Jubilee Footbridge – Planning Submitted
Back in March, we presented the proposed drawings for a new footbridge across the Thames between Wandsworth and Battersea Bridges, and after 9 months of consultation and design development the full planning application is has been submitted.
As early as 1924, two year before Her Majesty the Queen’s birth, Viscount Curzon MP acknowledged in the House of Commons that a bridge for pedestrian access situated between Wandsworth Bridge and Battersea Bridge was needed. During this year’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations the Queen boarded the Flotilla and set sail from this very location. A new pedestrian and cycle link here at this time will be a fitting legacy for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and one which makes financial and common sense.
The area around Battersea Railway Bridge, on both sides of the river, has seen a renaissance in recent years. Thousands of new apartments as well as many restaurants and bars and two 5* hotels have been constructed in the area, opening up the riverfront to leisure and thoroughfare. Many more developments are planned and under construction in the immediate vicinity. A new pedestrian and cycle bridge alongside the railway bridge will enable greater integration between the north and south of the river both in terms of transport and economic activity, whilst also having a positive impact on the environment and creating an extension to the amenity space and linear park of the Thames Path.
The proposal, is being actively promoted by residents groups on both sides of the river. 12 months of consultation and design development has taken place with key stakeholders such as Transport for London, Network Rail, The Environment Agency and the Port of London Authority and English Heritage, amongst others. The design team have been working closely with the planning departments at both Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth, have held a public consultation and presented to The Hammersmith and Fulham Design review Panel. The proposal has been developed to accommodate all the consultees’ considerations whilst maintaining a vigour to the design that celebrates the journey across the Thames.
The design team includes Expedition Engineering (designers of the Olympic Velodrome and the Thames Cable car), Beckett Rankine (advisors on the London Eye, Cadogan pier and many others), HR Wallingford (Hydrological Report), RPS environmental consultants, Paul Nulty lighting design, Thomson Ecology and Oxford Archaeology. With the teams input, we have produced a scheme which is both respectful of its context, maintaining views of the listed railway bridge, and exciting in its form. The application is expected to be referred to the Mayor under Category 2C 1(h) “a crossing over the River Thames”. We hope to achieve planning by March 2013.
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Chris Medland
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Jamesallen2361
