Yorkshire's Aldwark Toll Bridge leaving residents 'up in arms' as cost could triple in price
Yorkshire residents are ‘up in arms’ as a privately owned toll bridge leading into their village and providing vital links is set to more than triple in price.
The Aldwark Toll Bridge, between Boroughbridge and Easingwold, in the Vale of York, is the only privately owned toll bridge in the county – and only one of three in the country. The others are located in Oxfordshire and Herefordshire.
The bridge first opened above the River Ure, west of Aldwark, in 1722. It was commonplace to pay a fee to cross a bridge before most roads and bridges passed into public ownership. Since 2005, each trip over for a standard car costs 40p.
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The toll bridge was taken over by businessman Alex Bell, of the Westwick Group, in 2020. The company attempted to increase the fare to 80p in 2022 - but the plan angered parents in neighbouring villages who use the bridge to ferry their children to and from school and it failed after a public enquiry. To reach Great Ouseburn Primary, from Aldwark, is a 25-mile roundtrip without access across the bridge.
The Westwick Group has since applied to more than triple the fee over a ten-year period with plans submitted in July. The plans see cars and goods vehicles cost going up gradually over ten years. The group has said it is doing it to so the bridge remains ‘commercially viable’ and to support ongoing maintenance work. This comes after the bridge was closed for ten months for repairs, reopening in February, this year.
For cars, it would go to £1, in the first three years, 1.20 in four to six years, £1.30 in seven to nine years and eventually £1.40 in the tenth year. For goods vehicles, which is currently a £1 charge, it would go to £2, £2.20, £2.40 and eventually £2.60, across the same timescale.
Susan Beesley, who owns The Aldwark Arms, says her pub was hit hard by the 10-month toll bridge closure and it resulted in ’40 percent’ decrease in trade. Susan, a mother of three, worries a price hike could make things worse as she says it’s taken ‘a while’ for customers to return.
Susan said: “They’re looking to increase the fees and I know the villagers are up in arms about that. There are objections. It’s also a business so I understand it but it will affect us as people will think twice about paying a £1 (£2 each way) to come over the bridge to come and eat her when they could just go somewhere on the other side. It’s a bit worrying.”
John De Beer, 72, said: “I think if they’d have asked for 50p, I don’t think anyone would have minded. It’s far too big of a rise to jump from 40p to £1. Christ, that’s ridiculous. A lot of people have got a lot of children at school and they have to use the bridge to get to their schools twice a day. So that brings it from 80p a day to £2 a day.”
If the uplift plans are successful, parents will have to eventually pay £2.80 for two trips a day, coming to £14 over the week, and £532 if the school is open for minimum 190 days a year. The Westwick Group does currently offer a book of tickets for 50 trips, for £17.50, but that only brings the fee down by 5p per trip in its current pricing.
Harry Hancock, 79, said: “It’s a lot of money to be going back and forth every day. There’s no sense getting angry about it but it’s just some faceless company that’s making money out of us and people travelling through. If you’re a family with three kids, a tenner a week is going to make a lot of difference.”
Ann Handisty said: “It’s going up such a lot from 40p to £1. For people using it every day, it’s going to make a big difference. I’m against it. I think it’s too much in one go. I’d like to know how much they spent on the refurbishment and updating of the bridge. It would be quite useful to know what the £1 is going to cover.”
The Westwick Group’s solicitors said in their application letter that the bridge repairs cost in excess of £700,000. The Westwick Group declined to comment on this matter while the legal process in underway.
In the application, the group’s solicitors write: “The Management of the Applicant is requesting an uplift to toll fees to ensure that the toll bridge can continue to operate on a commercially viable basis and to ensure a comprehensive ten year budgeting plan for the on-going maintenance works required to keep the bridge in good working order for many years to come.”
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