Fences to stay around disused Carlisle railway viaduct

By Julian Whittle

Last updated at 12:04, Saturday, 26 January 2013

Steel security fences that keep people off Carlisles disused Waverley railway viaduct can stay for another two years, city councillors say.

Waverley Bridge in Carlisle

Their decision has frustrated campaigners who want the viaduct to be re-opened as a pedestrian crossing of the River Eden, linking the Cumberland Infirmary to Etterby and Stainton.

British Rail Board Residuary (BRB), which is responsible for the Grade II-listed structure, put up the fences in 2009 as a temporary measure to stop vandalism. It reapplied in 2011 to keep them for another three years but was given only one year by the council.

When that consent expired in December, British Rail asked for a further three years.

Planning officers recommended that it should be given another 12 months in the hope that, in the meantime, a trust might take over the viaduct and reopen it.

Councillors meeting yesterday opted for two years, with the proviso that the barriers can come down sooner if agreement to reopen the viaduct is reached.

Conservative Ray Bloxham said the graffiti-covered steel barriers were an absolute eyesore and a disgrace.

Read the original:
Fences to stay around disused Carlisle railway viaduct