News / floating harbour
Ferry landing stage ‘continuing to decay’
The ferry landing stage at the Cascade Steps is rotting and needs replacing urgently.
And it has emerged that a member of the public fell part way through the wooden structure back in 2022 but only now has Bristol City Council allocated funds to rebuild it.
The Harbour Festival could be jeopardised and people’s safety put at risk if the work does not go ahead, councillors were told at the annual budget meeting.
The desperate state of the platform came to light after the opposition Labour group tabled a budget amendment to divert all £900,000 from the project to refurbish the Downs changing rooms.
But Green councillor for Central ward, Sibusiso Tshabalala, told the meeting: “This amendment is presented as a saving. It is not.
“I have the engineering evidence before me. The WSP structural report is clear. The timber superstructure of the Cascade Steps has ‘reached the end of its service life’.
“The report identifies wood rot, fracturing of supporting joists, and failed connections, with screws losing grip because the timber beneath them is decaying.
“In 2022, a member of the public fell part way through the decking. Since then, the decks have continued to decay.”
The timber superstructure of the Cascade Steps has “reached the end of its service life” – photo: Martin Booth
The project now requires £900,000 in capital works and “it can’t be delayed”, said Tshabalala.
Tshabalala added: “Officers have advised that without funding, the landing stage will have to be taken out of service.
“For the Harbour Festival, this is a critical asset.
“A vote against this amendment is a prioritisation of the city’s water gateway.
“You would be demonstrating that you choose public safety and asset stewardship for the many.”
Lib Dem councillor Andrew Brown said that the Cascade Steps landing stage “is an essential piece of infrastructure serving commercial ferry operators and supporting access to the water that has been allowed to get to the end of its life”.
“If we remove this funding today, we face a real risk that we will end up with it being closed for health and safety reasons, disadvantaging residents, visitors and businesses of this city.”
John Goulandris, a Conservative councillor for Stoke Bishop, said: “The Downs changing rooms are in dire need of renovation and as a council we can’t keep kicking this political football down the road.
“However, the source of the funding for this budget amendment is unacceptable as it puts at risk critical infrastructure on the harbourside.
“Removing this funding could see the much-used ferry service closed, the Harbour Festival jeopardised, and there are health and safety implications right in the city centre.
“That is simply too great a risk to take.”
A member of the public fell part way through the wooden structure back in 2022 – photo: Martin Booth
In budget papers, finance officers said that if the Cascade Steps landing stage was not replaced in 2026, there was a “high likelihood that the entirety of the decked area would be closed off due to being unsafe to access”.
“This would prevent this being used as a ferry landing. Closure would negatively impact businesses that rely on the landing stage for operation.”
Moving the motion, Labour councillor Emily Clarke said: “The state of the Downs changing rooms is horrendous. They don’t meet modern standards and they are a health hazard.
“That is not to say that the Cascade Steps landing stage shouldn’t be replaced.
“It’s a necessary project and I hope it goes ahead but it is being funded from the wrong budget.”
Responding to criticism from Labour that the Cascade Steps project had not come to a committee for a decision, Tshabalala said: “The findings of the structural report informed a capital bid submitted through the council’s standard process.
“The proposal was assessed, prioritised and included in the draft budget through the same pathway as other capital schemes.
“This is not a late addition. It is the outcome of a technical review and an established governance procedure.”
It is understood that a report will go to the next harbour committee in March. Councillors voted against the amendment by 38-21, with eight abstentions.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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