The article in Yorkshire Bylines on 3 January by Sarah Mumford (‘Campaign to save the Otley Tittybottle oak and tulip trees’) gives a detailed résumé of the current state of the Otley footbridge/Tittybottle Oak debacle.
The Otley footbridge debacle
Somehow, local democracy, when presented with a decaying eyesore (the old footbridge), has gifted us all the wrong solutions:
- An expensive temporary footbridge
- Removal of much-loved trees
- The continued masking of Otley’s 800-year-old bridge by an unsightly, bolted on, footbridge
- The continued close proximity of pedestrians to traffic, and in-traffic ‘provision’ for cyclists
- Public anger.
Leeds City Council has somehow conspired to present the town with the worst of all possible worlds. It is such a shame – they could, instead, have stepped back and taken a longer, and wider, view of the possibilities that the essential footbridge replacement offered them. They do not appear to have done this.
What should Leeds Council be considering for Otley?
An alternative approach would have considered these points:
- The original road bridge was completed in 1229 and is a scheduled monument. According to the Historic England National Heritage listing it “appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance”.
- The current footbridge was added to the original bridge in 1957 and has long been considered an incompatible eyesore.
- It is a pedestrian-only footbridge. Cyclists are still forced to mingle with traffic over the busy, narrow, road bridge. Pedestrians are right next to the (often stationary) traffic. Current traffic management policy rightly prioritises the separation of vehicles from cyclists and pedestrians – for reasons of safety, health and traffic flow.
- Otley is celebrating ‘Otley 800’ in 2027 – to celebrate the granting of the town’s Market Charter in 1227 – two years before the bridge was built. The need to replace the current footbridge presents a once-in-multi-generation opportunity to free up the view of the mediaeval bridge – for so long a (concealed) symbol of the town.
- A temporary footbridge costs money which is, in effect, wasted when it is then removed. It is money down the drain – or down the river in this case.
- Footbridge design has come on enormously since the 1950s. They are no longer eyesores but actively enhance their setting. A quick look at the bold designs in Whitehall Riverside in Leeds, Castleford, and Knostrop will show the variety of designs now on offer. Footbridges can act as a destination draw, not, as is the case with the current footbridge, a cause of depression.
- Climate change, and simple aesthetics, make the removal of healthy attractive trees, especially those of local significance, a move to be avoided if at all possible.
Opportunity to be bold
Taken together, the points above present a huge opportunity for Leeds City Council to do something bold, imaginative, and with a host of positive outcomes. They could:
- Restore the mediaeval bridge to its rightful place as a symbol of Otley in time for the Otley 800 celebrations – stripping away the ugly footbridge and exposing the original bridge to view from both sides.
- Provide an imaginative and beautiful dual-use bridge for cyclist and pedestrians, enhancing health, safety, traffic flow and the appearance of the whole Wharfemeadows park area – keeping cyclists and pedestrians away from traffic at the same time.
- Protect mature trees of local significance.
- Avoid wasting money on a temporary footbridge.
- Increase the number of visitors to Otley to the benefit of local businesses.
What’s not to like?
Instead – if things go ahead as planned – we will end up with a ‘solution’ that will rankle for the next 100 years.
