The Diamond Jubilee Bridge is to be built at no cost to the taxpayer
By Max Bentley, Theo Lee-Ray and Michael Stafford-Jones
The new £22million footbridge in Battersea received a massive boost this week after Hammersmith and Fulham Council gave it the green light.
The 18m-high, 170m-long flyover has been dubbed the Diamond Jubilee Bridge because it marks the location where the Queen boarded the royal barge during her 60-year celebrations last summer.
Architects One-World Designs are now seeking sponsorship to fund the bridge, which is to be built at no cost to the taxpayer, and hopes to achieve formal confirmation from the Greater London Authority early next year.
Designer Chris Medland says: “We can’t just get anybody who wants their name on it – it has to be a company that is appropriate for the location and the event.”
Medland expects the bridge, which connects Battersea and Chelsea Harbour, to encourage new visitors to each side of the river and drive significant extra business to restaurants, bars, hotels and offices in the area.
Hammersmith and Fulham Councillor Nicholas Botterill said: “A new bridge has the potential to give the south of our borough a real boost by improving the local economy, brining jobs to the area and making transport links better and faster.”
The bridge is expected to take a million journeys off the road, rail and bus networks and ease congestion at Clapham Junction.
The House of Commons first called for a bridge in the area in 1924.
Medland said: “It is a significant piece of well-used infrastructure that we have been talking about for almost 100 years so it is about time we built it.”
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