A NORTHWICH campaigner is calling for Cheshire West council to press ahead with plans to build a new bridge in Winnington.

Lee Siddall, who spent 24 hours on the bridge last year campaigning for a weight limit to be imposed, says he wants to know if the ‘oven ready plans’ promised for summer 2020 are a reality.

In response, CWAC has said surveys and cost appraisals should be completed by late spring of this year.

Mr Siddall told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We had a meeting just before going up there [on the bridge], where Cllr Bob Cernik said ‘we will have oven ready plans’ for the new bridge by the end of summer last year.

“I want to know if we have oven ready plans to send to the central government or if we have half-baked ideas. It seems to me they said it to shut us up… like they have had a chat as to what could be done.

“It just seems to get put back and put back. It just seems they have not got a grasp on what they should be working on.

“I have a bee in my bonnet about making sure we are getting a dialogue going as we do feel we are in the dark quite a lot.”

Cllr Cernik made his comments in February 2020 in a meeting organised by residents concerned at Tata Chemicals Europe’s decision to explore the option of building 1,200 homes on redundant land at the industrial site.

Now, CWAC says that work on the bridge and associated infrastructure is progressing, with members of the public able to have their say later this year.

A council spokesperson said: “The Winnington Corridor in Northwich, including a number of key junctions and the Winnington-Barton Swing Bridge was first identified as a priority in the Northwich Transport Strategy. This is a corridor approach and goes beyond the bridge, which is identified as a key constraint.

“The Council and Cheshire and Warrington LEP have funded an initial business case for improvements to the corridor, which has been recently completed in outline, this has now moved to the next stage of assessments including surveys, ground investigations and appraisals of costs. This is due to be completed by late spring.

“Engagement with residents, stakeholders and the wider public on options will follow later this year with further updates on timescales after this next stage.”