The Silvertown Partnership wants to build the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists across Royal Victoria Dock at a cost of around £43m, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Designs for new Royal Victoria Dock bridge (credit Moxon Architects) — The design for a new Royal Victoria Dock bridge (credit Moxon Architects)

Proposed council funding for a new footbridge across Royal Victoria Dock has been cut by almost half.

Newham Council leaders agreed yesterday (Tuesday 16th) to contribute £6.9million towards building the bridge. It came after councillors challenged a previous plan to spend almost double that.

Labour mayor Rokshana Fiaz said the money would help pay for “an important piece of infrastructure that will enhance the connectivity of the Royal Docks, allowing people from that part of the borough in North Woolwich and elsewhere ready access to Excel and our major town centre”.

Development group The Silvertown Partnership wants to build the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists across Royal Victoria Dock, connecting Silvertown Quays and the ExCel Centre.

It currently estimates this will cost around £43m. The council’s cabinet – its committee of leading councillors – first agreed to contribute £13.2m towards the cost in June 2024.

This would be paid for from the council’s capital fund, which is reserved for spending on infrastructure and property, and is separate from its day-to-day budget.

However, it would be funded entirely by a loan that would cost the council £1m a year over a 50-year period.

Councillors challenged the decision at an overview and scrutiny committee the following July and recommended that the cabinet review its decision.

They said the said the cabinet should have had more information on the economic benefits that the bridge would bring, and warned that the £13.2m loan would not be “value for money”.

Speaking to the cabinet yesterday, current overview and scrutiny committee chair, Labour councillor Lester Hudson said: “Newham Council has got a serious fiscal hole in its budget.

“The executive were asking to borrow £13m with a revenue cost of £1m per year for the next 40 years.”

He added: “Regeneration is not just about bricks and mortar – there has to be some kind of contribution for the residents.”

A report commissioned by council officers following the challenge said the main benefits of the bridge would be through “journey time savings” of £7.4m. This is an estimated value attributed to the reduction of bridge users’ time spent travelling thanks to the bridge.

However, the cabinet also agreed not to borrow £13.2m to fund the contribution.

Instead, the council will contribute £6.9m. Rather than a loan, this will come from money paid to the council by developers of the Royal Wharf development as part of a planning agreement to fund infrastructure.

The reduced contribution means The Silvertown Partnership will need to find further investment elsewhere. The council says it won’t pay the £6.9m until the partnership has secured this funding.

Speaking to the cabinet meeting, mayor Faiz said capital spending is “a normal function of pretty much every single public body and every single local authority in this country”.

But she aknowledged that the council is “in a serious financial situation”.

She said: “I think it is important we do maintain investments in the Royal Docks and different parts of our borough because capital investment helps promote growth, it helps draw inward investment and in this instance it’s right that we’ve been able to identity other sources of funding to avoid borrowing more.”

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