Innovative footbridge design is approved

Innovative footbridge design is approved

December 16, 2019

A new footbridge of “exceptional design” that will improve public safety and provide new opportunities for people to learn about the National Park has been approved.

Planning permission was granted for the new pedestrian bridge, with ramped access, to replace the existing level crossing at Tide Mills in East Sussex.

As part of Network Rail’s national public safety programme to replace level crossings, the footbridge will bring greatly improved public safety to a high-risk location and provide a vital link for the community in allowing safe access to Seaford Beach and the surrounding landscape.

The innovative scheme represents the culmination of detailed and collaborative pre-application discussions, where the comments of the Design Review Panel were taken on board.

The flat and open surroundings meant any structure would be very visible, demanding a design that would respond positively and characteristically to the unique landscape. In the planning report that went before the SDNPA’s Planning Committee, the Authority’s Landscape and Design Officer wrote: “It is a crafted structure; an enhancement of the landscape in a very sensitive location …an experience in which history, culture and landscape can unfold before you.”

Following the decision by the Planning Committee to grant permission, Tim Slaney, Director of Planning the Authority, said: “The project is sensitively-designed and adds a new dimension to the landscape and cultural heritage of the area.

“The bridge provides an opportunity to enhance biodiversity through the introduction of appropriate planting on the embankments and improved habitat management. The bridge also enables all to  appreciate new views and interpretation of the lost village of Tide Mills, which is an area of significant archaeological interest.”