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