Any lingering hopes of a road river crossing being built at Thamesmead have finally been killed off – providing a boost to plans to build thousands of new homes and a Docklands Light Railway extension.

The government has lifted a safeguarding order protecting land for the Thames Gateway Bridge, which was proposed by Ken Livingstone when he was mayor but scrapped by his successor, Boris Johnson.

Plans for a road crossing between what was Plumstead marshes and Beckton dated back to the 1940s, and included the notorious East London River Crossing (ELRC), which would have included large-scale demolition of homes and cut a swathe through Woodlands Farm and Oxleas Woods in an attempt to link the A2 with the A13.

For years, maps of Thamesmead promised that it would have a road crossing, but – as with promises of a Jubilee Line extension – it never arrived. 

Crowd of people with "Bridge the gap" banner
Grenwich Council had campaigned for the bridge to be built, along with the Silvertown Tunnel. Image: Greenwich Council

Livingstone’s Thames Gateway Bridge was to have been a cut-down version of the ELRC which would have been built before the Silvertown Tunnel. It would have included space for public transport, linking the planned East London Transit with another proposed scheme, the Greenwich Waterfront Transit. 

It was strongly supported by Greenwich Council, but equally strongly opposed by neighbouring Bexley, which feared increased traffic congestion. When Johnson became mayor in 2008, he scrapped the scheme and focused instead on the Silvertown Tunnel. 

A later proposal, the Gallions Reach Bridge, emerged under Johnson along with a plan for a bridge at Belvedere, but both were shelved by Sadiq Khan when he became mayor.

Now the land on both sides of the Thames has been earmarked for housing development, with 15,000 new homes at Thamesmead Waterfront and the same number at Beckton Riverside, and a Docklands Light Railway extension linking the two.

East London Transit bus surrounded by new builds
The East London Transit bus service was meant to link up with a sister network south of the river. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Remnants of the scheme are a truncated junction off the North Circular Road at Beckton and the East London Transit bus network, which started running in 2010. Its sister network south of the Thames was never built.

In a written statement to parliament, Simon Lightwood, the local transport minister, said: “The safeguarding direction for the Thames Gateway Bridge dates back to 1940, when the area’s transport needs were very different. It was intended to protect land for a road crossing that has not been delivered. 

“Since then, London’s transport priorities have evolved, and over the decades, we have seen major investments in London’s river crossings – most notably the Dartford Crossing and, recently, the Silvertown Tunnel. The safeguarding directions therefore no longer align with the direction of transport policy or the evolving needs of this part of London.

Gallions reach bridge
A 2015 TfL design for what a Gallions Reach bridge would look like Image: Transport for London

“The continued safeguarding of this land has been an obstacle to much-needed development, and I am therefore lifting these directions. The government is keen to deliver new homes and unlock economic opportunity, and we are taking steps to remove unnecessary barriers to progress.”

There was no mention of the DLR to Thamesmead in the spring statement last month, but days later the government said it may be willing to fund the rail link after all. A second consultation into the project was launched last month.

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