Charity backs plans for footpath across north Norfolk bridge

Victoria LeggettA charity which campaigns for pedestrian safety has backed proposals for a footpath across a busy bridge in north Norfolk.Victoria Leggett

A charity which campaigns for pedestrian safety has backed proposals for a footpath across a busy bridge in north Norfolk.

Living Streets has hailed county council plans for improvements to the crossing on the A148, near Cromer, which currently does not have a pathway, as a positive step forward.

Homeowners living along the Holt Road have campaigned for a separate footbridge over the Bittern Line railway for more than two years, but have been told funding was not available.

Now the council has now come up with an alternative option, which could help allay safety concerns.

Proposals to create a 1.2m footpath, linking up the existing pavement which ends either side of the bridge, have been put to campaigners and parish councils in the area.

Living Streets' Norfolk representative John Peacock said he had now seen the proposals and, while a footbridge remained the ultimate goal, saw them as a step in the right direction.

He said: 'Living Streets is pleased to give provisional support to this proposal and feels that, in the present economic climate, the county council had made a positive contribution to alleviating the concerns for the safety of pedestrians along the A148 Holt Road.'

Residents' campaign group Steps To Safety has previously said it felt proposals for a footpath could prove even more dangerous than the current situation and feared it would never get a footbridge if the plans went ahead.

Norfolk County Council said it had always acknowledged a footbridge would be the ideal solution if funding was available and these proposals did not rule out the possibility of one being built in the future.