Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall has signalled a potential U-turn on a £1.3 million active travel strategy which involved rebuilding old railway bridges.

The government proposals (21/00026/B) received planning approval in August, and would have reconnected sections of the old steam railway line between St John’s and Kirk Michael at the site of three former bridges - at Glen Wyllin, Glen Mooar and another which will cross the Peel Road near St John’s.

The government said the plan would enable people to use the public footpath along the old railway line more easily, promoting its active travel strategy (walking or cycling for regular journeys instead of driving) and reducing traffic on the roads.

However, Mr Crookall said that he had ’serious reservations as to whether that’s the best way to spend this money’.

He explained: ’This week and the last few weeks we’ve seen numerous trees [fall], we’ve got a huge problem with ash dieback in the island, we’ve got well over 6,000 trees that are diseased, and we’ve seen quite a few of those coming down.’

’I think it’s my responsibility and the department’s responsibility to make sure that money is spent in the right place at the right time for the benefit of anybody else.

’I wouldn’t sleep if I had those bridges built knowing that a tree had come down and caused injury or worse.’

Mr Crookall said that this week he had had a conversation with the Treasury Minister and department and about using the funds on the bridges, adding: ’We’ll have to wait and see what is in the budget’.

He also noted the impact of an 18% increase in steel prices in the past year.

Speaker of Tynwald Juan Watterson pointed out to members that the project was among the around 80 schemes which were approved under a parliamentary process which means that any vote for the budget would also mean a vote for the scheme.

He asked Mr Crookall to review this scheme, among others, to ’test the opinion of Tynwald court to see if this is a priority before the money goes ahead to be spent’, which Mr Crookall said he would be happy to do.

All bridges would be steel truss bridges, with those at Glen Mooar and Glen Wyllin built onto the existing stone stanchions, from which the original bridges were removed in 1975.