Examination of Witnesses (Questions 4940
- 4959)
4940. As far as the impact of Crossrail is concerned,
Mr Elvin has explained that the new western ticket hall for the
Tottenham Court Road Station will be close by and an escalator
will be directly under the BBFC's premises. In order to carry
out those works, there is going to be a work site at Fareham Street,
which will affect the Dean Street end of the premises (the back
of the site); in the northwest corner of Soho Square, a grout
shaft will be constructed, which is very close to 3 Soho Square;
work will take place in 2-4 Dean Street; and, as I have already
said, an escalator shaft will be constructed directly under the
premises.
4941. The Promoter has carried out a noise survey
and a noise report, and it is probably worth just running through
what the effect of the report is in summary. Mr Thornley-Taylor
says—and this is entirely based on the Promoter's case,
before we get into the dispute about noise, over which there is
a minor dispute—I say minor, it may turn into major—that
vibration attributable to demolition activities will exceed the
ES significance criteria; that airborne noise attributable to
construction activities to the rear of the premises will lead
to a noise impact on 7 Dean Street; that airborne noise attributable
to the construction and operation of the grout shaft in Soho Square
will have an adverse effect on noise at groundfloor level and
above for the rooms that face on to Soho Square—so there
will be an effect above the groundfloor level and that is capable
of mitigation—that groundborne noise attributable to the
demolition works will cause unacceptable noise levels in the film
theatre—and this is the precise point where it is said there
may be disagreement—and that that may also be the case for
viewing rooms on the upper floors—so that groundborne noise
could have an effect on upper floors as well as the film theatre,
but that is during demolition works.
4942. Mr Thornley-Taylor says that for a period
of three to six months, groundborne noise caused by construction
work at the basement of 2-4 Dean Street is likely to cause unacceptably
elevated noise levels within the film theatre; and that may also
be the case for viewing rooms in the upper floors—so that
is an effect other than on the film theatre, but that is during
construction work.
4943. On Mr Thornley-Taylor's predictions, for
a period of six months during the construction of the escalator
shaft beneath the BBFC premises, groundborne noise levels will
be intrusive in the film theatre; and groundborne noise attributable
to the construction and operation of the grout shafts in Soho
Square will also have an adverse effect on the film theatre.
4944. His last point is that, once Crossrail
is constructed, the operation of the escalator beneath the BBFC
premises will have an unacceptable effect on noise levels in the
film theatre—so that is not just a construction and demolition
effect, but a permanent effect of the proposed works.
4945. It is the BBFC's case that the Rupert
Thornley-Taylor predictions may be underestimates, but, in some
ways, although that is a matter of importance to BBFC it is not
central to your determination because the Promoter accepts there
will be an adverse effect.
4946. It is also our case that, when judging
whether impact is acceptable, it is appropriate to take account
of the environment considered appropriate and the criteria applied
when considering noise emitted by mechanical systems in film review
rooms, and a British Standard gives guidance on that issue. That
is a matter of dispute as to the appropriate criteria to use when
examining impact.
4947. Whether or not Mr Thornley-Taylor's predictions
are underestimates, he predicts a very significant noise impact
on the BBFC's activities during construction and operation of
Crossrail. So there is no dispute that there will be an adverse
impact, although there is some dispute as to the extent of the
impact, but the essence of the dispute turns on what is the solution.
4948. In his report, Mr Thornley-Taylor suggested
a number of mitigation measures that could be adopted. I am not
going to run through those now, because matters have moved on,
but, in essence, what he said was: "Yes, there will an effect
from construction noise, but work could cease, either at the BBFC
or from those who are constructing the works, so that the BBFC
can continue to carry out their activities." That is wholly
impractical because the BBFC carry out their activities throughout
the day and I have no doubt that Crossrail would not have to stop
construction throughout the day.
4949. Sir, matters have moved on. Other solutions
are offered, but can I just run through the solutions which are
acceptable to the BBFC. Mr Thornley-Taylor says that airborne
noise attributable to activities in Soho Square can be mitigated
by the installation of noise insulation and associated ventilation.
As we understand it, that is also offered to cover airborne noise
at 7 Dean Street. Both those proposals would be acceptable to
BBFC for airborne noise—for airborne noise alone.
4950. Sir, as far as groundborne noise is concerned,
the proposal for rescheduling has, in effect, been superseded
by other suggestions. As I understand it, the film theatre could
be isolated, and, if it were isolated, it is said by the Promoter
that the effects of groundborne noise, both during construction
and during operation, could be mitigated. The alternative solution
offered by the Promoter, which would only deal with operational
noise during the period when Crossrail is working/is in operation,
would be to mitigate the effect of the use of the escalator by
isolating the escalator itself. That would not deal with construction
impacts, so there would have to be temporary relocation of the
film review theatre during construction.
4951. Those solutions do not deal with the impact
that there would be above the level of the theatre from groundborne
noise—that is one difficulty—and there might have
to be temporary relocation during those construction works which
caused an adverse effect by groundborne noise above the theatre
level.
