People urged to back Shoreham footbridge

The bridge, which connects Shoreham High Street with Shoreham Beach, is one of 129 projects around the country competing to be in transport charity Sustrans' Connect2 project bid for lottery millions.

Connect2 is one of the projects being considered to compete for a single multi-million-pound grant.

Towards the end of last year, Adur District Council, on behalf of the community, applied to be part of the Connect2 project.

The footbridge has succeeded in reaching the long list, and hopes to make the shortlist. Sustrans will announce this in May. The winner will be decided by public TV vote this winter.

Sustrans is working with partners around the UK to overcome long-standing barriers such as busy roads, railways or rivers that are dividing communities and making it difficult for people to travel by foot or bike as part of their everyday lives.

People can start supporting a new footbridge now by registering on the Connect2 website www.sustransconnect2.org.uk or by calling the Sustrans information line on 08450 581373.

They can also go along to Coronation Green, Shoreham, near the footbridge, on Tuesday, March 27, at 10am, when John Grimshaw, chief executive of Sustrans, visits the town.

Shoreham's footbridge, owned by West Sussex County Council, was built in the 1920s, but is now coming to the end of its life. The footbridge is used all year round for children to walk to school, people cross it to go to work or go shopping, and families use it to go to the beach.

Plans for a new, wider bridge would provide both a footpath and cycleways. If the footbridge makes it to the Connect2 shortlist, then public support will be crucial.

Connect2 is being considered alongside five other projects '“ The Eden Project's dry tropics Biome, Somerset Waterlinks, the National Museum of Science and Industry Collections Centre, The Black Country as Urban Park and Sherwood Forest '“ the Living Legend.