With the demands on public money so great the Tories in Wandsworth must rediscover the language of priorities and abandon this vanity project says North Battersea Alliance Against the bridge
North Battersea Alliance Against the bridge has welcomed the election of Marsha De Cordoba as the MP for Battersea.
On June 2nd Marsha de Cordova, then Labour Party candidate for Battersea, and Ibrahim Dogus, Labour Party candidate for Westminster joined a photocall organized by the Alliance at Nine Elms calling on Transport For London to abandon plans to spend up to £100 million on an unnecessary New Thames Crossing 350 yards from Vauxhall Bridge.
Unlike further east in London there is no demand from local people for a new Thames river crossing on the very good grounds that there is absolutely no need for it.
North Battersea Alliance against the Bridge is also calling for no further taxpayer’s monies to be spent on the project. Wandsworth Council has already given taxpayers money to this project.
The local campaign considers that a new Thames River crossing at this location is not needed and if funds are available they should be spent on new crossings further east of the Blackwall Tunnel. The official plans show that it would save cyclists 1 minute and pedestrians 7 minutes. There is widespread opposition to this use of public money on both sides of the river.
Spencer Barnshaw, BWTUC Secretary and spokesperson for the Alliance, said “Battersea Tories are so out of touch that they backed spending up to £100m on a bridge no one wants. Their defeat last Thursday is linked to their being out of touch with the priorities of the local community.
They ignored Labour Party victory in the Queenstown wWrd last November which Jeremy Corbyn hailed at the time and was mocked for this. The proposed bridge is in Queenstown Ward and the North Battersea Alliance Against the Bridge made it a major election issue during that election.
North Battersea Alliance Against the Bridge is now calling on the Tory Party in Wandsworth to withdraw support for this unnecessary bridge.
What we have here are property developers attempting to dictate that up to £100m of very scarce public money be spent on a new crossing a few minutes away from the existing Vauxhall Bridge.
Vauxhall Bridge already has two pedestrian footpaths and a two way, two lane full width cycleway. Unlike further east in London, there is no demand from local people for a new Thames river crossing on the very good grounds that there is absolutely no need for it.
It is a scandal that Wandsworth Council has already spent over £100,000 on this project at a time when they are cutting services and jobs and terms and conditions of employment.
Over the last four years in Wandsworth unions has campaigned against sale of school playing fields, abandoning the meals on wheels service, closure of libraries, adventure playgrounds, OneO'clock clubs, cuts to youth provision, school crossing patrols, and against the pay to play schemes like to one in Battersea Park.
With the demands on public money so great the Tories in Wandsworth must rediscover the language of priorities and abandon this vanity project."
Marsha de Cordova, as PPC for Battersea said, “Unlike further east the last thing that is needed is another bridge from the Battersea side of the Thames. My message is quite simple instead of spending the expected £100 million on another bridge spend it on projects that matter to local people. There is still time to abandon this vanity project and use the money on youth services, housing and social care.”
