On 28 October 2022 a senior town and county councillor wrote to the County Times and said, in reference to the dire state of the Long Bridge in Newtown, that “we should look forward and plan for its 200th anniversary (in 2026).

He went on “We appreciate some of our bridges need improving aesthetically, including the unique and wonderful Long Bridge in Newtown. Therefore Powys County Council is seeking external funding to paint some key bridges. I will pursue this and keep residents up to date with this proposal”.

This was followed on 18 November 2022 by an article in the County Times in which both County and town councillors agreed that discussions should go ahead.

The town council’s clerk said “Let’s get our heads together and decide who is doing what”.

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All this political and inconsequential froth followed a series of residents’ letters in your paper urging action to save the bridge from further decay.

So, two years on, where are we? No further forward it seems. The bridge languishes in the same shameful state, with grass and weeds choking the gutters, paint down to the bare metal, and parapet gaps infilled with an assortment of wire netting.

Can any councillor tell us how plans and funding are progressing and whether we will be ready for the bicentennial? 

I suspect not, in which case you should all be ashamed.
Eric Flounders