Plans to rebuild Kay Bridge in Summerseat which was destroyed by the Boxing Day floods of 2015 are close to being approved.

The council is waiting for the Government to approve a Compulsory Purchase Order which the local authority needs in order to buy the land and carry out the work.

The Department for Transport has now confirmed that it should be able to make a final decision by 10 December, after no objections were made to the CPO.

Planning permission has already been granted for the reconstruction of the bridge, which will incorporate a new footway.

Councillor Judith Kelly, cabinet member for corporate affairs and HR, said: “Storm Eva was the worst weather event in Bury in living memory. While thankfully no one died or suffered serious injury, the storm caused a huge amount of disruption and forced scores of people out of their homes.

“Perhaps the most visible sign of this damage was the collapse of Kay Bridge and the former Waterside Inn, which made national headlines.

“We worked long and hard to reach an agreement with the land owner which would allow the bridge to be rebuilt and reinstate the second river crossing to Summerseat. This did not happen, which forced us to go down the compulsory purchase route.

“I am glad to hear that the Government could be just weeks away from approving our plans, because we are certainly ready to get on with it.”

If the CPO is confirmed by the DfT, it then needs to be publicised and implemented and this statutory process will take a further three months.

While work in the river cannot start until March, due to laws protecting salmon and freshwater fish, preparation work on land could happen ahead of March.

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