The Dragon Says: Ash Bridge – Who is Accountable?

Published on: 1 Dec, 2024
Updated on: 2 Dec, 2024

Soldiers have a saying: “Greatcoats on! – Greatcoats off!

It’s what they say when orders are given and then countermanded in quick succession and those above don’t appear to know what they are doing.

It might be a useful idiom for Ash residents to keep in mind following the recent debacle over the Ash road bridge.

On its own, the anonymous GBC announcement that there was to be a delay to the bridge opening until January might not have received more than a group shrug from the Ash community. After all, delays in construction projects are almost expected.

But a letter from the contractors, Volker Fitzpatrick, which arrived almost simultaneously, informed residents that the level crossing was to be closed some weeks beforehand – in early December.

See: Ash Level Crossing Will Close Before Opening of New Road Bridge

Ash residents were bemused: closing the crossing before opening the bridge would be simply nuts. It would cause “traffic mayhem” they said, and as local residents with local knowledge, they probably know best.

Surely there had been a cock-up in the communications and common sense would quickly prevail. Greatcoats would again be ordered to be taken off and pronto.

But that did not happen.

Instead, the Conservative Cabinet member for Transport at SCC, Matt Furniss, turned to social media to say that the level crossing closure had not been approved by SCC. Time to unbutton the greatcoats perhaps.

See:  Ash Level Crossing Decision ‘Was Made Without Approval of Surrey Highways’

This announcement caused a whole duvet’s-worth of feathers to be spat out by involved senior officers and Lib Dem councillors at GBC. “Factually incorrect” they said, and produced a copy of an email that seemed to back up their claim.

See: Ash Level Crossing Row: GBC Rejects Cabinet Member’s Statement As ‘Factually Incorrect’

But Cllr Furniss responded saying the permit had been granted on provision that the bridge was open.

The poor Ash villagers must have been bemused. Almost certainly they cared not a jot for political point-scoring. They just wanted to be able to drive across, or over, the railway line, to get from A to B without a major diversion. Surely the crossing should not close until the bridge was opened!

Eventually, after a week’s prevarication, the obvious decision was made. Greatcoats could be taken off, and the crossing would remain open. Thank goodness.

See:  Ash Level Crossing Will Not Close in December, SCC Assures Residents

But that should not be the end of the story. Where is the accountability? Who was responsible for the confusing and alarming communication? Statements at GBC go through a tortuous sign-off process; presumably none of the signatories were aware of the Volker Fitzpatrick letter. But if not, why not?

And something that could too easily get lost in this story is the reason for the delay to the bridge opening. The Dragon’s Ash reporter, David Reading, had been asking for weeks about the opening and for weeks the matter was fobbed off. Delays in construction projects might be usual but that does not mean they should be unexplained.

To cap it all, we still don’t have a crystal clear picture of why the bridge opening has been delayed, except to be told, rather blandly, that it has to be signed off as safe and compliant and “all the necessary paperwork” must be in place.

Fair enough. But the new bridge is costing GBC and therefore all of us a pretty penny. We deserve better answers than that.

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