Dulwich Park bridge closed for over a year - why?

[ab29]

Millions of pounds have been spent on design, redesign and re-redesign etc. of closed Dulwich Village junction - and yet the bridge in Dulwich Park has been closed for over a year now.

Whatever the initial ptoblem was it has been made ten times worst by doing nothing.

Why there is enough money  to waste on vanity projects like the DV junction and LTN and yet not enough to do something for the community??

Edited June 22 by ab29

[LurkyMcLurker]

Have you tried asking anyone who might be able to provide an answer to your questions that have first hand knowledge of the issue with the bridge in the park?

[ab29]

18 minutes ago, LurkyMcLurker said:

Have you tried asking anyone who might be able to provide an answer to your questions that have first hand knowledge of the issue with the bridge in the park?

Yeah, contacted MP Helen Hayes and Andy Simmonds the councillor. 

Not helpful lurkey southwark council employee

Edited June 22 by ab29

[Guest]

Claresy posted this back in March response from Southwark Park Service:

"Thank you for contacting the Park Service about the boardwalk over Dulwich Park lake.

Whilst remaining closed, the bridge has been thoroughly inspected and assessed for repair or rebuild options and as a result of this assessment it has been found to be uneconomical to repair and for health and safety it will need to be dismantled and removed. A replacement boardwalk has not been decided but is being investigated. Once we have new information it will be shared with the community of park users like yourself and local councillors but the bridge will remain closed.

I hope this helps,"

 

[ab29]

11 minutes ago, Kathleen Olander said:

Claresy posted this back in March response from Southwark Park Service:

"Thank you for contacting the Park Service about the boardwalk over Dulwich Park lake.

Whilst remaining closed, the bridge has been thoroughly inspected and assessed for repair or rebuild options and as a result of this assessment it has been found to be uneconomical to repair and for health and safety it will need to be dismantled and removed. A replacement boardwalk has not been decided but is being investigated. Once we have new information it will be shared with the community of park users like yourself and local councillors but the bridge will remain closed.

I hope this helps,"

 

Thank you Kathleen for posting it - there are no words

Edited June 22 by ab29

[malumbu]

No there are lots of words in the response, whole sentences and even paragraphs.

You are using this thread to have a go about the LTN.  There are already several threads doing this, not sure why you need another one.

[Cancerian]

So why do you need to respond to this one Mobutu.? There’s no need to bring grammatical errors into the fore. 

[Guest]

13 hours ago, malumbu said:

No there are lots of words in the response, whole sentences and even paragraphs.

You are using this thread to have a go about the LTN.  There are already several threads doing this, not sure why you need another one.

The more the merrier!

[Sue]

On 22/06/2025 at 19:28, Kathleen Olander said:

Claresy posted this back in March response from Southwark Park Service:

"Thank you for contacting the Park Service about the boardwalk over Dulwich Park lake.

Whilst remaining closed, the bridge has been thoroughly inspected and assessed for repair or rebuild options and as a result of this assessment it has been found to be uneconomical to repair and for health and safety it will need to be dismantled and removed. A replacement boardwalk has not been decided but is being investigated. Once we have new information it will be shared with the community of park users like yourself and local councillors but the bridge will remain closed.

I hope this helps,"

 

As I just posted on another thread, surely the bridge cannot have been fit for purpose in the first place if it has to be replaced so soon.

Either the contractors or whoever in the council approved the spec must be responsible for this, and if the contractors, surely they should rebuild it?

I would be interested to know exactly what is making the bridge unsafe.

If it is the materials used, similar bridges over water in the Wilderness Island nature reserve in Carshalton have been (re?) built using a strong man made material which looks virtually identical to wood but is not slippery when wet, and does not rot.

Surely this must have been available when the Dulwich Park bridge was built.

I don't know the financial implications, but hopefully Southwark Council did not put cheapness before safety.

[Insuflo]

Looks like there’s going to be a park lake bridge going spare soon. Dulwich should get first dibs on it; it’s what she would’ve wanted. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8g98zxgg6o 

[ab29]

10 hours ago, Sue said:

As I just posted on another thread, surely the bridge cannot have been fit for purpose in the first place if it has to be replaced so soon.

Either the contractors or whoever in the council approved the spec must be responsible for this, and if the contractors, surely they should rebuild it?

I would be interested to know exactly what is making the bridge unsafe.

If it is the materials used, similar bridges over water in the Wilderness Island nature reserve in Carshalton have been (re?) built using a strong man made material which looks virtually identical to wood but is not slippery when wet, and does not rot.

Surely this must have been available when the Dulwich Park bridge was built.

I don't know the financial implications, but hopefully Southwark Council did not put cheapness before safety.

And yet the Dulwich Village junction is being endlessly re/designed with no end to money or efforts.