'Mayor Houchen should ensure the bridge is repaired'

POLITICIANS CLASH OVER TRANSPORTER BRIDGE

- By DANIEL HODGSON Reporter

THE region’s politicians have had their say as debate builds on what should happen to the Transporter Bridge.

In his August appearance on BBC Radio Tees, the Tees Valley Mayor said that he didn’t think that £30m would be enough to fix up the bridge. Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen thought that the sum, confirmed by TVCA Cabinet as part of a £978m allocation from central government, would not be enough to make the bridge safe again, let alone bring it back into operation.

Returning to his monthly slot on September 3, Mayor Houchen developed a point he had previously made regarding potential costs. Now the mayor is running a poll on his Facebook page, asking people whether they would prefer to repair the existing structure or replace the bridge with an exact copy.

Following this, Labour politicians in Middlesbrough have had their say, with the town’s MP, Andy McDonald saying that the regional mayor is trying to shove the costs on to the local councils.

Responding, Mayor Houchen highlighted that it is two of the local councils within the Tees Valley who own the bridge.

There is also a debate ongoing about the classification of the project and whether it should be a heritage project or a transport one. The £30m currently allocated to the project can only be used for transport purposes, so could not be used on the Transporter Bridge, if it was designated as a heritage project.