Councillor Martin Candler, 3 June 2002 Dear Councillor Candler, Re: Iron Bridge in Brabyns Park. It's now almost twelve months since we first approached you for advice regarding restoration of the Iron Bridge, back in June last year. Since then a good deal of progress has been made, albeit there is still a very long way to go before the final objective is achieved. We've attempted to keep you informed of developments by including yourself and Cllr. Ingrid Shaw, as Executive Member for Heritage, on the distribution of our correspondence with SMBC, however, the last of these was in March this year and several things have happened since then. If you've taken the time to keep in touch with our campaign diary on the web site you'll be aware of all this, but in case you've been too busy we thought, with the anniversary of the campaign start approaching, we would write to you directly to bring you up to date. We've met twice with representatives of SMBC regarding the possible restoration of the bridge and have been encouraged that it's being viewed as a problem we need to tackle together. Obviously funding is a problem but with all parties pulling in the same direction this should be a hurdle that can be overcome. As a result of good publicity in the local papers we've received a number of letters of support from residents and community groups. The latter in the form of two petitions with twenty-six and ninety-six signatures respectively, both from groups of people who use the Recreation Centre in Brabyns Park. Copies of these letters and petitions are enclosed for your information. We've also received offers of support from the local business community in the form of free supplies of paint, free professional tree surgery and the offer of a cash donation. This is an area we propose to pursue further in the hope that it may provide the means to raise some of the initial funds required to get things moving. You can read more about the offers received in the enclosed press cuttings. We've set up a petition in local outlets to collect signatures from residents who support the restoration and have had sheets containing more than 500 signatures returned in the first week. We hope these numbers will increase significantly over the next few weeks and propose to use our stall in Memorial Park on Carnival Day to collect more signatures. With regard to the restoration work itself, SMBC have an estimate for a phased approach, the first of which entails a detailed survey and report to accurately specify the full scope of work required. We understand the cost of this first phase to be in the region of £13,000. Obviously the next challenge is to find ways to raise the funds necessary to get this initial phase underway. In view of this, we seek the advice and support of yourself and your fellow Councillors, whose experience and expertise we are sure will be able to contribute towards solving this problem. We hope you support the desire to restore the bridge and would be very interested to hear your views on the matter of raising sufficient funds to get the first phase of the works underway. We also look forward to receiving any other advice you are able to offer on how the ultimate objective of the campaign can be achieved. Yours faithfully, Mark Whittaker, cc. |
