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Ferry now expected in late summer 

As the late Douglas Adams once said “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by”.

 

This month in the Hammersmith Bridge saga, the deadline that has whooshed by is the hope of getting a ferry operational by spring.

 

Speaking on LBC’s Nick Ferrari show on Friday March 5, Transport for London’s Commissioner Andy Byford confirmed an anticipated start date of late summer and said that the delay in getting the ferry up and running was due to making sure the public procurement process was handled properly.

 

In February TfL revealed that two operators had been shortlisted to run the ferry service  - City Cruises and Uber Boat by Thames Clippers - and confirmed that the winning bidder will be announced later this month.

 

The new ferry service will be run between 6am and 10pm and be able to carry 800 people per hour at peak times. The cost of a single journey will be £1.55 for adults. Those people who are using the ferry as part of a longer journey will find that this cost will be included in the TfL Hopper package.

 

That’s more than we knew last month but crucially what we don’t know yet is where passengers are going to board and alight.

 

Having safe places to queue and board are fundamental to running a ferry operation and Barnes seems to have a ready-made safe place in the form of Harrods Wharf which has been offered to ferry operators free of charge for the first 18 months of operation by its owner local businessman Jamie Waller. He has even, as we’ve mentioned before, had plans drawn up for the southside ferry terminal. Access to the north shore of the Thames across the way from Harrods wharf should, in theory, be straightforward via a pontoon, but – and in this bridge saga there is always a but – there is a fly in the ointment for supporters of the Harrods Wharf option…

 

The Fulham Reach Boat Club is objecting to the planning proposals for the proposed Harrods Wharf dock, saying that a ferry running from that point would lead to the closure of their club, and the loss of access to rowing for 1,300 local state school children from both sides of the river. A statement on its website says “We absolutely understand the need for the ferry but this should be installed in a safe location where it can’t conflict with river traffic.” As an alternative to landing at the pontoon used by the Club they are suggesting that the ferry should run next to the Eastern side of Hammersmith Bridge.

 

In response Harrods Wharf owner Jamie Waller says that “I have spoken to the CEO of the Club to reassure him that I will do everything possible to help ensure that the impact on his club is minimal, and I think there are ways to allow the Club to continue its activities during the period that the ferry is operational. The alternative suggestion that the Club have made for a southside landing point has been made without knowing whether the landowner will give permission. In order to get to the stage we’ve got to, we have spent six months and £150k to cover every aspect of Richmond Council’s planning team’s information requirements - including surveys to analyse environmental impact. If other embarkation points were to be considered it could potentially add many months of delays before a ferry could operate."

 

So far comments in favour of the Harrods Wharf scheme on Richmond Council’s planning portal website outnumber the number of objections by more than two-to-one. However, it seems people across London and the rest of the country are sympathetic to Fulham Reach Boat Club’s concerns, and objections to the Harrods Wharf plans have come from as far afield as Birmingham, York and Shrewsbury.

 

Meanwhile, Transport for London are keeping schtum about the potential embarkation points and what the preferred routes are for the two companies still in contention to run the service. It is also not clear how many passengers the service will carry in off-peak times.

 

Before the bridge closed 20,000 vehicles and 16,000 pedestrians crossed the bridge daily, so even if the ferry were to operate at 800 passengers per hour in non-peak times only a fraction of the numbers previously crossing will be able to take advantage of the ferry. At key commuting times for city workers and schoolchildren queues seem to be very likely.

 

Julia Watkins, of residents’ pressure group Hammersmith Bridge SOS was quoted in the Evening Standard as saying that residents are “disappointed on every level”. She added “We were also promised a residents’ consultation regarding matters like operating hours – those being proposed are woefully inadequate. 

 

“They will effectively stop people leaving the area at night or weekends, which is especially unfair on the many people in the area who work shifts at nearby Charing Cross hospital. ‘This system is likely to prove grossly inadequate for needs: we need the bridge repaired for pedestrian use as soon as possible.”

Protest groups see red for Valentine's Day

Doughty bridge campaigners Hammersmith Bridge SOS were responsible for another round of high-profile media coverage this Valentine’s Day when their bridge lighting stunt gleaned coverage both on TV and in print in the UK and internationally. The bridge was bathed in red light thanks to a collaboration between the bridge campaigners and the specialist illumination company LCI productions which is based in Merthyr Terrace.

 

The stunt was covered by Sky, the BBC, ITN and in The Guardian, The Telegraph and the Daily Mail as well as in overseas press in countries including Germany.

The campaign group have vowed to keep up the pressure until a commitment is in place to repair the bridge and say they have many other publicity campaigns planned.

 

Despite the sign-swiping controversy last month when protest signs posted around Barnes by protestors were removed by contractors working for Hammersmith & Fulham Council, it seems emails to Grant Shapps and Hammersmith Council leader Stephen Cowan (generated as a result of people clicking on QR codes printed on the signs) have elicited a response with Councillor Cowan releasing a detailed statement and Task Force Chair Conservative Peer Baroness Vere issuing a not quite so detailed one.

