A conversation that could have happened this week between a Richmond Borough resident and Cllr Roberts, the Liberal Democrat Leader of Richmond Council:
Richmond Resident: Cllr Roberts, now that your bid to be elected to the Greater London Authority has ended and you don’t have to worry about upsetting the Labour Party, will you finally press the Labour leadership of Hammersmith & Fulham Council to move the project to repair Hammersmith Bridge forward?
Cllr Roberts, LibDem Leader of Richmond Council: I’m afraid not. We have Council elections next year and I still need Richmond’s Labour voters to lend me their votes. That won’t happen if I’m attacking Labour and they are attacking me.
Resident: That’s a shame, I thought in your job that residents should come first. But now that the Government has made public what needs to be done by Hammersmith & Fulham Council, including the equal split in costs between the Government, TfL, and Hammersmith & Fulham, isn’t it clear what you should be asking for? Just get on with it, Hammersmith & Fulham. That’s not controversial.
Cllr Roberts: Well, I’m just going to continue blaming only the Government. That is what works best for me.
Resident: Wouldn’t it have been better if Richmond Council had been given control of the bridge four years ago like the then Conservative administration proposed?
Cllr Roberts: As my Deputy Leader Cllr Ehmann keeps saying, that was a really stupid idea. It would have left Richmond residents paying a part of the cost. It was better for us to do nothing and let the Government and Hammersmith & Fulham fight it out. Let them pay.
Resident: Isn’t Hammersmith & Fulham now proposing to pay for its share with a toll?
Cllr Roberts: Yes.
Resident: Oh. I’m confused. Who pays the toll? Since we’re the ones that use the bridge, isn’t that us?
Cllr Roberts: Well....
Resident: Couldn’t we have designed a toll three years ago if we had control? We could have determined who paid the toll, what level it would be for our own residents, and not wasted all this time with political fighting?
Cllr Roberts: Well....
Resident: Aren’t some people also asking you to make a contribution?
Cllr Roberts: Well....
Resident: So do you mean that H&F is making us pay for their share of the bridge through a toll, we have no control over the toll or the bridge, Richmond Council is being asked to make a further contribution, and meanwhile our residents and local businesses have had massive disruption through two years of closures costing us millions from our own pockets? It sounds like your plan to save Richmond Council money has wound up costing Richmond residents a lot more, and caused years of anxiety in the process.
Cllr Roberts: Well… To be honest it was actually Cllr Ehmann’s plan.
Resident: Hmm… It sounds to me like you have been played by Hammersmith & Fulham Council this whole time.
Cllr Roberts: I don’t see it that way. The Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham is very friendly with me.
Resident: Umm, precisely... Are you sure you and Cllr Ehmann should be leading the Council?
Cllr Roberts: I have to go.
