from: Jack Betteridge
re: Financing an open-space option for Twickenham Riverside 6 December 2001

Dear Sir,

There is a growing interest in the possibility of a riverside park on Twickenham riverside, but many people are concerned at the financial implications. However, the costs involved are modest, and there are at least three ways in which an open space option could be financed:

1. A small amount of housing or retail development on the site pays for the landscaping and any payment due to the Council. Financial modelling has indicated that this type of funding could provide a yield comparable with the cash benefit of the Dawney Day scheme.

2. A Trust is established and the Council empowers it to take care of the site on an agreed lease. With this authority, a respected Trust should have little difficulty in raising the relatively modest amount required. This is the model approved by the Council for Petersham Meadows.

3. The Council finds its own funds. It raised funds by the sale of the Water Lane car park and has identified further land for sale adjacent to the site, and it is planning the sale of some of its open spaces. The yields from these sales will far exceed the amount required for landscaping the pool site, and it is an appropriate use for such funds.

If the Council were to have second thoughts about the scheme they currently favour, an open-space option is an economically viable alternative. They could either retain control and do it themselves or pass the responsibility to a Trust formed from respected figures and groups of the local community. In any open space option, valuable land is retained, as is the flexibility to deal with the needs of the future.

Yours sincerely,

Jack Betteridge