Could you please provide an update on the status of the proposed New Bermondsey Overground station, including any correspondence with developers regarding funding for the station. There are several large developments proposed or under construction near the proposed station, on Ilderton Road, Varcoe Road and Verney Road (details here: https://oldkentroad.org.uk/map/) — has any consideration been given to requiring the developers of these to fund the station given that existing transport links are poor, and the developers would benefit via higher sale prices? Also given that negotiations on Millwall/New Bermondsey appear deadlocked and unlikely to resolve soon. Can you also provide any correspondence with Lewisham and Southwark boroughs about the proposed station. (The station is in lewisham but very close to the boundary with Southwark and the developments referenced are in Southwark).

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TfL Ref: FOI-1165-1920

Thank you for your email of 18^th July 2019 asking for information about the proposed new station at New Bermondsey.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. 

Specifically you asked:

“Could you please provide an update on the status of the proposed New Bermondsey Overground station, including any correspondence with developers regarding funding for the station. There are several large developments proposed or under construction near the proposed station, on Ilderton Road, Varcoe Road and Verney Road (details here: https://oldkentroad.org.uk/map/) — has any consideration been given to requiring the developers of these to fund the station given that existing transport links are poor, and the developers would benefit via higher sale prices? Also given that negotiations on Millwall/New Bermondsey appear deadlocked and unlikely to resolve soon. Can you also provide any correspondence with Lewisham and Southwark boroughs about the proposed station. (The station is in Lewisham but very close to the boundary with Southwark and the developments referenced are in Southwark).”

Following our request for clarification, on 25^th July 2019 you confirmed that the elements of your request relating to correspondence should cover items exchanged over the last 12 months only.

In terms of an update on the status of the proposed new station, TfL has been waiting on the Housing Infrastructure Fund decision (on which funding towards the new station relies) and we hope to hear whether we are successful later this year.

 

 

In regards to the correspondence, we estimate that to locate it all would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, even if the search were restricted to the last 12 months only.

Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, and then locating, retrieving or extracting it from other information, would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described – equivalent to 18 hours work.

There is no easy way for TfL to locate the information you have requested. We have identified over twenty-five TfL staff and fourteen staff at the developer/Councils that may potentially have exchanged correspondence on this matter. The proposed station is known by two names – “New Bermondsey” and “Surrey Canal Road” – and the scheme was originally called “London’s Sporting Village”. The site itself is called “Surrey Canal Triangle”, although it may also referred to as “New Bermondsey”, the “site by Millwall FC/New Den”, or “Bridgehouse Meadows”. To locate all correspondence we would need to run multiple searches for all staff against all of these terms, and even then we would need to review all search items returned to ensure they were specifically about the station itself (as requested) as opposed to other elements of the overall scheme. Preliminary searches indicate that it would considerably exceed the cost limit as, using a conservative estimate, we would need to review hundreds of emails to locate, extract and collate those that are relevant to your request.

To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing or reframing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. Alternatively, if you are able to be more specific as to exactly what you are interested in we may be better placed to provide answers to specific questions.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

David Wells

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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