The highly controversial £2 billion Silvertown Tunnel project is going ahead without enough public democratic scrutiny, questioning from Zack Polanski reveals. The Mayor was forced to concede that he had never run a consultation directly with Londoners on this new urban motorway in its present form.
The Mayor claims that the Silvertown Road Tunnel was consulted during his previous term within his Transport Strategy, London Plan and Environment Strategy. However, within each of these documents, it was part of a package of crossings – with the Mayor also grabbing attention with a new walking and cycling bridge at Rotherhithe, along with two rail crossings and a ferry. All of those schemes are cancelled or delayed, despite the mayor's commitment to building them all by 2026 [1].
The most recent consultation on the Silvertown Road Tunnel as a separate scheme, led by the Mayor was over five years ago. A poll by Survation last year found that the majority of Londoners would rather the money was spent on public transport than a new road [2]. The Mayor has never consulted on the scheme as a stand-alone proposal since he amended the scheme in October 2016.
Zack Polanski says:
We are facing a climate emergency and we cannot carry on with business as usual. The Mayor needs to pause and review all future roadbuilding, including the Silvertown Road Tunnel. Londoners need new crossings to let them cross the river by rail, walking and cycling – not more roads in a heavily congested area.
“Earlier this week the Welsh Government suspended all new road building, and the Committee on Climate Change has also said road investment should only be allowed if it will lead to cuts in carbon emissions. The Mayor has provided no evidence that Silvertown Road Tunnel will do this, and people are right to be worried that traffic and emissions may increase.
“The Mayor claimed today that he had consulted repeatedly on the Silvertown Tunnel – that simply isn’t true. He buried this proposal in lengthy strategies or combined it with other, more appealing proposals. Londoners told him in large numbers that this motorway tunnel had no place in his Environment Strategy, given his stated aim to clean up London’s air.
“The Mayor is often inviting us to join him in pushing the Government to listen. I’m asking him to pause this £2bn project, and listen to the people of London to make sure their concerns are heard. Polling has shown a majority of Londoners want this money spent on public transport, not a new motorway tunnel. How big and loud does the opposition need to be for the Mayor to pause and reflect?
Construction to build the Silvertown Road Tunnel continues despite local calls for a pause and review of the scheme, including from three local MPs and the directly elected leader of Newham council.
Zack is calling for a pause on construction, to review the scheme. A full and proper public consultation on both the Silvertown Road Tunnel scheme in its present form, and the crossings needed downstream of Tower Bridge are needed to adequately hear the views of Londoners and consider impacts on carbon emissions before any new crossings start full construction.
[1] Mayor commits to building greener, public transport-focused crossings, October 2016 /press-releases/mayoral/mayor-commits-to-east-london-crossings “The Mayor has set out a package of new river crossings to be built in the next five to 10 years”
[2] Silvertown Tunnel: Majority of Londoners would prefer the money to be spent on public transport, Survation, September 2020 https://www.survation.com/silvertown-tunnel-majority-of-londoners-would-prefer-the-money-to-be-spent-on-public-transport/ “A Survation poll of Londoners, commissioned by the Stop the Silvertown Tunnel Coalition, https://stopsilvertowntn.com/ has found a majority, 60% to 24%, would prefer the money (estimated by TfL to be £2bn) being spent on the new proposed Silvertown Tunnel, to be spent instead on public transport, cycling and walking.”
Notes to editors
Three local MPs - Lyn Brown – MP for West Ham, Abena Oppong-Asare – MP for Erith and Thamesmead and Matthew Pennycook – MP for Greenwich and Woolwich and Shadow Minister for Climate Change have supported a pause and review, along with Rokhsana Fiaz – Mayor of Newham.
