Kilrea Bridge closure ‘decimating businesses’ as council pushes for support

Closed for repairs: Kilrea Bridge

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council will contact the Infrastructure Minister to discuss potential compensation for businesses affected by the closure of Kilrea Bridge — as the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) says it is working “at pace” to find a temporary solution.

In late September, DfI announced the bridge’s closure due to concerns about the structural stability of a retaining wall on the approach to the bridge.

During a deputation to councillors at the October meeting of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Sinn Féin councillor Sean Bateson said the closure was having a “massive impact” on residents and local businesses.

He said: “Obviously it had to be closed because of safety concerns around the bridge itself, but the longer this goes on, the bigger the impact is going to have locally.”

A DfI spokesperson said specialist contractors had visited the site to “see what potential measures could be brought in”.

“Our aim is really to try and get the bridge open as quickly as we can,” they said.

“This is probably going to be a temporary measure, but I can assure you that our staff are working at pace to try and get some sort of solution in place, because I do realise there’s a big impact on the local community, particularly in Kilrea.

“The temporary solution is likely to involve tie bars going across the road, to pull the bridge together and stop the retaining wall from cracking any further.

“[The specialists] have done this type of work before in other areas, and it’s something we feel could buy us the time to get the bridge open before we move to a more permanent solution.”

Cllr Bateson warned that the ongoing closure would continue to negatively affect schools, families, and businesses if it “drags on further”, and he enquired about potential compensation for affected traders.

The DfI spokesperson said the department was “talking about weeks rather than months” in terms of getting a solution in place.

They added: “Normally compensation isn’t issued in these cases — the department doesn’t have the remit to do that — but if you think there was a strong case to be made, then maybe it would be made directly to the Minister.

“The department does also intend to have a dedicated webpage for local residents to provide updates on Kilrea Bridge. That is being prepared at the moment.”

UUP councillor Richard Holmes criticised DfI’s communication around the closure as “poor” and proposed that the council write to the department about a possible compensation scheme.

He said: “There are rumours flying around the town that this bridge may be closed for a year to give time for investigation and repairs, and businesses are finding it very, very difficult.

“One business I was in with at lunchtime said they would normally have 50 or 60 people through the door by that stage, and they hadn’t even had ten that day.

“Another business has seen turnover down by 60 percent — and businesses in a small town will not survive that.

“They’re saying they can plan around it, but they don’t know if it’s a two-week thing, a four-week thing, or through to mid-November. It’s just decimating businesses; the least I’ve heard is 25 percent down, and the worst I’ve heard is 60 percent.”