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Sam Sims Martin Tedder On behalf of The Commission on East Thames Crossings, chaired by Andrew Adonis LINKING LONDON: GENERATION A NEW OF RIVER CROSSINGS THE REVITALISE TO EAST THAMES LINKING LONDON: A NEW GENERATION OF RIVER CROSSINGS TO REVITALISE THE EAST THAMES Sam Sims, Martin Tedder On behalf of The Commission on East Thames Crossings, chaired by Andrew Adonis Published by Centre for London, October 2014 Open Access. Some rights reserved. As the publisher of this work, Centre for London wants to encourage the circulation of our work as widely as possible while retaining the copyright. We therefore have an open access policy which enables anyone to access our content online without charge. Anyone can download, save, perform or distribute this work in any format, including translation, without written permission. This is subject to the terms of the Centre for London licence. Its main conditions are: · Centre for London and the author(s) are credited · This summary and the address www.centreforlondon.org are displayed · The text is not altered and is used in full · The work is not resold · A copy of the work or link to its use online is sent to Centre for London. You are welcome to ask for permission to use this work for purposes other than those covered by the licence. Centre for London gratefully acknowledges the work of Creative Commons in inspiring our approach to copyright. To find out more go to www.creativecommons.org Published by: Centre for London 2014 © Centre for London. Some rights reserved. The Exchange 28 London Bridge Street London, SE1 9SG T: 020 3102 3767 [email protected] www.centreforlondon.org Company Number: 8414909 Charity Number: 1151435 Typeset by Soapbox, www.soapbox.co.uk Centre for London is a politically independent, not‑for‑profit think tank focused on the big challenges facing London. Through its research and events, the Centre acts as a critical friend to London’s leaders and policymakers, promotes a wider understanding of the challenges facing London, and develops long‑term, rigorous and radical policy solutions for the capital. It looks for support from a mixture of private, voluntary and public sector funders and works collaboratively with its supporters, drawing on their experience and expertise. Launched in 2011, the Centre is quickly developing relationships with sister organisations across the globe. Find out more about our work at www.centreforlondon.org. Centre for London is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. Company Number: 8414909. Charity Number: 1151435. 3 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Sam Sims Sam Sims is Research Manager at Centre for London. He is a policy analyst interested in cities, housing, public services and education. Between 2010 and 2013 he worked at the Institute for Government where his research focused on public service markets and decentralisation. Sam has a PPE degree from Oxford and an MSc in Policy Analysis and Evaluation at the Institute of Education, where he is currently studying for a PhD. Martin Tedder Martin is Principal Planner at Atkins. He is an urban planning expert with 10 years of experience in strategy development for complex urban environments around the world. He is currently Principal Planner at Atkins, and has worked on planning projects with Transport for London and a range of local authorities, contributing to the evidence base to support the development of local planning and development strategies. He has also worked extensively across Europe, the Middle East and India. Recent examples of work include leading a major project investigating how the Indian cities of Bangalore and Madurai can future proof their urban development strategies to cope with rapid population growth and a growing infrastructure deficit, as well as the preparation of a range of strategic planning and development scenarios to support the Bahrain National Plan. 5 ABOUT THE COMMISSION ON EAST THAMES CROSSINGS In 2013 the Centre for London began work on a project investigating why East London and the area east of London has consistently failed to deliver on its potential for significant employment and housing growth. This work was published in 2014 as the report Go East: unlocking the potential of the Thames Estuary. One of the key conclusions from this work was that the area was being held back by a severe lack of crossing capacity on the East Thames. In spring 2014 we set up the Commission on East Thames Crossings with the following aim: to develop a set of politically and financially robust proposals to deliver a step change in crossing capacity on the East Thames. The Commission has been chaired by Andrew Adonis and research support has been provided by Sam Sims (Centre for London) and Martin Tedder (Atkins). A public call for evidence was made in May 2014 and remained open until July 2014. We engaged widely, and as part of our evidence gathering we met with a range of groups including local authorities, local business representatives, environmental groups, transport campaigns, London government agencies and academic experts. We held meetings with all interested parties that contacted us to request