Long-awaited plans to repair a crumbling bridge outside Elgin have been plunged into uncertainty again as a £1.5 million government cash pledge hangs in the balance.
Cloddach bridge at Birnie has been closed to vehicles for more than two years.
And it is seen as low priority for Moray Council to repair it, which means the local authority has refused to pay for upgrades all by itself.
But having heard from fed-up locals, the last UK Conservative government made a budget pledge of £1.5 million towards a replacement span.
That now looks like it could be snatched back by their Labour replacements in office.
Will there be a new Cloddach bridge?
In March, councillors narrowly voted to approve £2.74 million to come from its own coffers towards a new bridge.
This was dependent on some outside funding as the total cost is estimated at over £4m.
That move meant higher priority work on other crossings including the Bishopmill bridge in Elgin on A941 road to Lossiemouth had to be postponed.
But it has been revealed the previous government’s funding pledge was not signed off by the treasury before the General Election.
And the project has been sent back to the Department for Transport to deal with.
Westminster is now on recess and a decision on the Cloddach Bridge funding is not expected until September at the earliest.
It comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned October’s budget would be “painful” given the economic and societal “black hole” the UK is in.
No funding decision – yet…
The issue came up at a meeting of the corporate committee on Tuesday, August 27.
Labour councilor for Elgin North Sandy Keith asked if the Cloddach bridge plan now “isn’t to proceed”.
He was told a decision on the funding was yet to be taken.
What actually happened with funding bid for Cloddach Bridge?
The local authority sent the full business case to the UK Government Department for Transport on 11 April.
It was then referred to the treasury a few days later for funding approval.
But the General Election was called on May 22, and consideration of the proposal was suspended in line with pre-election guidance.
Nicola Moss, the council’s head of environmental and commercial services, contacted the Department for Transport at the end of July for an update.
And she was told a firm position would not be reached until at least September.
Bridge closure came after years of concern
Cloddach bridge is considered low priority for repair as there are fewer than 7,000 vehicle movements a day.
And the road is not designated as a critical route.
Also the maximum diversion for people getting to Elgin from Birnie is six miles.
Although the span is shut to cars and vans it can be used by pedestrians and cyclists.
But its condition has deteriorated over the last two decades.
In 2001 a 7.5 tonne weight restriction was applied. That was lowered to three tonnes in 2019.
Then a two metre height restriction was put in to stop non-compliant vehicles from crossing.
But it was repeatedly hit by drivers in the months before the bridge was closed to motorists.
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