With its beautiful parks and views over the River Thames, Richmond is easily one of the prettiest places to live in London. 

But it is not always so simple to get around.

Proposals for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Twickenham and Ham Lands were put back on the agenda at the borough’s Transport and Air Quality Services Committee on Monday (October 21)

Resident and architect Richard Woolf questioned the council on the feasibility of a  river crossing as part of its active travel strategy that was being discussed at the meeting.

He said a previous public consultation on the idea had received 1,000 responses, of which 82 per cent were positive, and questioned the council on why it had not included the proposal in its new strategy.

Councillor Alexander Ehmann, chair of the transport and air quality committee said that the main issue was the cost and had to be balanced with how realistic it was to get the approval and budget for a new bridge.

He said: “The main difficulty is as a project it has quite an expensive outlay,” but added that the council is “exploring actively what next steps will be appropriate and proportionate.”

He added: “There is little point marching the army up the hill to find no battle to be fought.”

Cllr Kate Howard, joint deputy leader of the Conservative group, said she thought the plans needed to consider the use of space in case it interfered with the annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge.

However, Mr Woolf dismissed this as a “tertiary issue” and criticised the council for doing nothing so far. 

Officers pointed out that TfL is focussing on rebuilding Hammersmith Bridge and funding new projects in East London rather than in Richmond, leaving it to the borough to fund. 

Green Party Councillor, Monica Saunders, said a pedestrian and cycle bridge should be “an aspiration” for the council as it undergoes more developments and will see an increase in its population.

She expressed concern that the new active transport strategy did not refer to the climate emergency despite the large amount of CO2 transport emits in the borough, and that it was important to consider this in relation to new developments, such as the new Lidl in Twickenham and upcoming plans for Mortlake Brewery.