Plan to break bridge promise branded a 'disgrace'

A plan to cancel a bridge connecting a housing estate to a town has been called an "absolute disgrace".

Developers have applied to South Kesteven District Council to remove an obligation they were committed to when the Poplar Farm estate in Grantham was approved in 2011.

The bridge would allow residents access to shops, an NHS Community Diagnostic Centre and a tennis club at nearby Great Gonerby without going through the town centre.

The developers said "the bridge is no longer required" because the town is due to get a bypass, which would relieve traffic.

In the original permission once 750 houses were built on the estate, the developers Norfolk Hub and Buckminster were required to build the Pennine Way bridge, connecting the development with Great Gonerby, over the East Coast Mainline.

The estate currently has 673 homes.

In a report officers at South Kesteven District Council have recommended councillors approve the request.

Jess Stroud said she bought her house on the estate because the planned bridge would allow her to "see family without having to drive all the way round town".

"I think that's quite poor that they've taken back that offer to do that," she said.

Another resident on the estate, Ron Abram, said: "I think the developers always try to get away with whatever they can do to save money."

But he said he "wouldn't be unhappy" if the bridge was not built "as it will stop the through traffic coming past our road here".

Mark Wilson said "I think it's atrocious, really, because they've been promising to do it for the last 20 years, and they never seem to follow through on anything".

"I think they should be made to build it, to be honest," he added.

Councillor Richard Davies, who represents the area for Lincolnshire County Council, said "it's a scandal."

"We've had over 30 years of lies and half-truths, mismanagement and incompetence, and as a result, we have a generation of residents who live and have grown up here not having what they were promised," he said.

"When push comes to shove, they're abandoning and trying to get out of that commitment, and it's an absolute disgrace," he said.

A spokesperson for developers Norwich Hub and Buckminster said:

"The need for a bridge was established in 2008 to mitigate the impact of the proposed Poplar Farm development on Grantham town centre.

Now that the Grantham Southern Relief Road is almost complete, it provides the necessary mitigation that the bridge was originally intended to deliver. As a result, the bridge is no longer required.

The developers said other benefits would come from not having to build the bridge, including more money for the area, a community hall paid for by developers, and a reduced risk of "rat-running" caused by a through road on the estate.

Councillors are due to make a decision at a planning committee meeting on Thursday.

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