APPENDIX 20
Memorandum submitted by the London Borough
of Camden
Any spectacular event needs planning and investment,
but the Olympics sets two particular challenges—the scale
of the investment and getting the wider, long term benefits for
the capital as a whole. 2012 has to be seen in the round.
In this submission, Camden has looked at both
the planning and the investment with central London's future in
mind. The key points we make here are wholly in line with the
Transport Committee's timely remit, taking the whole travel experience
as a starting point.
PUBLIC HIGHWAY
AND URBAN
REALM
Camden and the other central London boroughs
have been working in partnership for a number of years to deliver
consistently high quality public spaces and streets that people
can enjoy on foot and are already discussing integrated design
standards.
This aspiration is central to the Gehl Architects
report "Towards a fine city for people" commissioned
by the Central London Partnership and Transport for London, recognising
the enormous economic and social benefits of achieving this. All
the central London boroughs support this report. Significant levels
of investment are required to achieve the step-change in the quality
public realm in central London, recommended by the Gehl report.
Central London borough's will work together
with the Central London Partnership to produce a common standard
for a high quality public realm in line with the aspirations in
"Towards a fine city for people".
Visitors will judge our transport facilities
harshly if the areas surrounding the interchanges are poor in
terms of the quality of the urban realm.
Camden has a lot of experience in implementing
high quality urban realm through the borough's Boulevard Project
and the Council has given this a high priority for a number of
years. This is also the case for other central London boroughs
including Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea. These Councils
can provide a significant supporting role in delivering the Games.
Recommendation: The Transport Committee
is asked to stress in their report that the scale of costs involved
in public realm improvement is small compared to the cost many
public transport infrastructure projects but that the benefits
are significant. That the Committee recommends to the Olympic
Delivery Authority that improvement works are procured early to
get "easy wins" for the image of the city and the Games—bearing
in mind the huge pressures that will be on the Construction industry
in the lead up to the Games.
Recommendation: It is crucial that the
current transport-related statutory powers are retained by the
Councils to support the Games most effectively and with the support
of local communities.
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
The bid's success owes much to the ability of
London & Continental Railways' new infrastructure to provide
a high-speed link from central London to the Olympic venues. The
King's Cross/St Pancras interchange will be easily accessible
to London's airports and other train services, and will function
as the most important gateway to visitors from Europe and beyond.
That interchange is at risk. The CTRL international
station will open as planned in 2007, but at this time there is
continuing uncertainty about whether the vital connecting and
supporting services will be delivered in time:
— Fitting out the new Thameslink station
box under St Pancras is still being held up through lack of funding
clarity. Indecision is making these works more costly as successive,
easy construction windows are being missed
— The London Underground Northern Ticket
Hall is delayed by design changes (although these are beneficial
in themselves) and the apparent lack of a driving force towards
faster completion
— Network Rail's new concourse to King's
Cross Station will sit above the London Underground ticket hall
but again progress is stalling as design, programme and funding
decisions move very slowly. The current programme has the concourse
operational but not finished by the Olympics
— The new regenerative development
and high quality public realm around these projects has to wait
for all these to be resolved
All these works have been promised, planned
and enabled for years, but the lead times for completion by 2012
have already started. We need to finish what has been started
in time. The construction programmes offered by contractors look
needlessly long. The DfT—as the main sponsor and funder—has
been unable to provide the driving force all the stakeholders
need.
Recommendation: the Transport Committee
is asked to press the Transport Minister for action by his Department
to ensure that the various King's Cross/St Pancras projects have
certainty about their funding and are pushed ahead very rapidly,
with particular attention to shortening the draft construction
programmes. Further, that the Minister should act as or appoint
a champion for these and London's other transport projects that
are critical to 2012.
REGENERATION BENEFITS
The Olympics should benefit all London's regeneration
areas, including the King's Cross hinterland, for a long time
to come. Good transport enables regeneration and rejuvenating
development to underpin:
— High quality public realm.
— Improved access to jobs and housing.
— Creating the positive image needed
for London's visitors and investors.
The Olympics can help drive regeneration to
those areas that need it, with transport as the medium.
There will also be considerable construction
activity and jobs, especially in transport construction. The training
is in place to help Londoners take up these jobs, and there are
clear advantages to completing as many works as possible early
on.
Recommendation: the Transport Committee
is asked to draw to the attention of the Olympic Delivery Authority
— The need to manage construction
and contractors effectively from now on, to even the flow of works,
and to reduce construction and traffic impacts across the city
— The opportunities to increase
job training and take up in construction, using the training centres
across the capital which recruit locally, as part of the contractor-procuring
process
TRANSPORT AND
PUBLIC REALM
PLANS FOR
INDIVIDUAL FACILITIES
Camden believes that all venues and supporting
facilities should have their own individual transport and public
realm plans creating space for large numbers of people to enjoy
safely and accessibly.
Camden has already procured the Bloomsbury Study
with the London Development Association and University College
London from Sir Terry Farrell and Partners. This area will be
the heart of the Olympic Media Village. Some of the sporting events
in central London will largely utilise highway infrastructure:
road cycling (all with the borough of Camden), triathlon and the
marathon. Not only will the carriageway surface need to be maintained
to the highest standards but also the footways to accommodate
large numbers of spectators.
In many ways there will be more pressure on
existing highway infrastructure in Central Zone than in the Olympic
Village Zone and River Zones, which will largely have bespoke
infrastructure built for the Games.
Recommendation: That the Transport Committee
recommends to the Olympic Delivery Authority that Transport and
Public Realm plans are created for all facilities in partnership
with the relevant borough Councils.
PARKING
The central London boroughs are some of the
most effective parking authorities and have the expertise to deal
with huge parking pressures on the highway network. The Olympic
bid stated that there would be no parking in the vicinity of Games
venues.
Recommendation: That the Transport Committee
recommends that Councils and other agencies work together to achieve
this without creating problems on the rest of the network. Suitable
parking arrangements of coaches will need to be identified.
September 2005
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