When the contractors arrived on site in early March to carry out critical repairs, another major milestone had been achieved. The site compound was installed; safety fencing, signage and scaffolding were erected; and the temporary access road to the eastern abutment was started. The long awaited work by contractors had commenced following years of planning, fundraising and community input.
But no sooner had the work started, it had to be temporarily halted due to the current pandemic. The scheduled work has been temporarily suspended whilst the Covid 19 lockdown is in place. The work will recommence when it is safe to do so..
Whilst the virus has interrupted the momentum which the Bennerley project has gathered, it will not derail the initiative. Clearly, all face to face community engagement activity, meetings and workdays have been temporarily put on hold, but virtual meetings and planning are still taking place to ensure that we hit the ground running when we come out of the lockdown.
In the meantime, Spring is arriving at the viaduct. The primroses are out, the cherries and the blackthorn are starting to blossom and the newly laid hedges are starting to green up. The eerie calm down at the viaduct may even give those ground nesting birds like the lapwing and the little ringed plover a better chance to thrive.
The primroses show that Spring has arrived