one. The Commission considered a wide range of evidence including previous consultations and supporting documentation, public enquiries, local authority commissioned reports, academic journal articles and books. We conducted original data analysis and modelling and also commissioned short papers from a range of experts. The commissioners met four times between May and September to discuss evidence papers and put together our proposals. Our commissioners were carefully selected to ensure a range of expertise, experience and geographical and political allegiances. They include architects, planners, housing and transport experts, academics, local government and business representatives and former ministers from both the Labour and Conservative parties. What unifies them is a desire to connect North‑ East and South‑East London and unlock the potential of this area and its residents. They are: Professor Kate Ascher (Buro Happold), David Bayliss (RAC Foundation), Ed Clarke (Infracapital), Nicola Clay (Royal Haskoning DHV), Christopher Hall (GVA), Stephen Howlett (Peabody), Mark Jenkinson (Siemens), David Leam (London First), Ian Mulcahey (Gensler), Richard McCarthy (Capita Symonds), Robin Mortimer (Port of London Authority), Steve Norris (Norris McDonough LLP), Rt. Hon Nick Raynsford MP, Sir Michael Snyder (City of London), Eric Sorensen (former CEO Thames Gateway Partnership), Martin Tedder (Atkins), Janette Withey (Docklands Business Club) and Ben Rogers (Centre for London). This work is a collaborative effort between all of us. 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank all the individuals and organisations who have given up their time to help us with this research. Particular thanks go to our sponsors – the City of London Corporation, GVA, Atkins and the Port of London Authority – without whose support this project would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the Commissioners for giving up their time to take part in the project. Additional thanks go to Gensler for contributing original concept images for the publication. Any errors in the report remain solely those of the authors. 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 12 1. INTRODUCTION: THE THAMES CHASM 22 2. HISTORY: HOW DID WE GET HERE? 26 3. THE CASE FOR NEW RIVER CROSSINGS 30 4. WHICH CROSSINGS, WHERE? 36 5. ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT 48 6. DELIVERY AND GOVERNANCE 54 7. FINANCING NEW CROSSINGS 58 8. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 64 References 67 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Thames chasm London’s development as a global city is intimately connected with its location on the Thames.1 The river provided the basis for the original Roman settlement, allowed for trade with coastal towns as the city developed, and made London the central hub for imperial trade during the days of empire. The banks and insurance firms that grew up around the shipping industry eventually morphed into today’s financial services cluster, trading around the world. But rivers divide as well as connect, and for a long time London was effectively split down the middle by the Thames. It was only in the middle of the 18th century that Londoners started to bridge this divide, but in the following one hundred and fifty years many new crossings were constructed right along the river, knitting together the two banks and helping the city to become the prosperous, fast‑moving place it is today. Figure 1: The East Thames disconnect Source: Original work by Gensler That is, except for in East London, where very few road crossings were ever built. While there are now 16 road bridges on the 20 miles of the river west of Tower Bridge, there is only one road bridge and two low‑capacity road tunnels on the equivalent stretch to the east.2 The Commission believes that tackling the lack of crossings here represents 13 a huge opportunity to unlock a new stage of growth in the capital that could transform East London for the better. Indeed, the longer East Londoners have waited for new crossings, the stronger the case for constructing them has become. The case for new crossings The case for action is now overwhelming. New crossings will improve access to jobs, customers and suppliers, increasing business productivity and employment. The increased accessibility will also provide a boost for house building, so helping to tackle London’s severe housing shortage. Crucially, new crossings will also connect otherwise somewhat isolated communities to the opportunities which are now beginning to spread across the area. The Commission believes that a programme of new crossings construction will therefore both revitalise the East Thames and lay the foundations for London’s next stage of growth. Both businesses and local residents are strongly in support. We estimate that new crossings would: • Cut cross‑river journey times by up to 40 minutes; • Catalyse the development of up to 45,000 homes to 2031 (and more in the long term); • Improve the productivity of existing firms in the area by over £55 million per year;3 and • Catalyse the development of up to 60,000 jobs to 2031, two thirds of which would be in London and one third in Essex and Kent.