Mayor rejects Richmond’s bids to Outer London Fund in snub to local Tory Assembly member

• [Jan 20]: TORY Mayor of London Boris Johnson has this week rejected all the funding bids from Richmond Council to his Outer London Fund in a move which will be seen as a clear 'snub' to local Tory London Assembly Member and Richmond councillor Tony Arbour. Bids for a total of nearly £6.2 million had been submitted for a variety of improvements to Twickenham, Whitton, Richmond and East Sheen. All the surrounding boroughs of Kingston, Hounslow, Wandsworth and Sutton were awarded funding for their bids but not a penny was announced for Richmond, despite the borough having a Tory London Assembly member at City Hall who is also a leading borough councillor.

Cllr Stephen Knight, Leader of Richmond's Liberal Democrat Group, said: "When a Tory Mayor awards funding for every other borough in our part of London except Richmond, it is hard to see this as anything other than a snub to our local London Assembly Member Tony Arbour who is also a leading member of Richmond Council. Whatever Arbour has done to upset his fellow City Hall Tory, the result is that our borough is losing out."

Liberal Democrat Assembly candidate for South West London Munira Wilson said: "We need a strong local representative at City Hall that will fight for our area and make sure the Mayor doesn't overlook our borough in vital funding decisions. Clearly Arbour is failing to speak up and make Richmond's case at City Hall."

• Richmond's bids for Outer London Fund rejected [RTT Jan 30]

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Outer London Fund Round 2: Summary Of Bid Proposals And Costs

Twickenham: The emerging Twickenham Area Action Plan provides the context and objectives for the Twickenham proposals. Actions focus on three aspects of the town centre:

- to develop mutually supporting links between the trading area and Riverside creating a more defined town centre and riverside 'zone' - proposals will open up the Riverside and enhance its ability to draw footfall through the trading area;

- implementing major physical improvements to the retail centre to rebalance pedestrian and road use, lighting and further shop fronts improvements; and

- constructing critical infrastructure at Twickenham Station ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Bid value: £3.5 mn.

Whitton: Proposals are focussed on the physical transformation of Whitton High Street and its perception as the centre of the community, responding to the strength of the All in One feedback for the area. Building on our Uplift Strategy, actions are focussed on upgrading paving, street furniture, planting, shop fronts and forecourts to a very high standard, complemented with new road surfacing.

Accommodating car parking through changes to kerb lines will help to ease traffic flow. We would also seek to relocate our Whitton Library service onto Whitton High Street to add a new dimension to the town centre while taking an opportunity to remove one of the High street's unsightly features.

Bid value: £1.0 mn.

Richmond: This bid focuses on the improvement of Richmond Riverside and the development of the area a cultural hub, building its important status as a Strategic Cultural Area as identified in the London Plan. Improvements include installing quality paving and surfaces, new features to enhance capacity for sitting and accommodating cultural performance. Landscaping, lighting and footpath surfacing to the south of the bridge will help provide a more complete programme.

Initial work to redevelop the Old Town Hall into an arts and cultural venue are a key part of the proposals. A 'Purple Flag' zone would be implemented with traders, to help improve the management of the night time economy and present the town as a place for high quality and safe entertainment. The proposals are aimed at drawing footfall through the town centre to support business and the visitor economy.

Bid value: £1.1 mn.

East Sheen: The location and potential for East Sheen provide the basis for our proposals. Actions are aimed predominantly at enhancing the role of the Sheen Lane area as a gateway to the River and Richmond Park. The creation of a new public space at Milestone Green and a more welcoming environment at Mortlake station would frame a range of street scene enhancements on Sheen Lane.

This would include quality paving and street furniture, tree planting and character lighting. A 'Natural Play' facility would be installed in a suitable location in the retail area, potentially using space at the Sheen Lane Centre. Support for enterprise in the wider retail area would include a social enterprise grant programme and a shop front improvement scheme. The scheme would complement work to the north of the railway line that would be supported by the development of the Stag Brewery site.

Bid value: £0.6 mn..

• Outer London Funding work still continues [Press release Jan 25]