Faversham Creek Trust were disappointed that KCC cancelled at short notice the long-awaited bridge meeting scheduled for this afternoon, as were other members of the Steering Group. This was due to serious illness of a family member of one of the KCC team – naturally we extend our best wishes to them.
We had expected to be shown their proposals for a bridge, as promised last October, being mindful of the budgetary difficulties they now face. We await a rescheduled meeting as soon as possible.
It is not surprising that Faversham people are expressing concerns about the continuing delay. Between us and with the support of the Town Council and the Borough Council we raised the money asked, and still we have no idea of when the bridge will be replaced.
Members of the Faversham Creek Trust have in the meantime come up with a different proposal. This is for a lifting bridge which is simpler and quicker to install, operate and maintain, and which will cost far less to build – probably close to the budget. An example can be seen working at the river entrance to Chatham Marina – it has been operated many times a day since 1996 and is thus well-proven. We have provided KCC and the Steering Group with detailed information about this design and we urge them to consider our proposal with the utmost seriousness.
We think a public meeting in the town as proposed would now be helpful to establish what the current position is and how we can best move forward.
Faversham Creek Trust 