South Yorkshire Times – Saturday 16 February 1952
That Bridge Again!
Old Denaby “Nudge” to the County Council
Old Denaby’s “Hardy annual”—the bridge over the River Don—cropped up again on Tuesday at a meeting of the village’s Parish Council.
The most recent step taken to replace the ferry by a bridge was almost a year ago, when a conference of representatives from the West Riding County Council, Mexborough Urban Council, and Doncaster Rural Council, met to discuss it.
A permanent bridge, it was decided, would cost about £63,500. The Rural and Urban Councils signified that they would be willing to share a third each of the cost, and the County representatives said they thought it likely that the County would also pay their share.
Since then, however, the Parish Council have been told that Doncaster Rural Council may not contribute directly or indirectly to the cost. Being a rural council they are not classed as a highways authority, so the bridge must be paid for jointly by the Mexborough Council and the West Riding.
The Parish Council wrote to the Parish Councils Association asking for confirmation of the Doncaster ruling—and on Tuesday the reply was read. Briefly summarised, it said that the Rural Council definitely could not share the cost.
So now the Old Denaby Council are writing once again to the County to give them a nudge and suggesting that the County should pay two-thirds of the cost.