Val Shawcross Deputy Mayor for Transport Executive Mayor’s Office Via email to: Val.Shawcross@.gov.uk Tower Hamlets Town Hall Mulberry Place 5 Clove Crescent London E14 2BG 19 January 2018 Contact: Marilyn Chitole Tel: 020 7364 6971 Fax 020 7364 4999

[email protected] Dear Val, www.towerhamlets.gov.uk

Feedback on high level review of H14 and H16

We are writing to provide feedback on the TfL review of the H14 and H16 bridges proposals completed in November 2017. Overall the review is disappointing. It does not draw on any new evidence or strategic direction from City Hall and fails to address the substantive points made either in the Planning Committee where the reserved matters application was heard or in the community consultation responses submitted.

It is still possible to establish a meaningful review of connectivity in the area and we remain hopeful that the , Transport for London and the London Legacy Development Corporation will reconsider these plans. The key arguments that have not been addressed in the review are set out below:

Timeliness and suitability of evidence The review is based on information used for the reserved matters application:

‘The reserved matters application for H14 provides the most recent traffic modelling information, alongside the Technical Note “LLDC Queen Elisabeth [sic] Olympic Park - H14 Bridge Review” dated 8 December 2016 prepared by Arup and the “Environmental Information Report”, dated March 2017, prepared by Quod.’

During the committee meeting, members asked how, based on their modelling, they could assess where the vehicles which would generate traffic would come from in order to test the risk of ‘rat- running’. It was unclear from the response where the additional journeys would be generated. It is disappointing that the review has relied on the information provided within the application to make its findings, not only is some of this information based on a 2014 baseline but the committee discussion clearly showed that one of the core concerns of residents and the community is that converting H14 to a vehicular bridge is rat-running, additional congestion and poorer air quality.

The review should have explored this issue in detail but did not.

Paragraph 4.15 confirms that the outcome of the H14 is ‘spreading vehicular’ movements which conflicts with the Mayor’s Transport Strategy objective: London’s streets will be used more efficiently and have less traffic on them’.

Paragraph 4.25 relies on information provided in the original LCS application which should have been re-tested in view of the Mayor’s Air Quality commitments.

The review recommends a review mechanism, which was suspended as part of the reserved matters application. The review mechanism is a positive suggestion and is only meaningful if it takes place once the current proposals are suspended.

Connectivity and ‘stitching communities’ together Figure 1 is used to argue for the connectivity value of H14 and H16 when in fact the current cycling bridge on the H14 location is stitching the 2 new communities together and there is pedestrian access over the Lock.

The argument that the bridges improve connectivity is completely undermined by the fact the H16 is only designed to address the safety issues of have a multi-modal bridge. If H14 could remain as a cycling and pedestrian bridge, providing the connectivity benefits already enjoyed by the community, the need for H16 disappears.

Residents of the area will find it particularly frustrating that the ‘connectivity’ and ‘public transport accessibility arguments have been so heavily used to make the case for H14 when in fact, the biggest improvement in connectivity and public transport accessibility would be to improve access north, to station by upgrading the Hertford Union bridge.

Paragraph 4.32 provides no evidence that other options to addressing proximity to a bus stop have been addressed. This section could have set out other options for linking a bus to Stour Road but does not.

Prioritisation Overall, it is disappointing that that the review of the bridges does not recognise the significant severance that residents experience from the A12 to the west and the Hertford Union to the north. There are proposals within the LCS but these have not been pursued with the same commitment as the H14 and H16 bridges. We would like to see refreshed commitment to addressing these fundamental barriers that Tower Hamlets residents have to enjoying the full benefits of the Olympic legacy.

I will be sharing this feedback with Mayor Sadiq Khan and the LLDC Board and continue to make the case to suspend the proposals.

Yours sincerely,

Mayor – Executive Cllr Rachel Blake – Councillor for Bow East Cllr Marc Francis – Councillor for Bow East Cllr Amina Ali – Councillor for Bow East

CC: Unmesh Desai, AM City and East