Examination of Witnesses (Questions 5300
- 5319)
5300. On the other side of the coin, the Promoter
provided no witness. He only witness you have on whether it would
be possible to have a smaller screen is Mr Johnson. He says that
it would not be. He is an expert in that matter. What that means
is that the isolation cocoon is an unacceptable solution because
it is impractical for BBFC carrying out their statutory functions.
If it is impractical, it is not an appropriate solution.
5301. As far as the escalator isolation is concerned,
that will not help for construction noise for the six month period
of construction of the escalator shaft so it is fraught with problems.
No engineering report has been put before you nor any definite
solution. Mr Taylor was not prepared to say to you, "If it
does not work, we will not operate the escalator." They are
inadequate solutions.
5302. My fourth area is my conclusion. It is
the Promoter who seeks powers to introduce a significant noise
generating activity. This is not a case where the Promoter says
that there will not be an effect. The Promoter accepts that if
you, Parliament, grant him the powers there will be an adverse
effect on BBFC. The Promoter should be prepared to take appropriate
action to avoid the consequence of the exercise of those powers.
The least he should be required to do is to agree to acquire the
BBFC premises and to pay compensation in accordance with the statutory
code.
5303. There is a reasonable position for BBFC
who say, "Yes. Compulsorily acquire our premises or give
us the option to require you to do so. If we have already moved,
you will not have to."
5304. Those are my submissions. I do not know
whether I can assist on any questions?
5305. Mr Binley: No. We are most grateful.
5306. Mr Elvin: Would the Committee like
a brief note on costs?
5307. Mr Binley: I think that would be
helpful.
5308. Mr Elvin: We will try and provide
it before the Committee rises for the Easter recess.
The Petition of Grand Central Sound Studios.
Sharpe Pritchard appeared as Agent.
Mr Clive Newberry, QC, appeared on behalf of the
Petitioner.
5309. Mr Binley: We can now move on to
Grant Central Sound Studios.
5310. Mr Taylor: I have had some discussions
with Mr Newberry outside because we were concerned about the timing
in relation to this Petition. If we were to start it today, we
would not complete it today and there are difficulties in terms
of the availability of counsel and witnesses next week. We were
wondering whether the Committee might stand this Petition out
so that it can be fixed for a date to be agreed in the future.
5311. Mr Binley: We would be very keen
to utilise the time we have and I am sure that your clients might
be keen to do that too. Do you think that at least we could proceed
with opening statements at this stage?
5312. Mr Taylor: We could. The other
alternative would be to proceed to the third petition which is
Antiques Hypermarket.
5313. Mr Binley: We have agreed with
the third Petitioner that we would put his matter back. He needs
to seek additional advice having seen the professionalism of your
colleagues. Consequently, we are not in a position to proceed
in that respect or that is what we would have done. We would be
grateful if we could have the opening statements.
5314. Mr Taylor: Grant Central Sound
Studios Limited is the leaseholder of part of 51 to 53 Great Marlborough
Street. The property is located above the proposed westbound route
about 250 metres west of the proposed Tottenham Court Road Station.
You can see that on the plan in front of you.[57]
The building is coloured in a beige hue. It is currently occupied
and used as the name suggests as a sound recording studio. That
was all I was going to say in opening. The issues are particularly
related to groundborne noise and you will be pleased to hear concern
the application of the NC rating standard.
5315. Mr Newberry: This does concern
a sound recording studio and, as you see from the plan, the line
of the tunnel goes directly under the sound recording studios.
It is not just a sound recording studio; it is a world class sound
recording studio and indeed this part of the area is a centre
of excellence on an international scale. I am going to ask you,
when you are looking at the evidence, to bear that in mind.
5316. The company with which you are concerned
has a range of activities taking place within its studio but one
of the areas concerns advertisements shown at the cinema and I
am looking forward to Mr Elvin's dissertation on the adverts he
watches as well as the films that he watches.
5317. That particular area of expertise does
involve something that you will hear about in due course called
a Dolby licence. One of your colleagues who did a runner earlier
on mentioned that, you may recall. One of the interesting aspects
of the Dolby licence is that, quite independently of the NC aspect
that you have heard about, Dolby specify levels that accord with
the NC as part of their licence. If you do not comply with their
requirements you do not get the licence and if you do not get
the licence you do not get the work. That licence is of international
significance. Although we hope not to go into too much of the
standards as such, that is the important ramification of the NC
standard so far as this case is concerned. We will be calling
in due course Mr Bell who builds these studios both in London
and internationally. He has built almost half the studios of this
standard in Soho, and both nationally and internationally the
standard that he has to build his studios to is the NC standard.
When we come to it, that is the context in which I shall be asking
you to look at that particular standard.
5318. So far as what we require is concerned,
it is set out in our Petition but perhaps I can just outline what
we are concerned about. Obviously we need to be assured during
the construction of the tunnel that the level of sound that we
operate in now continues because what we will be telling you in
due course is that, if you get the imposition of what I will call
foreign sound within the studio, it is not something that can
be rubbed out. It infects the work that they are carrying out
and it is ruined. The notion that one can have interspersed activity
of Crossrail while they are building this and it does not matter
if they have a day or so of causing this groundborne noise does
not apply because the piece of work concerned is ruined. You will
be told about that. Obviously, after Crossrail is constructed,
the same applies. We cannot be put in a situation whereby groundborne
noise levels entering the studio are adversely affected.
5319. I gather that your Committee has been
to the Petitioners' premises. I do not know whether you have had
the opportunity of visiting what I call a world class sound recording
studio. If you have not, I extend an invitation and you may find
it instructive.
57 Crossrail Ref: P67, Grand Central Studios Ltd,
51-53 Great Marlborough Street (Parcel No. 493) (WESTCC-9303-001). Back
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