Development Control - TrustNews Sept 2002
Once upon a time there was a narrow little road which had a little kink in it where a narrow little bridge carried the road over a narrow little river ...
One day Somebody in Charge said 'This narrow little bridge is too dangerous for people walking across it because they might get run over by the cars that also use the narrow little bridge. Let's make a footbridge so that they'll be safe". And everybody said "What a good idea!"
One day a year later Somebody Else in Charge said "This narrow little bridge is getting old and is getting unsafe. Let's build a new one." And everybody said "What a good idea!"
Well not quite everybody because there were a few (including the Second Person in Charge) who thought it would be better to design one bridge which would carry both walkers and cars across the narrow little river. But the First Person in Charge wouldn't agree to this because his bridge was already in the pipeline of work to be done.
So a strong wooden bridge was built across the river, right beside the narrow little bridge, and everybody thought it was a very good thing, because not only were the walkers safe but the people in cars could look along the new bridge to see if cars were coming in the opposite direction, which they hadn't been able to do before. And everybody was happy except, of course, the people who thought it would be better to build one bridge instead of two.
And now, sometime in the future the narrow little bridge will be knocked down and a strong brick bridge for the cars will be built across the narrow little river, right beside the wooden bridge. And everybody will probably say "How ridiculous and how ugly! Why on earth was it done like this?
Why indeed? Sadly, this is not a fairy story, but the tale of the bridges of Garnier Road. It is a depressing example of the lack of co-ordination between our two Local Authorities, Winchester City, which looks after the walkers, and the County which looks after the cars.