Diana Johnson: Better ways to spend £60m in the North

THIS is the text of an open letter sent to Chris Grayling, the new Transport Secretary, challenging him to redirect Government funding for London's Thames Garden Bridge project to the '˜Northern Powerhouse'.Dear Chris,
Poor transport could hit Hull's City of Culture celebratons, says local MP Diana Johnson.Poor transport could hit Hull's City of Culture celebratons, says local MP Diana Johnson.
Poor transport could hit Hull's City of Culture celebratons, says local MP Diana Johnson.

I am writing because I understand that you have recently received an application for £15m in additional funding for the Thames Garden Bridge project in London. This is in addition to £30m of London Transport funding and £30m of Treasury funding already committed – bringing total public funding to £75m.

As a Hull MP, I am shocked that the Government are prepared to spend at least £60m – and possibly £75m – on this project. The bridge serves no transport need, and is therefore essentially a park on a bridge. While this is a novel idea, it is proposed for a location with lots of existing local parks amenities and local bridges. It is therefore totally unnecessary. I also understand that the bridge faces strong local opposition.

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I am writing, therefore, to ask that you refuse the additional public funding request and instead use the money for much-needed transport infrastructure projects in the North of England, including in the Hull and Humber area. I also hope that you will re-allocate the £60m already earmarked for the Thames Garden Bridge. If Transport for London intends to allocate £30m to such unnecessary and superfluous projects, I suggest that you re-allocate this funding away from London to areas of the country where it could be invested in desperately needed infrastructure that would be of greater economic benefit.

I also hope that you could persuade your Treasury colleagues that instead of allocating £30m to a vanity project associated with the previous Mayor of London, that they use the money to turn some of their many promises on the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ into reality within the next decade.

At the same time as the Government have committed £60m to the Garden Bridge, critical infrastructure projects in and around my constituency have been delayed or are still awaiting approval. I would like to draw your attention to three:

1. Hull to Selby rail electrification: During the last Parliament the Government announced electrification of the transPennine Network. Inexplicably however they excluded the final 30 miles of this network between Hull and Selby.

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This meant that this final section of the network into Hull will not be served by the new rolling stock promised for the rest of the network and it raises questions about the existing direct transPennine service between Hull and Manchester.

In response to the Government’s decision, Hull Trains proposed a privately financed initiative to complete the electrification. However, the Department of Transport have left this proposal stuck at the same ‘GRIP 3’ stage of decision-making within the Department for over two years. I have raised this issue numerous times in the House of Commons.

2. A63 road upgrade: This is a vital project to improve road connectivity through the centre of Hull and serving Hull docks. Again, however, the Department for Transport have repeatedly delayed this project. As with the rail upgrade, the most recent news was that this scheme will proceed during the 2020s, but there is a long history of this scheme continually slipping.

3. The A63 footbridge: Unlike the Thames Garden Bridge, this is a necessary footbridge that will connect Hull City Centre with the Fruit Market area and Marina that are central to Hull’s cultural regeneration efforts. Delays have meant that the chance was lost to complete this relatively modest project in time for Hull’s UK City of Culture year in 2017.

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I hope you will reflect on the far more useful ways that you could spend the money proposed for the Thames Garden Bridge, especially in the context of the continuing unfair bias in transport investment in favour of London and the South East. For example, the new Crossrail Station at Canary Wharf cost £500m. The total cost of all three schemes above would come to around half that amount – and much of it from private investment.

I hope that you will therefore refuse the application for further public money for the Thames Garden Bridge and work instead to increase investment in projects that will fulfil the Government’s stated aim of creating a ‘Northern Powerhouse’, lever in private investment and make progress on infrastructure schemes that will achieve a greater overall advantage to the growth of the UK economy.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Diana Johnson is the Labour MP for Hull North.