Earlier this week the Welsh Government committed to pause and review all future road building schemes, in order that they could meet targets for climate change. https://gov.wales/freeze-new-roads-projects-be-announced
https://record.assembly.wales/Plenary/12317#C370213
The latest Climate Change Committee progress report to parliament also says every road investment must now show that it would not increase overall emissions, the Mayor has already admitted that Silvertown Road Tunnel would increase emissions.
https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2021-progress-report-to-parliament/
Cross-cutting recommendation for the Department for Transport, to be addressed within 2021-22 in Table A6: “Decisions on investment in roads should be contingent on analysis justifying how they contribute to the UK’s pathway to Net Zero. This analysis should demonstrate that the proposals would not lead to increases in overall emissions. Wherever possible, investment in roads should be accompanied by proportionate investment in EV charging infrastructure and in active travel and public transport.”
When questioned on the increase in carbon emissions that the consulted scheme is set to cause the Mayor has claimed that the scheme may contribute to reducing carbon emissions but this is not an assessment on the overall impact of the Silvertown Road Tunnel which when it was last assessed would increase road transport emissions of carbon dioxide by 0.4%
Silvertown Road Tunnel increase in emissions, Question to Mayor, 5 March 2020 https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2020/0941
The current Mayor claims that there have been ten consultations in the Silvertown Road Tunnel, but he has never led a consultation purely on the Silvertown Road Tunnel which is now the only river crossing scheme he is delivering:
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Boris Johnson’s Transport Strategy, 2009
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Boris Johnson’s London Plan, 2009
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Boris Johnson’s consultation on River Crossings, 2012
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Boris Johnson’s consultation on River Crossings, 2013
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Boris Johnson’s consultation on the Silvertown Crossing, 2014
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Boris Johnson’s statutory consultation on the Silvertown Road Tunnel, 2015
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The Development Consent Order process including examination applied for by Boris Johnson, 2016-2018
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Sadiq Khan’s Transport Strategy, 2018 https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mayors-transport-strategy-2018.pdf
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The Silvertown Road Tunnel is one of 107 proposals (proposal 93). It was given equal weight as the now cancelled walking and cycling crossing from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf, and other aspirational schemes such as new rail extensions, which remain without funding.
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Sadiq Khan’s London Plan, 2021 https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/the_london_plan_2021.pdf
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There are three mentions,
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the first at 2.1.43 lists it alongside the Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf river crossing (cancelled), extension of the DLR from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead (unfunded) and a Barking Riverside to Abbey Wood London Overground crossing (unfunded)
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the second in table 10.1 where it is listed as “Bus network: Silvertown Tunnel and associated bus services” with a medium cost and a timescale of 2017-2030.
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the last at 11.1.30 notes that Silvertown Road Tunnel is one of few schemes in the plan with identified funding: “[…] Overground extension to Barking Riverside and Silvertown Tunnel have identified funding packages and will be delivered in the early years of the Plan. However, most of the schemes listed in Table 10.1 are currently unfunded and additional sustainable funding sources and project-specific deals and grants will be needed alongside contributions from London boroughs and the private sector”
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Sadiq Khan’s Environment Strategy https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/london_environment_strategy_0.pdf
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This has a single mention of the Silvertown Tunnel on p79 which says “The Mayor, through TfL, will keep under review existing and planned road user charging schemes, including the Congestion Charge, Low Emission Zone, ULEZ and the Silvertown Tunnel schemes, to ensure they prove effective in furthering or delivering the policies and proposals of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.”
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The consultation report on the environment strategy notes that air quality was the topic with the greatest support, but Londoners made suggestions in that support. Over 300 responses were felt to say this, and 291 responses via a letter from Friends of the Earth said “We should not build new roads, such as the proposed Silvertown Road Tunnel, which would add to the air pollution problem.” This shows that the Mayor is claiming support for the Silvertown Tunnel from people who were actually opposed to the scheme. https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/report_to_the_mayor.pdf
The present Mayor conducted a review of the Silvertown Tunnel in 2016, and said he was committed to building “greener, public transport focussed crossings” and yet did not consult on the scheme that he had then amended. The package of schemes that he promoted as manifesto commitments being honoured have now all been cancelled due to funding issues except for the Silvertown Road Tunnel. https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-commits-to-east-london-crossings