infrastructure assets humber bridge
TRANSCRIPT
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Arthur Montague Browning
In praise of hubris
• 1959 Humber Bridge Act, passed, estimated build cost £28m
• 1972 work begins• 1981 bridge completed, actual build cost
£98m with accrued interest £151m• 2011 Bridge Toll review debt stands at £332m
and still rising
Some numbers
• Bridge income £23m• Bridge maintenance £3.5m• Bridge salaries £3m• Bridge reserves £20m• Bridge Board 22 local councillors• Bridge Board mtgs 3 times a year
If it’s patently bust why not fix it?
• The bridge is profitable but can’t keep pace with spiralling debt
• The ‘ historic solution’ of raising tolls has failed miserably
• The governance structure is not fit for purpose• As a result of the above the bridge is failing to
meet any of its original social or economic aspirations
What a solution might look like
• Buy the £332m debt for £100m................. not forgetting you have to raise the £100m
• Plan for toll reductions within a realistic and realisable timeframe
• Radically restructure both the ownership and governance arrangements
• Get a picture on a big lorry
What worked
• Being ambitious changed the game• The coalition of the willing was a successful
gambit• Our position was sound and well argued• We were credible and they listened
...and what didn’t
• We didn’t shift the dead weight of local political self interest
• We couldn’t mobilise the really big players• Winning the argument isn’t enough on its own• My dad was right
What have we learned
• Radical solutions aren’t by definition necessarily unpopular solutions
• We don’t have a lien on radical solutions• New thinking creates new alliances• Time and timing is critical (or not)• My dad was wrong