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EXHIBITION RUNS 14 JUNE TO 13 JULY 2019. 10 Kensington & Chelsea Today Limited 12 Opinion & Comment 14 Astronomy 15 International Editor-in-Chief: Kate Hawthorne Business & Finance Art Director & Director: Tim Epps 20 Senior Business Development: Antoinette Kovatchka Business Development: Ellen Harper, Lettie Overall, 22 Education Architecture: Squinch Art & Culture Editors: Don Grant, Marian Maitland 26 Literature Astronomy: Scott Beadle FRAS Bridge: Andrew Robson Fashion Business & Finance Charles McLachlan 28 Chess: Barry Martin Opinion and Comment: Marius Brill, Peter Burden, 30 Design Derek Wyatt Music: Geoff Cowart, 31 Events Crossword: Wolfe Dining Out: David Hughes (Editor) Out of Town Editorial: Max Feldman, Ellen Harper, 40 Kate Hawthorne, Fahad Redha, Education: Ellen Harper, 42 Dining Out Events: Fahad Redha Health: Simon Hatchard-Parr, 44 Health Dr Raj S ChandoK International News: Arman Aboutorali, Arts & Culture Kate Hawthorne, Conor Knapp 50 Feldman Reviews: Max Feldman Consultant Lifestyle 57 Fishing & Beauty Editor: Talia Hull Literature: Max Feldman 58 Sport Motoring: Maitland Cook, Fahad Redha News, Online Editor, Max Feldman 60 Motoring Arts Correspondent & Picture Editor Crossword & Bridge Sport: Gill Gross 62 Sub-Editor: Leila Kooros Travel: Lynne McGowan, Cynthia Pickard 63 Chess 020 7738 2348 July 2019 Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today 3 News online: www.KCWToday.co.uk the Thames in West London, according to the leader of Hammersmith and Controversy Fulham Council. The idea has been floating around for over closed years without gaining traction with TfL, Hammersmith but Councillor Stephen Cowan said the Rex © George Photograph closure of Hammersmith Bridge makes Bridge grows this the time to “pick it back up”. by LDRS reporters Owen Speaking at a meeting in Barnes, he promised to fully restore the bridge, but Sheppard & Calum Rutter questioned whether it would be able to take the sheer weight of traffic that it will be required to carry. He said: “Do we think a 132-year-old illions of taxpayers’ money British icon, which is how I’m selling it was spent on maintaining to the government when I’m asking for Hammersmith Bridge funding, is going to be sufficient for the while severe structural defects went rest of the 21st Century? The answer is M ‘probably not’. undiagnosed. The 132-year-old crossing was closed “London’s population is scheduled to vehicle traffic in April this year when to grow by 2 million; there’s climate engineers discovered microfractures in The bridge is owned by it can shatter. So the idea that buses change, air pollution. So do we want its cast iron base that may take three Hammersmith and Fulham Council. and cars are going across and this more cars driving across Hammersmith years to fix. But like all major pieces of infrastructure thing could shatter meant we had to Bridge and more polluting vehicles, The shock decision sparked rows in the capital, TfL contributes huge immediately close the bridge.” despite all the advances of technology? and generated headlines about how, sums towards its upkeep. He added: “This is a new problem “So in Hammersmith we have long over the last decade, and under A TfL spokesperson denied that that only came about because in 2015 looked at the idea of a ‘fly-under’, of both Conservative and Labour the £5.3 million had not been a proper we began a series of thorough checks. reclaiming central Hammersmith back, administrations, the bridge was allowed use of public money, and said decisions That’s essentially the issue that led us to getting rid of the ugly flyover, putting to fall into disrepair. to carry out repairs are taken by the close the bridge. It is not a failure of our in a park, building housing, office space TfL spent £5.3 million on council. relationship with TfL… It’s a failure and reconnecting Hammersmith to the maintaining the bridge between 2015 Tory councillor Victoria of a 132-year-old bridge which no-one riverbank.” and 2019, according to Hammersmith Brocklebank-Fowler asked why the checked for decades.” Mr Cowan said he hoped it would and Fulham Council leader Stephen bridge had not been fixed sooner. “There The council has promised to return “drive traffic underground” as it does Cowan, speaking at a town hall meeting was a negotiation with TfL but nothing the bridge “to full working order” and elsewhere in Europe, and free up space last month. happened, which led to this emergency reopen it to traffic. It said checks by for public use. Now, using freedom of information closure… the knock-on effect has been engineers are due to be completed by The tunnel would go from requests, it can be revealed that this horrific,” she said. September. This is when a timeframe for Hammersmith to “somewhere in figure includes £1.65 million that Mr Cowan replied there was no repairing the bridge and a cost estimate Richmond borough”, but probably TfL spent on minor repairs, and “breakdown in relationship” with TfL. will be produced, the council has said. Barnes. £2.61 million spent on “inspections, And he said the previous Conservative It estimated in April that the works When Mr Cowan asked the leader of assessments, monitoring and surveying”. administration, which ran the council could cost £40 million. And a row Richmond Council whether he would be Also since 2015, TfL spent nearly until 2014, had done nothing to assess or ensued over whether the Government “open minded” about considering such a £900,000 on hiring wardens to ensure improve the bridge. should pay for it. tunnel, Councillor Gareth Roberts told only two buses crossed the bridge at He then said questions about the Tory London Mayoral candidate him: “Let’s look at it.” once. This was due to fears about how previously-scheduled repair jobs were Shaun Bailey last week told the Evening Mr Cowan said a “united front” much weight it could withstand, but the a “separate issue”, because they would Standard that TfL should fund the would be needed between the boroughs council said in April that bus companies not have detected the fractures in the repairs, using money it will no longer in order to get funding from the had “consistently breached” this rule. suspension bridge’s base. spend on the recently-abandoned government needed to pay for the During this time, a major repair job Mr Cowan said: “In 2015 we Rotherhithe Bridge plans. underpass. budgeted at £27 million was★ due to be commissioned a thorough review of its A spokesman for Mr Khan said he Mr Roberts told the meeting: “As I carried out on the Grade II listed bridge structural integrity… has asked TfL, which has a projected said to Steve, I’m happy to look at it, but in 2016. Those works which included “What we found in April this spending deficit this year of over £700 I know the difficulties you have when replacing corroding bolts, resurfacing, year was a microfracture, which was million, to work closely with the council you try to build a basement extension in and repainting were postponed to late completely surprising. “The problem on plans for repairing the bridge. Barnes. Try to do a fly-under, you will 2017 but did not take place. with a microfracture in cast iron is that A new tunnel should be dug under appreciate those problems.” Sophie Linden said the Met was on out onto the streets by the end of the Mayor’s Office argues that uncertainty track to reach its target of 31,000 officers year.” around annual funding made it hard to Met pledges one by the end of 2019; up from 30,000 in The projected increase comes as plan for recruitment. May this year. violence in the capital remains high. A But Ms Hall said: “I’m quite simply thousand new Officer numbers have been falling spate of violence over the weekend left sick to death of listening to Mayor Khan year on year since 2016, and dipped five dead; including a pregnant woman screaming that there isn’t enough money police officers by below 30,000 for the first time in over a and her baby. for officers when in actual fact the decade last year. Conservative assembly member money is in place for those officers. the end of the But the Deputy Mayor, speaking Susan Hall said it was “a great shame” “It’s not the Government’s fault that at the London Assembly’s police and that increases in police numbers had not the Met is incapable of getting new year crime committee today, said the Met come sooner.