Twickenham Riverside plans move ahead

1.51.00pm GMT Mon 12th Mar 2007

The next steps in the drive to revitalise Twickenham Riverside will be considered by Richmond Council's Cabinet next week.

The vision for the riverside site incorporates a River Centre to be run by the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames. And on Monday, March 12, the Cabinet is being recommended to approve plans for a change in the basis of funding for the project. In summary, this involves the base building cost of the River Centre being funded through money generated by the commercial/residential elements of the wider scheme for the riverside site rather than through the Environment Trust needing to gain lottery or other external grant support. This will leave the Trust able to concentrate on finding funds for the fitting out of the Centre and for their operational costs. It is envisaged that a detailed Development Brief for the entire riverside site will be issued later this year as the basis by which developers would come forward with proposals for the site.

Council Leader, Cllr Serge Lourie said:

"We are determined to regenerate this key riverside location. The Cabinet report sets out ways of bringing much more certainty to the development process and states in very clear terms our requirements of a developer partner. As a top priority, this includes our aim for the whole scheme, including the River Centre, to be highly sustainable and to act as an exemplar for others to follow. We will continue to consult and engage with local residents and amenity groups throughout."