County faces major bill for Beaminster Tunnel works

12:56pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News By Rene Gerryts

A PLEA for government money to help fund the re-opening of Beaminster Tunnel has fallen on deaf ears.

Dorset County Council faces additional costs of around £2.3 million to make the Tunnel safe and re-open the A3066.

It asked the Department for Transport for money but was told by Parliamentary under secretary of state Norman Baker that the council would have to use its own budget to meet the cost, saying it would be unfair on national taxpayers to give additional funds to Dorset.

Dorset County Councillors will be discussing options for repairing the tunnel at their cabinet meeting on November 7.

The tunnel has been closed since July 7 when a landslip killed Rosemary Snell and Michael Rolfe.

Their bodies lay undiscovered for ten days.

Comments(18)

stench says...
3:02pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Surely is the Council's place to fix?

If they had correctly maintained the bridge, may be this tragic incident would never had occured...

Report this post »

Dorset Boy says...
3:13pm Wed 31 Oct 12

stench wrote:
Surely is the Council's place to fix?

If they had correctly maintained the bridge, may be this tragic incident would never had occured...
Landslips caused by Mother Nature have no bearing whatsoever on the council

Report this post »

Huey says...
4:38pm Wed 31 Oct 12

I blame all that rain we had

Report this post »

Isosceles says...
5:16pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Huey
No, it was the olympics (:o))

Report this post »

snowleopard says...
5:22pm Wed 31 Oct 12

So where is the MP Mr Letwin on this matter?

Report this post »

Fred Kite says...
6:37pm Wed 31 Oct 12

What's Letwin doing on this, nothing as usual, but his government will find the money to blow up then build new bridges abroad.

Report this post »

kildare43 says...
6:49pm Wed 31 Oct 12

snowleopard wrote:
So where is the MP Mr Letwin on this matter?
He's laughing up his sleeve with Norman Baker in their club because they gave " national taxpayers money " to fund the buses for Charlie's little Poundbury, Public school pr...s

Report this post »

malkie says...
7:25pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Maybe, if DCC Highways Department had not spent so much on unnecessarily rebuilding Weymouth's perfectly adequate traffic system, then there would have been enough money available to carry out the necessary repairs to the tunnel.

Report this post »

cordless says...
8:12pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Now come on. Answers Please.Lets hear the chain of commands from DCC.Names ,Positions, Jobs worth and their present rolls, even if they have been Pensioned off on Golden Pensions.Some one gave the orders And Paid to cut down the trees that were not even on DCC owned property.We employ all these specialists or did they hire in a Consultant (Names Please).And don't blame the poor labourer at the bottom.Starting at the top.Plus Costs.

Report this post »

wessex-andy says...
8:18pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Sorry, bur the new WDDC offices in Dorchester take priority over all else.

Report this post »

malkie says...
8:25pm Wed 31 Oct 12

wessex-andy wrote:
Sorry, bur the new WDDC offices in Dorchester take priority over all else.
It's DCC Highways Dept that are responsible for the roads. The WDDC ofices are nothing to do with this & the finance is from a completely separate budget.

Report this post »

annotator1 says...
8:39pm Wed 31 Oct 12

I don't know. Years ago when I started driving, I and everyone else, paid the Road Fund Licence. That covered repairs to roads and bridges.
The tax now gets lost in the central fund!
If, the banks of the tunnel had been maintained and replanted when old shrubs and trees died off, mother nature would quite possibly have looked after itself.
Who knows!
A sad loss of lives.

Report this post »

Bridders says...
9:10pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Get rid of the tunnel altogether, put a cutting through the hillside. Half the work is already done with the actual tunnel itself. Ok, may need to be a lot wider than it already is, may cost quite a few £'s but will be virtually maintenance free thereafter. No lighting problems to fix, no internal repairs required and hopefully no road accidents at either end. Simples.

Report this post »

cordless says...
11:43pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Sorry Bridders, not the answer. 1/ listed Building. 2/Roman Road over the top. 3/ Still will have high banks after tunnel removal 4/ Road will have to be made wider. Etc. Etc.

Report this post »

cj07589 says...
10:21am Thu 1 Nov 12

Fred Kite wrote:
What's Letwin doing on this, nothing as usual, but his government will find the money to blow up then build new bridges abroad.
Yeap spot on, if it was a foreign tunnel the government would find the cash somehow. Nevermind eh so the corrupt European fiddling union is about to recieve a £1.2billion increase over the next two years and the miserable so-and-sos cant be bothered to assist the citizens of its own country. Its downright dsgraceful really!

Report this post »

Say NO says...
1:16pm Thu 1 Nov 12

The council ordered trees to be removed from the bank just weeks before the land slide. The tree roots were holding the bank in place. Removal of the trees combined with severe weather caused the landslide.

Report this post »

portland rebel says...
10:29am Sat 3 Nov 12

very good at spending on white elephants, but to spend money where it is needed, well thats another story.

Report this post »

Posh Totty says...
11:12am Sat 3 Nov 12

There used to be a toll house at the tunnel years ago - why not get a private company ( under the councils directions) to mend the tunnel and charge a small toll - if the figures stack up. I dont know what the traffic numbers are each day but with the price of petrol you wouldnt be spending much more if it was say a £1 than doing the extra miles on the diversion.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree