Goodwin Development Trust -Humber Bridge

Our Humber Bridge Campaign – a bold initiative to ask who owns the big stuff and how could it be managed better?

More than a Bridge:

Our Humber Bridge was an aspirational campaign to challenge the status quo on how a very significant infrastructure asset should be managed for the economic and social benefit of surrounding communities and businesses. The Humber Bridge is the only sensible transport route for navigating the Humber (the estuary formed by the rivers Trent and Ouse) avoiding a 70 mile detour through the countryside! The suspension bridge when constructed and opened for traffic in 1981, at 2,220 m (7,283 ft) was the largest of its type, now still the fifth-largest of its type in the world.

The Proposal:

The escalating toll fee, currently the highest in the UK, has been independently proved to be restricting the regeneration potential of the Humber region. With no end in sight to the mounting £330 million debt, the continuing burden would mean that the debt could not be repaid for generations. A partnership of local business, public parties and action groups, including Goodwin Development Trust took the bold step of mobilizing public support for an alternative bid to purchase the residual debt for £100 million, appeal to the UK government to write off the remaining debt and transfer ownership of the bridge into a CIC. The partnership in a very limited time frame evidenced their proposal in a comprehensive business strategy to HMT and DfT to describe how a combination of:

• the up-front payment of £100 million to purchase the existing debt
• the use of that payment for investment or reduced borrowing,
• the tax income from toll costs being reinvested in the region,
• the transfer of ownership to a CIC
• the increased economic activity, investment, employment raising direct and indirect tax income and
• the reduced dependence on central state investment in economic, social and welfare initiatives,could give a greater return to Government than that received in continuing interest repayments under the current regime.

The £100m would be raised through £80m of traditional borrowing and a £20m community bond issue. The support of regional local authorities to indemnify the toll income and to guarantee the loan repayment was key to the proposal.

The deal would maintain the current toll fee for eight years which would be sufficient to repay the £100 million debt and maintain the bridge structure. Thereafter the bridge would be required to be operated on a maintenance only funding budget for the economic good of the region and UK Plc.

What the rest of us can learn:

The process shows that where there is a viable and fresh approach to meeting the challenges of investing and operating public assets, the community sector is capable of leading and coordinating partnerships to bid for community ownership. The Our Humber Bridge campaign implemented a very effective communication plan to mobilise popular support, which was essential in influencing the political landscape.

The campaign is ongoing and at this stage Government has not accepted the proposal in its entirety, however, has agreed to the principle of a limited debt write-off, changes to the governance arrangements and is negotiating the terms of a toll reduction. As yet the direct transfer of ownership outwith the control of local government has proved a step too far.

Lessons have been drawn from the experience. Perhaps the hardest lesson is that having a winning idea, galvanizing local support and being seen to win the argument may not be sufficient in short periods of time to force the required change where there are ingrained management systems and political bias.

Goodwin Development Trust has engaged at a level that has bought extended benefits: new partnerships that will now hopefully bring about a step change to the Humber region economy. Success can manifest in different ways: the quality and the confidence of the proposal put forward has resulted in imitation offers from neighbouring local authorities.

See the slides below for more information or go to www.ourhumberbridge.com