Footpath bridges at Longslade Bottom to be repaired after five-year delay

CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after plans were finally submitted to repair two wooden bridges on a popular track near Brockenhurst after a four-year delay.

Locals had warned that if the crossing were not re-opened soon, someone would get killed or seriously injured amid conflict between cyclists and walkers using steep gravel banks to bypass the closures.

Now Forestry England has submitted proposals to the national park authority for replacement bridges at Hincheslea Bog and Longslade Bottom.

Since they were closed off people, including cyclists, had to navigate an embankment before climbing back up to re-join the trail, which is a designated cycle route.

They then had to repeat the process about 130 metres further along.

There were complaints that the elderly and infirm were being put at risk and fears cyclists riding fast could collide with other path users.

In the proposal to the NPA, FE said the old bridges have come to the “end of their life” and will be replaced by new ones constructed of steel and wood.

It said they were “in keeping with other bridge designs on Crown land and have a service life of at least 25 years”.

One campaigner who had made numerous protests to the FE was John Harris, a local cycling enthusiast.

He said he was “delighted” by the news.

He told the A&T: “I am pleased that, at long last, the four-year closure of these important bridges is to be addressed.

“The proposed designs seem entirely appropriate for the area, being simple and unobtrusive.

"I note that cyclists have already been using the open Forest to avoid clambering up and down the dangerous inclines that bypass these closed bridges, so it is to be hoped that work will commence as soon as possible and that these replacements be in operation for the spring of 2023.

"This closure has already lasted far too long.”

He added: “It only by chance and good fortune that there has not been an accident since the bridges were closed.”

New Forest Cycling Club had also complained about the delay saying it was “both an inconvenience and a safety risk”.

Local resident Christine Day had also protested about the closures saying she feared “someone could be killed” by a speeding cyclist at the spot.

She claimed that some riders had been doing a "speed challenge" down the embankment paths to see if they could make them in one go, leading to near misses with pedestrians.