Last week I held a special debate in Parliament looking at transport issues in Warrington South, in particular the operation of the Ship Canal Swing Bridges.
We’re at a stand-off, the council wont give permission to carry out work to repair the swing bridges because Peel won’t agree to fund the additional costs for children getting to and from school when the bridges are closed.
Peel is attempting to play catch-up with essential repair work to vital crossings, closing the bridges to vehicles and pedestrians for up to 9 months for each bridge while work is carried out. Peel has the rights to charge boats to travel along the Canal – leaving the bridges open while the works taken place benefits the Canal Company as boats can continue to use the canal.
I’ve asked the Department for Transport to look again at the 1865 Ship Canal Act which sets out who can do what. I’ve looked in detail at what the original piece of legislation says. Written when Queen Vicotora was on the throne, it’s out of date and if Peel won’t do the work to keep the bridges running smoothly there should be changes to the legislation to allow the Highway Authority to do the work and send Peel the bill.
In response the Roads Minister Richard Holden MP said: “We are always willing to look at historical issues and legislation. I urge him to write to me about it in detail so that I can give him a properly detailed response. Given that it is a piece of Victorian legislation, it would need to be looked at it in depth, due to the intricacies that it will involve and the many other pieces of legislation that will interact with it across Government.”
You can read more about the debate here: https://www.andycarter.org.uk/parliament
