Temple Footbridge repairs delayed and reopening pushed back another year

Temple Footbridge will be refurbished or see a full replacement – but the works will take at least another year to begin.

The bridge, which is part of the Thames Path, provides a crossing over the River Thames just upstream of Temple Lock near Marlow and Hurley.

After an Environment Agency inspection, it was closed in 2023 due to ‘numerous structural and safety concerns’ and has remained closed since.

In May this year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) invested £500,000 towards repair works, split equally between Temple Bridge and Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Henley.

After two years of long-awaited works, the damaged central section of Temple Footbridge was removed in November. The operation took nine hours to complete.

But a full reopening of the bridge could take at least another year, a Royal Borough Local Access Forum meeting heard on Wednesday (December 3).

The middle section of the footbridge has to first be inspected by the Environment Agency and officers will decide if a refurbishment of the bridge is a ‘viable option’ or if a full replacement is needed.

An outline design for the future works will then be published on October 31 next year.

Jacqui Wheeler, the Royal Borough’s parks and countryside access officer, said: “Due to the volume of tropical hardwood within the current bridge as well as some design improvements that can be made, a major refurbishment might not be possible.

“[The bridge] is going to be closed for quite some time to come still.”

Ms Wheeler said the Environment Agency also needs to find source of funding to cover the costs of the bridge before anything can go forward.

Parish councillor Bill Perry, a member of the forum and the chairman of Cookham Parish Council, wanted to know why an outline design will take such a long time to put forward, before the work can even begin.

Geoff Priest, the chair of the forum, said the long closure is ‘not surprising’ because the council needs to work with the Environment Agency.

Mr Priest said: “I don’t think you can speed up the process.”

He added that the footpath currently used as a diversion route is ‘not the best choice’.

Walkers on the Thames Path have to go along Temple Lane – a 60mph road - in order to cross the River Thames at Marlow Bridge instead which is about four miles long.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDR) after the meeting, Royal Borough Cllr Ewan Larcombe (Ind, Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury) said the length of time the works will take is ‘absolutely outrageous’.

Cllr Larcombe said: “Wooden bridges [like Temple Footbridge] do not have a significant design life, they’re timber, they don’t last long, they last 25 to 30 years and then they need to be replaced.”