http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/joanna-lumleys-garden-bridge-over-the-thames-gets-30m-seal-of-approval-from-government-8983330.html Joanna Lumleyâs dream of a âfloating paradise gardenâ suspended above the river Thames is set to become a reality after the Government pledged £30 million to support its construction offering a final seal of approval to the bridge - designed by London 2012 Olympic cauldron creator Thomas Heatherwick - the funding announcement was included in the Governmentâs latest infrastructure plan. Around half of the £150 million needed to bring the project to life had already been raised through private donations and a £4 million injection from Transport for London. Last month, Ms Lumley launched a trust to organise the funding and construction of the bridge. The actress first pitched the concept 15 years ago following the death of Princess Diana, but it was not until the London Olympics that her vision began to be seen as a possibility. Inspired by Ms Lumleyâs memories of the mist-covered mountain gardens of her childhood home in Malaysia, she joined forces with Mr Heatherwick last year - just as TfL announced it was looking for proposal for a pedestrian bridge to cross the Thames from Temple tube station to the South Bank. Organisers say the bridge could now be finished as early as 2017. The Government's infrastructure plan also pledged a further £50 million to redevelop the railway station at Gatwick Airport, as part of a £375 billion investment in the UKâs infrastructure. After dropping proposals for the country's first toll scheme in a decade following widespread opposition, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said none of the schemes in the Coalition's latest plans involve payments by motorists. The Government will however be selling off £20 billion of state owned financial and corporate assets by 2020, including its 40 per cent stake in Eurostar.
It's a hard life in these austere times . Plus the poor and the elderly will have a lovely garden to take their mind of starvation . Let them eat flowers .
George Osborne will announce a fresh round of spending cuts for Whitehall departments when he gives his Autumn Statement today. This should kick start some beel.
More people will have to work until they are 68 before being entitled to a state pension under plans to be announced by Chancellor George Osborne.
A confirmation that a UK guarantee has now been agreed for the £1bn Northern Line extension to Battersea in London
Using the Royal Family calculator it will bring in £35bn in tourist money over the next 5 years In all seriousness though, I'm impressed that only £30m of the £150m is public money, for what is a public works project. If some famous Glaswegians or Liverpudlians were to get off their arses and find 80% of the money to do something real nice for their town, maybe the government would help them out a little as well
Made my mind up, i'm voting yes to independence and let the rest of England, Wales and NI pay for London's vanity projects.
State pension to be raised to 69 for people who are currently in their 30's. It'll be about 80 by the time I get there, and the ****s still have the cheek to chase after me for back payments of National Insurance for when I was outside the system - feck aff I'll never see a penny of it.
