The owners of a Cockermouth art gallery say the closure of Cocker Bridge has impacted the town worse financially than the 2009 floods.
Ben and Carlie-Rose Bush, who own The Bridge Gallery, based on Market Place, said the closure of the bridge due to the partial collapse of the Old Courthouse has left them with ‘no other option’ than to close.
Cumberland Council first closed the bridge to traffic and pedestrians in October 2023 for public safety after the building suddenly partially collapsed into the river overnight.
The road was recently reopened to drivers with safety measures in place – but the pavement has remained fully closed off from pedestrians.
While the bridge was closed, the town became ‘split in two’ and several attempts to encourage people to visit both sides of the town were made by Cumbria Chamber.
Ben and Carlie-Rose’s gallery is situated on the opposite side of the bridge near the Old Courthouse, which they said left their shop obstructed by road signs and safety measures like scaffolding.
Ben said: “Last October they closed the bridge without telling us, so for nine months we have been behind traffic lights and the pavement has been blocked off.
“We’ve now reached a point financially where we have no other option than to close. We spent three and a half years building the place and we’ve been given absolutely no help and have been left completely unsupported.
“I know for a fact it’s touch and go for a lot of people on Market Place and the impact of their decision making has been worse than the financial impact of the 2009 floods. That’s not just coming from me either.”
Ben added that he felt Cumberland Council had not done enough to support independent businesses throughout the closure.
He said: “From the very beginning, there has been no communication with shopkeepers and there has been no consideration for the impact it has had on us. It just does not seem like the council care, we only had one visit from Mark Fryer.
“Now they’ve reopened the road it feels like there was no reason for it to be closed for so long. It was a knee jerk reaction and they should have made sure businesses could survive it.”
While other factors including the cost of living crisis are making times hard for shop owners – Ben said the closure of the Bridge was solely to blame for the gallery’s closure.
He said: “The bridge closure is 100 per cent the main reason why we are closing, it has been a terrible decision to make. Times are hard for everyone at the moment but we were surviving and getting by well before this happened.
“Our gallery supports over 35 local artists, traders, suppliers and our landlord so numerous people are affected, it’s not just about us.”
A spokeswoman from the council said: “Following the immediate collapse of the Old Courthouse building last year, we sought advice from a specialist structural engineer. We put in place their recommendations and there was a temporary closure of the bridge to vehicles and pedestrians due to public safety concerns.
“In attempt to open up Cockermouth to both trade and public use, a temporary walkway was put in place to allow pedestrian free flow through Main Street Cockermouth.
“Following further advice from a consultant structural engineer, a protected screen was designed and installed which enabled the Main Street to reopen to pedestrians and, under traffic light control, to vehicles in December last year.
“On the run up to the summer school holidays and following a review of the partially collapsed building it was determined that through the passage of time there had been no reported incidents of debris falling from the structure.
“As the result of this positive information, we were able to reduce the size of the screen whilst still providing protection to the public and open the bridge to two way traffic. We updated local stakeholders at the earliest opportunity.
“We apologise for any inconvenience the temporary closures may have caused, however public safety is always at the forefront of everything we do.”
