To: "Cllr Samantha George" <samantha.george@merton.gov.uk>
Cc: "Cllr David Dean - Trinity Ward" <david.dean@merton.gov.uk>,
"Cllr Krystal Miller - Trinity Ward" <krystal.miller@merton.gov.uk>,
"Cllr Simon Withey - Trinity Ward" <simon.withey@merton.gov.uk>,
"Cllr Nick Draper - Colliers Wood Ward" <nick.draper@merton.gov.uk>,
"Cllr Sheila Knight - Colliers Wood Ward" <sheila.knight@merton.gov.uk>,
"Cllr George Reynolds - Collers Wood Ward" <george.reynolds@merton.gov.uk>
Dear Ms George,
I am a resident of Colliers Wood, and I am writing to you about what could be Merton Council's greatest embarrassment: a footbridge over the River Wandle which has been in place for nearly two years but which no-one has ever crossed because it ends six feet in the air. You will probably be aware of this already (The Post has now published two articles about it), but in case you are not, a picture is worth a thousand words, and there are pictures on this web page: href="http://www.collierswoodresidentsassociation.org.uk/bridge".
I have ready an update to this page, which includes much more information such as the newspaper articles and material obtained under FoI. It does not show the council in a particularly flattering light, I am afraid.
It has been difficult to untangle how this bizarre situation arose, but a brief history seems to be as follows:
- In 1999, Bewley Homes obtained planning permission to build a residential estate on the Connolly Leatherworks site (Trinity Ward), which was granted in 2000. As part of its Section 106 obligations, it agreed to build a footbridge to the Wandle Meadow Nature Park (Colliers Wood Ward), along with its approaches on either side. This would be an important link as it would become part of the Wandle Trail. The ground level on the leatherworks side of the river is about 2m above that at the park side, and the bridge elevation shows that it slopes, ending about 1m above existing ground level at the east end, with the approach shown on the plans presumably making up the difference with some sort of banking.
- By May 2003, the last property had been sold, but no bridge had been built.
- In November 2006, the council agreed an "easement" allowing Wimpey (which subsumed Bewley) to support its bridge on the council land at the east end. Wimpey's drawings accompanying this show a bridge that does not slope, and as a result its deck level is 2m above ground at the east end. In the documentation, Wimpey states it will not build the eastern approach but instead that will be done by the local authority.
- In mid-2007, the bridge was duly installed, built like a viewing platform with the handrail continuing around the east end.
- In February 2008, The Post published an article about the bridge, which resulted in some hand-wringing and emails flying about at the council.
- The council made some attempts to chase Wimpey, but got nowhere. In November last year, after the bridge was used as an art installation (http://ebasic.easily.co.uk/030046/04E041/CatalinaGarcesCW.html from http://www.threeweeks.org.uk/) I decided to get involved. I was told by the council that it was up to Wimpey to build the eastern approach but it hadn't heard from the company since July, and that the council had not yet adopted the completed western approach (a surfaced footpath southwards between the river and Bewley Street) as a public right of way.
- It took until March to get Wimpey to organise a site visit, to which it brought the document mentioned above. This seems to have caused some surprise within the council.
- Your Legal department has been sitting on the subsequent legal query from Planning Enforcement for six weeks until I chased it up this morning: I believe the advice is that the council has no recourse against Wimpey (despite the document being about bridge supports, and not actually saying that the council should pay for the approach, but then "I am not a lawyer").
So, Merton Council has been well and truly stitched up by a devious and prevaricating developer, and is now responsible for sorting out the mess. For nearly two years we have had this comical monument to local government incompetence in our borough, which makes it all the more surprising that there hasn't to my knowledge been a national news story about it - it would make very good copy!
I am therefore asking you, please, to exercise your role as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources and bang some heads together to get this bridge fixed as soon as possible. The Wandle Valley Festival (http://www.wandlevalleyfestival.org.uk/) is on 6th June - it would be wonderful if at least an installation date had been sorted out by then. But it would have to be a definite commitment - there have been too many empty promises which are just not believable any more.
As well as individuals, I have several interested organisations following my attempts to fix this, to whom I have copied this email:
Colliers Wood Residents' Association
Groundwork Merton
South London Press (aka The Post)
Sustainable Merton
Sustrans
Wandle Trust
Wandle Valley Festival
Apologies for the wordiness, but it would not have been possible to convey the seriousness of the situation without going into some detail. I am happy to send you any of the documents I have if you require them.
I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Marks
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