Quick question….a trail I regularly use has a small foot bridge over a stream that the council has determined is unsafe (not sure why – there are a couple of rotting boards but the structure appears in good order and the affected boards can easily be bypassed) and they have closed it off using those plastic road barriers zip tied to the bridge and some big yellow road signs stating that the bridge is closed. It’s been like this for over a year now. I have e-mailed our local councillor who stated that it had come up a few times during their meetings and they were unclear as to whether it was the council or the estate that owned the bridge. He also seemed to suggest that it may not have been the council who put up the signs (although the markings on the reverse of the signs state that they belong to Aberdeenshire Council).
So the question is, does anyone know who has the responsibility of maintaining a right of way – specifically bridges / river crossings? I imagine it is either going to be the landowner (estate) or the council as a public RoW. Surely there must be some sort of regulation restricting how long RoW’s can be closed for. It’s been over a year with no change, which seems a bit excessive.
Oli.
