Repairs to Bridgnorth Cliff Railway just 'weeks away'
Repairs to the the retaining wall that has caused the closure of the Cliff Railway in Bridgnorth are just "weeks away" from starting, the town council has told residents.
At the Shropshire market town's annual parish meeting on Wednesday night, residents were told that the funicular railway, which was shut in December over health and safety fears, was of the "utmost importance" for the town.
The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, which has ferried people from Low Town to High Town for more than 130 years, had to be closed before Christmas after structural issues were found with a retaining wall at the top of the attraction.
Following its closure, 14 out of 16 staff who worked at the railway were made redundant.
Since then, uncertainty has grown as to who owns the retaining wall and is responsible for paying for the repairs.
Both Bridgnorth Town Council and Shropshire Council are among "multiple partners" that could have some or partial liability, the town council has said.
Mayor of Bridgnorth, Councillor Karen Sawbridge, told around 50 residents at the Community Hall in Severn Street that the council was working on addressing the ownership issue "as a priority".
She said: "At this time, there is still considerable uncertainty about the remedial works required, the overall costs and the legal ownership.
"The ownership situation is very complex, dating back to 1892 when the railway opened, and there are various lease agreements that affect the area."
She said that the council was waiting for final recommendations from "specialist legal advisers" to find out ownership of the wall.
Residents at the annual meeting, including a number of engineers from the Cliff Railway who had been made redundant by the closure, pressed the Mayor for a timetable as to when repair work would start.
"We are quite close. Weeks away," she told them.
Town clerk Clare Turner continued: "We are not in a position to give you exact dates but we are at the final stages of signing everything off. We are nearly there. Weeks away."
She added that repairs to the retaining wall would run in "parallel" to resolving the ownership issues and that the town council will be speaking with the owner's of the Cliff Railway regarding the ownership issue "this week".
