Public reports pack Wednesday 22-Jul-2015 19.00 Council

Page 37We want to develop a high-level family and carers strategy which takes account of the recentchanges introduced by the Care Act. This will set out the key principles and standards forsupporting carers. Our strategy will require that carers’ needs and their contribution are fullyintegrated into all of our care related transformation programmes. The plan is to co-producethe strategy with carers over the next few months, with the aim of completing this byNovember 2015.8. Councillor Vaila McClureTo: Councillor Jack Hopkins – Cabinet Member for Jobs and GrowthLondon Garden BridgeCould the Cabinet Member update this Council on the current status of the Garden Bridgeproject and Lambeth's current position on it?Party: LabourAnswer:The Garden Bridge would run from the roof of Temple tube station on the North Bank of theRiver Thames to The Queen’s Walk by the London Studios on the South Bank. It would be366 metres (1204 ft) long and 30 metres (98 ft) across at its widest point.The bridge would feature plants, trees, shrubs and wildflowers. It is supported by Transportfor London and based on an idea conceived by the actor Joanna Lumley and designed byThomas Heatherwick. The Garden Bridge Trust was set up to oversee the project.Some £60m towards the estimated £175m cost of the bridge has been pledged by the Mayorof London and the Government through HM Treasury. There will be no public money fromLambeth towards the construction or upkeep of the bridge.PlanningLambeth is one of the two independent planning authorities who have approved the GardenBridge proposal – the other is Westminster. We granted permission in December 2014 butthis was conditional on the fulfilment of 45 specific terms. It means that the bridge can onlygo ahead if the Planning Committee is satisfied that the Garden Bridge Trust has compliedwith all these conditions.Those conditions range from construction, provision of toilets and plans to accommodate thenumber of potential visitors. The Judicial Review that followed the decision led to the Mayorunderwriting the maintenance of the Bridge should the business case fail. It did not queryany aspect of Lambeth’s decision making and we will continue to work by those highstandards.ACVLambeth Council has approved an application for the land at Queen’s Walk to be listed as anAsset of Community Value (ACV). This simply puts a six months stop on any sale when theowner of the land serves notice on the Council that they intend to dispose of the asset. Thisallows community groups to try to get funds together so that they can purchase the asset