New foot bridges connect Chester House Estate with communities

21 October 2022

Two new bridges have been completed providing a footway linking North Northamptonshire Council’s Chester House Estate with the heart of Wellingborough and beyond.

The wheelchair-compliant, steel structures are set to open on Friday ready for the first birthday celebration at Chester House on Sunday and half term week at the venue.

One bridge is across the River Nene, replacing an old burnt-out structure that connects Chester House Estate to the Wellingborough embankment and is key to the future Greenway active-travel project. The previous bridge had been closed to the public for the past 15 years.
 
The second bridge is smaller and goes across the Chester House stream with both structures forming part of a right of way, connecting Wellingborough to Irchester. 

I’m delighted that we have been able to re-instate this important part of our Right of Way network, so that walkers, cyclists and wheelers can cross the river here again. It’s been a very challenging project due to the nature of the area, which is a flood plain and includes the scheduled monument at Chester House. The team have had very strict guidelines to follow including having to lay an access road to protect the archaeology below. 

We would like to thank Historic England, Natural England, The Environmental Agency and Kier and their contractors for their efforts getting this challenging project completed.Cllr Graham Lawman, The Council’s Executive Member for Highways, Travel and Assets

The Greenway project is now full steam ahead and we are working hard to connect the estate up to Wellingborough, Rushden Lakes, the river Nene and beyond.

It is a small part of a bigger project to improve accessibility throughout North Northants to create more opportunities to access our attractions by other means than the use of a car and goes towards our commitment to go carbon neutral. 

The bridges also accompany the new mooring which is fully open and operational.Cllr Helen Howell, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Sport, Leisure, Culture and Tourism

Chester House Estate is a wonderful addition to North Northamptonshire and I’m delighted that these new structures now make it more connected.Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council