The Jubilee River is now 24 years old. You can see a local newspaper report on the 2002 opening ceremony here and another report here
24 years later and the channel is still incapable of conveying its design capacity – and has had enormous amounts of money poured in just to keep it working. So let me just briefly list some of today’s unresolved issues from Taplow and on downstream to Datchet and beyond:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION – further details to follow:
Name change from Jubilee River to Jubilee FAS
Taplow embankment scour – awaiting repair
Berry Hill footbridge – only the centre span replaced with steel
Ashford Lane footbridge – closed – South span collapsed
Ashford Lane footbridge – closed – Centre span collapsed -July 2026
Ashford Lane footbridge barrier. No notice?
Allotments footbridge – closed – ‘awaiting repair’? – (actually replacement?)
Myrke footbridge – a questionable structure
Myrke embankment – structurally failing since £1.3m (2004) rebuild. See previous report here
Myrke embankment – Geotextile reinforcement exposed!!
Black Potts footbridge – closed since June 2025 – and about to collapse
Black Potts footbridge – sagging and on the way to failure?
Black Potts footbridge – Note the condition of the lower beam joints
Black Potts lower beam joint failure
Black Potts – more lower beam joint failure
Still no solution to the algae problem – at Slough weir
Still no solution to the algae problem – at Black Potts
When will the footbridges be usable – and who is going to pay?
THE FUTURE? We need to know where we are before we can go forward with the downstream channel extensions – so here are some questions to be considered:
Background:
The Jubilee River (MWEFAS) was opened in 2002. The downstream channel extension projects (LTFRMS, RTS and DHEFIM) have cost about £120m over 18 years. These projects are still in the development phase and without an approved outline business case.
Questions:
1) Who is accountable?
2) Where are we today? Confirm how much time and whose money has been spent on these projects?
3) Publish the estimated future costs, timescales and milestones for these projects – and keep to them!