Bridgnorth Cliff Railway may close

Late last year the railway was closed due to a dangerous wall adjoining the railway. They railway had hoped to reopen by Easter but a dispute with the walls owners, Bridgnorth Town Council, has resulted in the owner threatening to walk away. This would be an enormous shame and I hope that the matter is resolved soon.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-65099653

 

Many ex RAF folk will have seen or ridden on Bridgnorth's cliff railway when doing there "square bashing" when joining the RAF or National Service. I remember it from 1955 and seem to recall that ladies were employed in ts operation. I hope that this soon be operating again.

 

Closure would be a real shame.

But rebuilding that wall will not be a cheap exercise, if done properly.

 

Repairs have started but seems confusion over who pays.

 

Not so clear cut. Were a private landowner to be legally responsible (no idea in this case) to what extent should town council taxpayers pay for repairs, for its wider community benefit? If this applies here, does it also apply to pubs, churches, theatres, gyms etc? Does that encourage property owners not to keep property in good repair? If any such owner is responsible and looking for funding then it could go for business rates relief (district council), local enterprise partnership or tourism grants, or heritage funding - to which the town council may agree to top up. I'm not sure 'town council must pay' is right, as reported the owner's attitude seems to me to be strident.

 

Also worth noting that town councils don’t have deep pockets, so may have difficulty in affording the work.


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I wondered if there was a dispute about who was responsible. I guessed there would be a question whether the cliff railway had an obligation to fix it

Last I heard parish and town councils were uncapped so that, if they wanted to, they could (unlike county/district/unitary authorities) raise and spend squillions on what they wanted. Having said that, they still face reelection. All history is a history of class, said Marx. The ability of town and parish councils to operate without caps favours richer areas.