Comments for 853

Comment on City Hall asked to probe Greenwich Council foot tunnels fiasco by roger

roger — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:04:39 +0000

This is very similar to how boroughs spend what is called LIP money from TfL. Boroughs bid for funding every year and are allocated circa £3m. Throughout the year they update progress on a TfL non public website and then claim back the money they have spent from TfL. So at each stage of the process TfL supposedly know at what stage the project is at. The tunnel monies may have been the same. If you the funders and each month progress looks OK as to the written returns why would you think otherwise – after all we are talking about local authorities and you wouldn’t expect them to tell porkies. If at the end of the project you are told that its substantially completed you wouldn’t go and check – well TfL don’t normally unless they know something is not right. It might be possible to ask FOI questions about the monthly/quarterly returns but they would most likely be pretty vague.

We live in a world of trust but if you go and look at the Woolwich foot tunnel you have to wonder what went wrong.

Both Greenwich and Lewisham Cyclists are investigating setting up a ‘Friends of’ group – watch this space as they say.

Comment on City Hall asked to probe Greenwich Council foot tunnels fiasco by Darryl

Darryl — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:15:51 +0000

You’ve got it right, except that the GLA has taken over the project from the HCA.

So it’s Greenwich Council running the project, with the GLA (was HCA) in charge of making sure the money’s not wasted. If you look back through past posts, the GLA (ie, Boris) initially took a “not us, guv” approach when the council’s failings were pointed out (by Lib Dem AM Caroline Pidgeon).

Comment on City Hall asked to probe Greenwich Council foot tunnels fiasco by Mr Ree

Mr Ree — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:36:50 +0000

It’s not clear to me who the owner of this project was. What I believe is that Greenwich council received a grant for the work from the GLA, and GC were running the project. The GLA had oversight to ensure that the funds were used correctly.

Is this correct? If it is correct then surely yes we should hold GC to blame for this. If it’s not correct then could somebody please explain it to me like I’m five so I can understand who was in charge of the work.

Comment on City Hall asked to probe Greenwich Council foot tunnels fiasco by Plumstead Resident

Plumstead Resident — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:08:56 +0000

Whilst I some sympathy over a contractor failure, it’s shocking how long the Woolwich tunnel has been left without working lifts. I can only guess that the reason for such a delay is simply because so few actually use the Woolwich tunnel these days so the councils can afford to let the tunnel continue to dilapidate.

Comment on City Hall asked to probe Greenwich Council foot tunnels fiasco by Hayley

Hayley — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:17:40 +0000

Hi Ian, great news about the Friends of the Foot Tunnel group. As an ordinary cyclist (who doesn’t cycle in the tunnel!) I’d love to know how it progresses or come along to any meetings. Alternatively, if you get established and want to present to the transport scrutiny meeting, let me know.