Access to a riverside car park reached by an aging bridge in Bungay is to be restricted - despite long-awaited repair works to the crossing finally starting.
The project to strengthen Milstream Bridge at Bungay Staithe began this week.
The dramatic operation involved more than five tonnes worth of concrete being pumped into the damaged culvert beneath, which is hoped will support the collapsing bridge.
However, it has emerged that when the work is complete the car park, situated opposite the Riverside Centre at the Staithe, will have access restricted to just keyholders.
East Suffolk Council, which owns the car park, will insert a "lockable bollard system" to prevent vehicle access to it.
The bollards will be placed before the Riverside Centre.
Bridge owner Tim Child said: “I feel great that work has begun and we are getting somewhere.
"I love this operation because this is the work which is actually going to strengthen the bridge.
"There won’t be any damage to the river from any concrete spills as these professionals are so incredibly efficient.
"The concern was that if this work wasn’t complete and the bridge remained in a fragile state for much longer the sewage, gas pipes, electricity and everything else which the bridge supports would collapse and cause an environmental disaster.
"All of which is just six inches beneath the surface."
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Mr Child acknowledges that the car park closure will cause "resentment" in the community - but he thinks the council's chosen position of the bollards will increase traffic across the bridge, putting more stress on the repaired structure.
He said: "East Suffolk's chosen solution is in my view a clumsy and poorly thought through affair.
"It will inevitably please no one and will be deeply resented by the wider community in and around Bungay.
"As an exercise in asset management it's a failure before it's even started, and worse still it fails to support the future safety of the Millstream bridge, which even after repairs, will remain highly vulnerable to the sort of excess traffic demands which have twice wrecked in it the past seven years.
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"Because the bridge also carries pressurised conduits of sewage, natural gas and two water mains, as well as two very high voltage electricity mains all embedded in a shallow 26-inch road covering, if it failed again under traffic pressure, the result could well be an environmental disaster.
"And fail it will because even if they can't park, the canoeists and paddle boarders now seeking river access in ever-increasing numbers will still drive across the bridge and attempt to get their craft as close as possible to the launch points, which means off-loading directly in front of the bollards.
"It's the same pattern which in 2021 saw a permanently full car park, and 600 short daily traffic movements across the bridge, and that's what broke it."
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An East Suffolk Council spokesperson said: “ESC has a right of access across a privately owned bridge and has reached an agreement with the owner, recognising that the bridge is not open for general public vehicular use, but extending the right of access to people accessing the Riverside Centre for a specific purpose.
“This includes parking on ESC land surrounding the Riverside Centre for the purpose of attending Bungay Town Council meetings, as well as attending Bungay Sea Scouts or Waveney Valley Canoe Club.”
Bungay Town Council in a statement said they had no involvement in the negotiations as these were undertaken between ESC and Mr Child.
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