Note of meeting - West Cheshire Together

Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge
Meeting with Businesses: Notes
Courtesy of Forest Hill Hotel, Frodsham
13 September 2012 6.30pm
Attendees:
Andrew Dawson
Lynn Riley
Councillor for Frodsham Ward
Councillor for Frodsham Ward
Cheshire West and Chester Council:
Chris Hindle Head of Highways and Transport
Rob Brooks Contract Manager-Highways
Paul Tudor Chief Bridge & Structures Engineer
Noel O’Neill Head of Property and Regeneration
Chris Capes Regeneration Manager-Market Towns
Iain Paton Economic Development Manager
Carol Vella Senior Economic Development Officer
Phil Nadolski Local Taxation Manager
Nicki Rose Regulatory Services-Commercial Support Officer
Debra Brown Area Partnership Team
Steve Newson Area Partnership Team
Fiona Dunning Area Partnership Team
Ewan McHenry Locality Manager
Sarah Pomfret Business Advisor/Retail Growth
Cllr Ralph Oultram Councillor for Kingsley Ward
Kate Dodgson Frodsham Foundation
Canal and River Trust
George Ballinger Head of Engineering
A total of 95 people (in addition to above) attended the meeting including
representatives from the Police, Love Frodsham, Frodsham Foundation and
Local Businesses.

The meeting opened with a welcome and introduction by Cllrs Andrew
Dawson and Lynn Riley. This is the first meeting of its kind and very well
attended. The meeting is an opportunity for genuine conversation regarding
the plans which are 9 months away.
Key points made were:
The refurbishment to the bridge has been a long awaited and much
needed project and will improve access to Frodsham and the
surrounding area once completed as well as giving the approach a
better outlook.
It has taken some considerable discussion and negotiation; given the
difficult financial situation everyone faces, to reach this positive
outcome where the funding is now in place to undertake the work.
There is a genuine willingness to work with the community to look at
all options available to try and reduce the impact of traffic disruption on
Frodsham and the surrounding area and to work with businesses to
offer any additional support that they may benefit from.
George Ballinger, Head of Engineering at the Canal and River Trust (formally
British waterways) talked about the need for the bridge work and how the
project is progressing.
Key Points made were:
The Canal Trust were pleased that funding was now in place to
refurbish the bridge.
The work to be completed would include strengthening to legal
standards, a new road surface, cleaning and repainting of iron work
and painting.
The project had to manage live traffic with the potential of using traffic
control and a one lane system while work was undertaken.
The Framework Contractor had been put out to tender and May
Gurney had been appointed. The Canal Trust must adhere to EU
procurement rules when tendering for this work.
May Gurney will tender for the specific parts of the contract and again
this must comply with EU procurement rules.
The Canal Trust are keen to engage with local people to look at options
that may reduce the disruption to traffic. They are currently looking at
the potential use of a temporary two lane bridge to the side of the
Swing Bridge. The cost of this is estimated to be around £700,000
however, some of this would be off- set by savings made in the
reduction of time in which the bridge could be refurbished. The Canal
Trust would continue to pursue this option and aim to complete the
feasibility of this option in the next 8 weeks. There is currently no
guarantee that this option will be viable.
The project will take between 10 and 12 months dependant on the
above.

Chris Hindle, Head of Planning and Transport at Cheshire West and Chester
Council talked about managing the likely traffic disruption and impact on the
local area.
Key Points made were:
CWAC are investing a considerable proportion of its capital budget for
this financial year in this project, around £3.5 million and it is good
news that an agreement has been reached with the Canal Trust to
undertake the refurbishment to the bridge.
There will not be total closure of the bridge but there could be single
lane traffic with traffic management in place. This would consist of
manual traffic management during the first week and following this at
peak times; as this is proved to be more effective, and traffic signals
during normal traffic flow.
If the bridge were to go to single lane traffic the potential delay should
be no more than 20 minutes at peak times.
Cllr Dawson asked if further information could be made available on
potential traffic disruption at the next meeting.
There is a recognition that emergency plans need to be reviewed and
adjusted for this period. In cases where the M56 experiences
accident/closure and where all blue light services are concerned. This
was already in hand and was confirmed by Chris Burnham, Cheshire
Police and Cllr Lynn Riley.
Chris Capes, Regeneration and Economic Development Programme Manager
for Cheshire West and Chester Council talked about the support that can be
offered to businesses.
For further information please go to our website:
http://www.talkingwestcheshire.org/default.aspx?page=4275
Useful Contacts:
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Tel: 0300 1238123
www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Canal and River Trust
www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
Tel: 0303 040 4040
Frodsham Foundation
www.frodshamfoundation.net
Kate Dodgson: 07970 798247
Kate.dodgson@frodshamfoundation.net