumbrian economy depends.

“I was delighted to be able to show the Secretary of State in person this utterly horrendous damage, and I want to reassure communities that we in government are doing all we possibly can to ensure that the roads and bridges are repaired as quickly as possible.”

Mr McLoughlin said: “As far as the machinery of government goes, we are here to assist. I’ve got the chief executive of Highways England here today with us to look at things and see what can be done.

“Cumbria County Council has a huge amount of work to do in the rest of the county, so if we can relieve some of the work from them, then we can speed up the recovery process.

“Nobody could have predicted the seriousness of this. But we need to ensure that any repair works withstand the sorts of natural forces we saw this month.

“I can’t put a date on it, but certainly I want to see this done as quickly after Easter as possible.

“We are concerned about flooding all over the country, not just in Cumbria, so we are looking very much at the way in which government can assist and help, and we need to look again at flood defences — are they adequate, why did they fail, and what can we do about this?

“These things are, of course, going to be looked at. We will look at everything.”

Stewart Young, the leader of Cumbria County Council, welcomed the extra funding and added: “Our initial estimates indicate that the cost of repairing all the infrastructure which has been damaged by the recent flooding in Cumbria alone, will run into hundreds of millions of pounds.

“This includes roads, bridges and schools, but we welcome this announcement of an initial allocation towards the cost of repairing the A591, Eamont Bridge and Pooley Bridge.

“We will continue to work closely with the Government and their agent Highways England, to ensure that these vital communications links are restored as soon as possible.”

Highways England will start design and construction work to repair theA591, and investigate what is required to restore Pooley Bridge and Eamont Bridge in the New Year.

The additional funding and the deployment of a Highways England construction team are part of the Government’s wider commitment to help support communities dealing with the effects of the extreme weather over recent weeks.

Jim O’Sullivan, the chief executive of Highways England, said: “We understand the difficulties of people trying to travel in an area hit by flooding and we are doing everything we can to help Cumbria.

“On behalf of Cumbria County Council we and our supply chain partners will be working to rebuild the damaged section of the A591 as soon as possible so it is safe for road users, and to investigate what we can do to repair the A6 Eamont Bridge and the B5320 Pooley Bridge; this will allow the council to concentrate on other priorities to help its residents.”

From The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald on Saturday, January 2, 2016.