No timescale for 'wobbly' bridge replacement

A "wobbly" footbridge that closed suddenly for safety reasons earlier this year will be replaced, a local authority has confirmed.

Oxfordshire County Council shut the Cottesmore footbridge in south Oxford in May after it identified concerns with the structure, which links Rose Hill and Iffley.

After six months of uncertainty, the council has now confirmed the bridge will be replaced, but has not given a timescale for the project.

Resident and city councillor Ed Turner welcomed the update but described the closure as a "massive inconvenience for local people".

"What we need now really is simply the timescale for the replacement, and whether there's going to be any strengthening to reopen the existing bridge in the meantime," he said.

"Don't forget, it is something which happened literally overnight.

"We heard on day one that the bridge was apparently unsafe - a bridge people have been using for decades - and then on day two it was just shut up."

In June, a Freedom of Information request by opposition councillor David Henwood found the county council had known about structural damage to the footbridge for years before it was closed.

Oxford East MP Dame Anneliese Dodds previously said she had raised concerns over the bridge's safety to the local authority in September 2025, only to be told it was not one of the council's "priority projects".

Announcing the replacement plans this week, the county council said: "We have decided to fully replace the existing bridge to provide the safest, most reliable, and most cost effective long-term solution."

Alongside the bridge replacement, it also confirmed additional street lighting would be added to the current diversion route, which will be installed in December.

However, the authority said it was "not in a position to give any timescales just yet" on when the replacement bridge would reopen.

Following its initial closure, the council said: "The decision to close this popular footbridge was not taken lightly but the safety of the public will always be our top priority."