 

The campaign group have now produced more signs which will be placed in front gardens around Barnes and Hammersmith. As they will be on private property it will be illegal for them to be removed by third parties. As a result, they are hoping that the steady stream of emails to the main protagonists in the bridge repair negotiations will continue.

A glimpse into the future

Sadly, we at the Bugle don’t possess psychic powers so can can’t anticipate what will happen next in the bridge story that has more twists and turns than the Nürburgring and as much sturm and drang as a daytime soap opera. Will Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s newly submitted funding proposal be the catalyst to unlocking the deadlock over finances that is currently preventing repair work to the bridge from commencing? Will the mysterious Mott McDonald bridge engineering report ever be released?

 

However, what we do know is likely to happen in the next few months is summarised below:

 

•	Sometime in March – Results of double decker temporary bridge feasibility study should be ready, but when they will be announced is as yet unknown.
•	End of March – Winning ferry contractor appointed
•	End of April – inspection work into the state of all four of the bridge’s pedestals completed
•	End of May/early June – this might be when the results of the inspection are reported
•	Late summer – perhaps August – Ferry service commences – provided there are agreed points for embarkation and disembarkation of course.

 

While all of this is going on, what does seem likely is that as the blanket of lockdown is lifted and life returns to normal across London, here in Barnes and in neighbouring areas we’ll still be trapped in limbo. Journeys to school and workplaces will start again, and nightmare commutes will be the order of the day.

 

Local campaign group Hammersmith Bridge SOS anticipate that protest will grow louder rather than dampen down. Watch this space for the next instalment of “Will we ever cross the bridge again?”

Stranded?

Barnes residents fed up with their inability to cross the bridge have adopted a seal that has taken to sitting on the boat ramp outside St Paul’s school as their mascot. When it was first spotted, concerned members of the public contacted the RSPCA and British Divers Marine Life Rescue only to be told that the seal looked perfectly happy and didn’t need rescuing. As we have written in the Bugle before seals are an increasingly common sight along the shores of the Thames. The Zoological Society of London has a fantastic interactive map where you can report sightings of seals, porpoises and other marine mammals in the Thames.

 

Richmond Council holds virtual meeting for residents with bridge concerns 

While they concede that they have “limited decision making powers in the future of the bridge” Richmond Council is hosting a virtual public meeting specifically for Richmond upon Thames later this month. The online session will allow residents to put their questions about Hammersmith Bridge to the Council Leader. 

 

Councillor Gareth Roberts will be joined by a panel of senior officers from the Council, who will be able to answer residents’ questions about the status of the bridge repairs and the measures Richmond Council are putting in place to lessen the impact of the closure for residents and businesses in Barnes and the rest of the borough. 

 

The Q&A session will take place on Zoom, on Wednesday 17 March 2021, from 6.30pm. Residents must pre-register for the event, by 5pm on 17 March. 

  

Councillor Gareth Roberts, Leader of Richmond Council, who represents Richmond upon Thames on the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, said: 

 

“Our residents and businesses are more impacted than anyone else by the closure of the bridge. The Council is doing everything in our power to lessen this impact, but we know that many people have many questions about the progress of repairs and the interim measures - both those we have put in place on the south side of the bridge, and those proposed by the Government, Transport for London and Hammersmith and Fulham Council. “

 

The event is open to anyone. Those wishing to attend must register by 5pm on Wednesday 17 March 2021. Joining instructions will be sent to those registered in advance of the event.

Row over Hammersmith Bridge funding at Richmond Council meeting

A  suggestion by local Conservative councillors that Richmond Council should allocate £2million towards repairs of Hammersmith Bridge was slapped down by Council Leader Gareth Roberts at a council meeting last week.

 

“Our residents have suffered enough and this council needs to lead the way to step up and support its residents instead of making excuses for the failures of Hammersmith and Fulham Council” said Aphra Brandreth, a councillor for Barnes.

 

However, reports the Richmond and Twickenham Times, her suggestions were ‘mocked’ by Councillor Roberts who is reported to have said “£2m of money to go into that may seem an enormous amount of money, but the total bill is £140m.

 

“This is 1.4 per cent of the total bill. It’s nonsense. It’s something to slap on the leaflet.”

 

The Conservative amendment to the budget failed to pass.

Oh happy day

Schoolchildren across Barnes have gone back to school and both parents and children couldn’t be happier. Teachers too, as this lovely video from the staff of Lowther School shows.

It’s not too late to have your say on the brewery development’s traffic impact

If you rush now (the deadline is midnight tonight Monday March 8), you can let the  Greater London Authority know how you feel about the traffic mitigation plans put forward by the developers of the mega Mortlake Brewery site.

 

Campaign groups have poured scorn on the plans saying that they will do little to alleviate the traffic bottlenecks in Mortlake that will arise from the new development and be exacerbated by the arrival of new residents to the big development at the site of the former Richmond Homebase as well as other major developments in Kew and Brentford.

 

The Barnes Community Association has thrown its support behind the Mortlake Brewery Community group and it is urging anyone who is concerned by the potential impact of increased traffic to email the GLA at theformerstagbrewery@london.gov.uk.

