Wants Transport Minister to explain continued delay on reopening
No progress has been made on how to fund reopening of the bridge
|
Putney MP Fleur Anderson has asked the Transport Secretary for an urgent meeting to explain the delays on reopening Hammersmith Bridge.
She says that it has been more than 5 months since Grant Shapps announced a ‘decisive and quick’ new Taskforce to get the bridge reopened, promising not to ‘let hard-working Londoners suffer any longer’.
Since its creation the Taskforce has yet to fund any work to the bridge and discussions about who is responsible for funding remains mired in disagreement. Hammersmith and Fulham Council have submitted a funding plan for the Bridge which they have asked the Taskforce to approve so that works can start on repairs. Ms Anderson wants this plan to be expedited to end travel misery for Putney residents
This week she has joined forces with other local MPs and sent a joint letter to Grant Shapps. The other signatories are Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith), Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) and Ruth Cadbury (Brentford & Isleworth).
The minister is asked to explain why consideration of how the repairs will be funded was removed from Taskforce meeting agendas and not discussed until October.
The letter says that the government should stop asking Hammersmith & Fulham to pay 50% of the cost which is beyond its financial capability and the precedent for similar infrastructure projects is that the local authority should pay in the region of 15%
Ms Anderson said, “I am very concerned by the lack of action from the Taskforce. This is delaying the reopening and, in the meantime, residents face a daily disruption, delays, congestion and additional pollution. They are cut off from schools, hospitals and work.
“Enough is enough. Almost half a year has been wasted. The Taskforce must stop obstructing progress. No Council has the money needed to reopen the bridge. Only the Government have funding for large scale vital infrastructure investment. If the Taskforce want to get the bridge re-opened, the Chair must accept the realities of local government funding constraints and take decisive and quick action to fund the restoration.
“I have asked for an urgent meeting with the Transport Secretary to ask for an explanation on the delays and why hard-working Putney residents are still suffering on his watch.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
February 25, 2021