4952. What do BBFC say in answer to this? BBFC
say that there is a very simple solution and this is the solution
that we are going to press before you. Rather than take all these
measures—which would be noise insulation on the windows
for airborne noise; the potential of either isolating the escalator
shaft, which is untried, untested and may not work; and providing
isolation for the basement film theatre—the simple solution
is to tell Crossrail that, if they are to cause this admitted
adverse effect on this noise sensitive and important organisation,
they should acquire the premises and enable the BBFC to relocate.
If they did that, it would completely avoid all this disruption
and all these problems. We are putting that before the Committee
as the appropriate solution in this case. I have no doubt it will
be resisted by the Promoter. It is a simple solution which deals
with all the problems, and you do not have to take a view as to
whether technical solutions which are put forward will be achievable
or not. No doubt it will be said, "Well, BBFC are contemplating
moving anyway and all they are doing is to ask Crossrail to pay
for it" but that can be guarded against, because, if BBFC
have moved by the time Crossrail comes along, the obligation will
fall away.
4953. There is only one other matter I would
like to address you on at the moment and that is dust. The Promoter
has now offered tier 3 dust mitigation and that would solve the
dust problems. Therefore, it comes down to: What is the appropriate
solution for the adverse effects as a result of groundborne noise
during construction and demolition and during operation? Is it
the solution put forward by Crossrail, which is a combination
of different mitigation measures, or is it the simple solution
put forward by BBFC? That is the question.
4954. As far as the complicated solution put
forward by the Promoter is concerned, even if the Promoter could
provide isolation for the theatre, it would reduce the size of
the theatre to an unacceptable degree and BBFC would not be able
to carry out its work in simulating the conditions which would
apply in a film cinema because the screen would become too small—once
you have put the isolation in, the room size is reduced. There
would also be an effect on the amount of people you could seat
in the film cinema.
4955. That is what I wish to say in opening.
If I may, I would like to call Mr Johnson from the BBFC.
Mr Peter Johnson, Sworn
Examined by Mr Cameron
4956. Mr Johnson, you are Peter Johnson, is
that right?
(Mr Johnson) That is right.
4957. Could you tell us what your position is
and your role is at the BBFC.
(Mr Johnson) I am currently Head of Policy
at British Board of Film Classification and have been since last
summer. I have over nine years experience of the board, first
as an examiner and then as a senior examiner. During those nine
years, I have spent many thousands of hours examining film and
video materials for the purposes of classification.
4958. I would like to ask you about the BBFC's
role, first of all. The Committee have indicated that they are
familiar with it, but can you explain what you do and what the
conditions are, the conditions you require in order to carry out
your tasks.
(Mr Johnson) The process of examination is
to view each and every work submitted in full in the conditions
that we expect the national public audience to view them, so cinema
films are viewed in the cinema in cinema conditions, and videos
are viewed on VCRs and normal TV monitors. The process is that
a team of examiners will view a work from beginning to end in
real time. At the end of the examination they will discuss what
the appropriate classification is and what the appropriate consumer
advice to go with that classification is. If there is a point
of dispute, they will often review and look at scenes again before
coming to a decision. In many circumstances, where different points
of view might be taken or where the work might be controversial,
the work will be seen again by another team or by people higher
up the hierarchy within the board, sometimes a director, sometimes
even the president and vice-president will view. On occasions
we will need to get expert advice on particular points, so the
work may then be screened for an expert either in the legal field
or in psychological fields.
4959. You have produced some exhibits. The members
of the Committee will be very familiar with classification, which
you have set out in these guidelines, but can you explain to the
Committee how the BBFC goes about the process of classifying films.
(Mr Johnson) An individual film will be submitted
by the company who intends to distribute it within the UK. We
undertake to view such films within 48 hours of them being booked
in. We require that the film is delivered to the premises the
day before screening takes place, so that we do not waste time
if they do not turn up. A programme of film screenings will be
sent down for the day, and often one viewing team will view in
the morning and another viewing team will view another range of
films in the afternoon. Again, the examiners will view the work
from start to finish, taking notes as they go and reaching a decision
at the end of the film. After the film has been viewed and examiners
have reached their view, they will write reports which are then
read by senior examiners, who, on the basis of those reports,
will either approve the work of classification recommended or
they may choose to review all or part of the film or to refer
the film on to other members of the board or for other expert
advice. If cuts are required—nowadays usually because a
company require at a particular classification, rather than because
the board is insisting (different classifications have a very
great commercial impact on the success of a film; for instance,
achieving a 12A rather than a 15 can be very important to some
distributors)—we will write a list of cuts necessary to
achieve the category and that will then be communicated to the
company. They will go away and physically make the cuts on the
print, resubmit the print to us, and then we will then check that
the cuts have been made to our satisfaction. When we are satisfied
that the cuts have been made, we will then approve the work and
issue a classification certificate and a black card which you
see on the front of every film. That black card then has to be
shot into a piece of film and that piece of film spliced on to
the front of the print before it can be shown in cinemas. This
all happens, on occasions, within three days, because some distributors
are working very, very close-up to the wire, especially those
distributing Bollywood product from India.
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