 

They have also provided a pre written response with a section for respondents to add their own experience of traffic issues in the area. You can download the draft response here.

 

15,000 and counting

Our extremely speedy local vaccination hub based at the Essex House surgery by Barnes Pond has now carried out over 15,000 vaccinations and has covered off everyone on its list over 60 and has started providing second jabs and inoculating people under 60.

 

Alison McLeod the practice manager at Essex House says there is no sign of enthusiasm flagging for either volunteers or the staff of the four combined practices* who make up the vaccination hub. “We’re extremely lucky to have so many people willing to give up their time, sometimes at very short notice. We have lots of retired medics helping which frees up time for our GPs to see patients for standard appointments and we’re also being helped by hospital doctors who come along after busy shifts at work to help out at the hub” she says.

 

The hub is capable of vaccinating 1,000 patients in a day and the only thing holding any progress back is availability of vaccines. Alison says she always asks for the maximum supply possible and is the first to put her hand up whenever extra supplies become available at late notice.

 

For this reason anyone who is expecting to be called up for vaccination sometime soon should keep an eye out for texts inviting them in for appointments at quite short notice.

 

*Essex House, Glebe Road, Sheen Lane & The Richmond Group

The splitter, splatter of tiny webbed feet?

Picture: Andrew Wilson

In a video that we are too coy to share, our Barnes Pond swans have been seen doing what swans do every spring and, ahem, ‘attempting to make baby swans’ as zoologists might not say.

 

Now in tell-tale signs of post-mating activity, the female swan has taken to sitting on the island and the male swan is patrolling the pond repelling all comers.

 

Green Keeper Russell Greaves says that there is currently no sign of any eggs in the swan nest but that they could be imminent. Equally well, we might have to resign ourselves to there being no cygnets this year as our female swan is relatively old and it is possible that her days of fertility are over.

 

Russell says “Our female has bred for 10 years in a row already, which is a longer-than-average period for a fertile female. Last year there were only three offspring which could indicate waning fertility or could be related to the fact that the female swan had been stressed after being hit by a car.”

 

As to whether we can expect the splitter splatter of tiny webbed feet this year Russell can’t be certain. “We’ll just have to wait and see” he says.

Healthy appetites

It’s official. The residents of Richmond are England’s healthiest eaters, but no matter how Mediterranean our diets are, or how many steps we take per day, we can’t seem to overtake the people of Wokingham who, according to the newly released National Health Index, are the healthiest people in England (Richmond comes in a close second).

Just what has given them the edge in the aggregate scores? Richmond scores better for eating and exercise but it seems that people in Wokingham are just happier with their lot in life, meaning their ‘life satisfaction’ scores are far higher than those of us city dwellers.

However, apart from giving us the top spot to aim for, the new survey tells us something very straightforward about healthiness. Richmond and Wokingham  are affluent areas with plenty of outdoor space. The odds are stacked in our favour before a grain of quinoa even passes our lips.

A sense of beauty

The next stage of the transformation of the Suffolk Road recreation area has begun with the arrival of some beautiful hexagonal planters which will form the backbone of a beautiful new sensory garden.

 

The garden, which will sit near to hugely successful new outdoor play area, will be planted with colourful scented plants to give the area a feeling of calm serenity.

Londis to become The Barnes Pantry

When Heston Blumenthal moved to Barnes a few years ago he quickly cottoned on to the fact that the Barnes Londis is not your average local convenience store. He waxed lyrical about the wine selection in an interview which highlighted some of London’s hidden gastronomic gems.

 

And it’s true; it is a gastronomic gem. Visitors to Barnes who pop into Londis expecting value packs of frozen peas come out surprised when what they see are Perello olives and authentic Italian salsiccia.

 

At the end of this month Londis will be closing its doors; not for good, but for a re-design and refit. It will emerge at the beginning on May as the Barnes Pantry, a beautifully designed shop stocking everything the current Londis offers and more.

The staff and ownership isn’t changing either, it’s just the name.

 

Nationwide, Londis is a franchise business so whichever Londis you go to anywhere in the country it will probably be independently owned. Our local Londis is a family business that has been in Barnes for over thirty years now and over the past few years a new younger generation has taken on the business and looked at it with fresh eyes. Hence plans to re-design and expand the shop.

 

When the Barnes Pantry opens in May you expect more floor space as the shop floor is going to be expanded by reducing the size of the store’s stockroom. You will also find an even bigger array of artisan ingredients. It’s still going to stock all of the essentials but it’s going to be even more of a treasure trove for keen cooks and foodies.

 

In style there will be more of an artisan feel too, expect natural wood finishes and some lovely table displays.

 

However, it will still be resolutely local and committed to supplying what its customers want. Owner Saini and the shop’s staff always listen to customer requests and when they don’t stock something that a customer asks for nine times out of ten, they seek out the missing product and add it to their stock list.

 

“We’re so excited about the changes we’re making” says Preeti Chandegra who is overseeing the revamp.“It’s going to be a lovely place to stock up on food with the same great staff and even more interesting selection of products. It will be the same shop that people love already, just even better.”

 

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