It’s the most glorious Transporter Bridge in the world. It is part of the Teesside identity. It is the icon, and people have a visceral connection with it. t’s a symbol of home to many, many people, and we cannot let it fall into further disrepair. This week it was announced that our beloved bridge has been added to the Historic England “At Risk” register.
This may come as no surprise to people who have been aware of the structural issues the bridge has, but it can serve as something of a wakeup call of the importance of the task at hand.
I am aware that the Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Lord Houchen has been floating the nonsense idea of knocking down our Transporter Bridge and replacing it with a replica.
We will not let that happen – the bridge has to be restored and put back into full working action, whatever it takes.
As a country we’ve just spent billions on the Elizabeth Tower at the House of Commons. Could you imagine if we’d said about Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower that houses it, ‘We’ll knock it down and build a replica. Nobody will notice the difference’?
Thankfully there is already work underway and funding available to be making a start with.
Engineers commissioned by Middlesbrough Council are already preparing those design plans for repair. There has been testing and those plans we hope will come to fruition in the course of next year.
There is also £1bn in transport funding which has been allocated to the Tees Valley Combined Authority and £30mn thus far has been allocated for the repairs to the Transporter Bridge.
Our Transporter Bridge
People can be assured that as the MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, I’ll be pursuing government and anybody else I need to, to make sure that our Transporter Bridge is brought back to life.
The Middlehaven area is currently undergoing major regeneration, global digital businesses grown from Teesside University are making it their home, Middlesbrough College is doing a marvellous job there giving the next generation the skills for the jobs of the future, our newest secondary school Outwood Academy Riverside is also now under construction.
But we must not forget our past. Middlehaven as we call it now is what we once called St Hilda’s – where Middlesbrough began.
The Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke and the Labour Middlesbrough Council have already secured funding and have plans to return the Old Town Hall to its former glory and have this week announced proposals for more than 3,000 new homes and new business and leisure facilities in the heart of the town on the banks of the River Tees.
The Transporter Bridge must always stand above all of this as a symbol of what Middlesbrough is.
We must preserve and treasure these things. It matters to people in my constituency of Middlesbrough & Thornaby East and right across, across Teesside. They want to see their icons preserved.
We’ve got to do whatever it takes to restore the Transporter Bridge and get it functioning again. That’s what we should do. It’s too important to let go to the wall.
