Walton Bridge

19 July 2010

The Government has instructed the Department for Transport to make savings of £683 million by 31 March 2011. In response to this, all funding approvals issued since 1 January 2010 have been withdrawn, and for the present no new funding approvals are being issued. The Department for Transport is now undertaking a spending review, which is expected to report in October.

The Walton Bridge project is being affected by these actions, so a decision on the funding for the new bridge will not be taken until October at the earliest. This means that, if the Walton Bridge project is given the go-ahead in October or November, construction works would probably start in January 2011.

Previously, on 21 December 2009, the Secretary of State for Transport had approved the Orders needed to construct the new Walton Bridge. His decision followed a two-day public inquiry held in the summer of 2009.

The Orders are:

'The Surrey County Council (New Thames Road Bridge, Walton) Scheme 2008', which gives permission to build over the River Thames;
The Surrey County Council (A244) Thames Crossing Walton-on-Thames (Oatlands Drive to Windmill Green) (Classified Road) (Side Roads) Order 2008, which gives permission to create and amend local roads, footpaths, cycle paths and bridleways; and
The Surrey County Council (A244) Thames Crossing Walton-on-Thames Compulsory Purchase Order 2008, which gives authority to acquire the land needed for the scheme.

At the same time, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government issued the 'Exchange Land Certificates' associated with the acquisition of 'Open Space Land' and 'Recreational Allotment Land' that forms part of the Cowey Sale recreational area.

Additionally, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued the 'Exchange Land Certificates' associated with the acquisition of 'Village Green Land' at Cowey Sale, and 'Common Land' at Windmill Green on the Shepperton side of the river.

The decision letters, and the Inspector's report from the public inquiry, together with all the documentation associated with the Public Inquiry, can be inspected at Walton Library; Shepperton Library; and at Room 127, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames.