Today's Guardian carried an interesting item on the progress on the Thames Gateway Bridge Public Inquiry.
The assistant Inspector at this PI is John Watson. It seems that despite the fact that the Inspector has yet to issue his report, and the Secretary of State yet to make a decision subsequent to that, Transport for London can't wait, and are putting tenders out already (Cue press releases to the appropriate publications and much excitement, particularly here).
Welcome to the world of Design, Build, Finance & Operate (DBFO). The battle lines drawn in the 90s are being drawn again.
It seems that days after Ruth Kelly's announcement that the government intends in future not to consider Public Inquiries for 'infrastructure projects' and thereby tear up the 1947 planning act, those without any illusions about how things work anyway can't contain their glee.
You can expect similar developments about the bypass machinations to be reported here, as and when they arise.
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