Examination of Witnesses (Questions 5600
- 5619)
5600. They make the point that people in other
properties within 20 yards of their home are being relocated and
other properties, I believe I am right in saying, very close to
them, as they say in paragraphs 7.4 and 7.5 of their Petition,
7.5 in particular, properties 20 yards away are being treated
completely differently from their own. Some are so severely impacted
that they are being relocated and others are in the immediate
area, but nothing is happening at all with mitigation measures,
so people are asking what is the basis of decision.
5601. There is the point again about business
impacts and the loss of parking at the station. Clarification
of the number of lorry movements a day and the impact on the capacity
of the local network is something that they are calling for. In
paragraph 7.7 of their Petition, they make the point that at the
moment the Promoters say there will be only two lorry movements
in relation to where they are per day. They would like to query
whether the Promoters should be put under an obligation in relation
to predicted lorry movements.
5602. Sir, perhaps I can assist you further
in relation to the residents' submissions on which there may be
questions.
5603. Mr Hollobone: I am not sure I understand
how long the construction work will take in Shenfield.
5604. Mr Welfare: I think there are a
couple of references, which I think I may have reflected in what
I said, to two years. I believe in fact that the period is 21
months for the longer period of the use of the Hunter Avenue side
of the development. I think that is only the point at which the
actual works take place and I think the point that residents keep
making is that if the start date is uncertain, because of course
this process has to be completed and Parliament has to take a
view on the whole matter of Crossrail, then in practice the blight
could continue, as was said this morning, for five to seven years.
That is the sort of time people seem to be expecting. I think
I have drawn attention to the fact that quite a lot of the residents
whom I represent are elderly and, therefore, their inability to
plan over that length of time is a matter of serious concern to
them.
5605. Mr Hollobone: Have you been given
any indication of the most likely calendar year in which the construction
is likely to finish?
5606. Mr Welfare: I think I cannot say
that I have, sir, although from where we are there have been suggestions
of as late as 2014 which have been made. I have not seen a representation
from Crossrail as to when that might be, unless one of my learned
friends is able to correct me, because of the inherent uncertainties
of the process and, therefore, one is looking at potentially seven
or eight years from now of uncertainty before these people have
an idea of in the first part whether the scheme is proceeding
and thereafter the point of it proceeding.
5607. Mr Hollobone: I have a question
which may be for the residents. There are a large number of local
residents who are not only elderly, but they have lived in Shenfield
for many years, many of whom have lived there for over 30 years.
5608. Mr Welfare: Yes.
5609. Mr Hollobone: Has there to your
knowledge been a construction site operation on this scale in
Shenfield in that period of time?
5610. Mr Welfare: Not to my knowledge,
sir. I would stand to be corrected if someone could point to it,
but, from all the evidence and representations that I have seen,
this is the largest project that residents have seen in that area.
These are residents who make no bones about the fact that most
of the ones who live near the station accept a degree of train
noise, they know that, and they live there partly because of the
communication links that it offers in some cases, particularly
those who have come more recently perhaps with younger families.
Those who have been there for 30, as you say, and in one or two
cases, I think, 50 years and in one case slightly longer, my understanding
of the position is that this is the largest scheme that they have
seen and by far the most disruptive.
5611. Mr Hollobone: Would you describe
the railway station in Shenfield and its parade of shops as the
centre of Shenfield?
5612. Mr Welfare: That is clearly the
view of residents. Hutton Road and the shops on Hutton Road and
the town centre immediately around it just by the station is the
core of Shenfield. Perhaps "town centre" is not quite
the right term because it is repeatedly referred to as a village,
a village in atmosphere and a village in mood, and I think, therefore,
perhaps it is fair to see it in that way, but yes, that is the
centre of Shenfield.
5613. Mr Hollobone: So not only will
they have a huge construction operation, but they will also have
it slap-bang right in the middle of the centre of Shenfield, a
place which has not had a construction operation of this sort
in modern times?
5614. Mr Welfare: That is right, sir.
5615. Mr Hollobone: Therefore, the impact
on the community is really quite substantial and against that
background would you say that Crossrail have been partial in the
way in which they have looked to compensate residents for the
various effects, doing so on a sort of house-by-house basis rather
than on a community approach?
5616. Mr Welfare: Sir, I think that is
a very fair point to make. There are two concerns, I think, for
residents. One is that they do not understand the basis of the
house-by-house approach and in some cases they question the basis
of the house-by-house approach, and they point, if more evidence
were needed, in fact they are not fully aware of the transparency
of the assessment, to the apparent arbitrariness of judgments
as between houses which are very close together, some with no
treatment to others with an indication of mitigation and compensation.
On the other hand as well, the second point which you raise, is
the point in relation to whether Shenfield and the effect on Shenfield
has really been assessed, and then, as a result of that, whether
there is any serious attempt to compensate for the costs that
it will face. I think the difficulty is that there has not been.
5617. There is considerable disquiet, I put
it no higher than that, although I suspect some residents would,
at the lack of assessment that comes through in all these representations
of the effect on Shenfield itself both in transport terms, in
community terms and in business terms and in terms of whether
the character of the area can be maintained as a result of this
development.
5618. Mr Hollobone: Given that there
is precious little evidence, if any, that the majority of residents
in Shenfield are in favour of this scheme and given the clear
evidence that we have heard today that there are a large number
of local residents who are so concerned as to petition Parliament
about it, would you go so far as to say that, in its approach
to potential compensation to residents, Crossrail have been very
stingy in the way in which they have advanced that case?
5619. Mr Welfare: I think they have been.
I do not want to go beyond the terms that the residents have said
to me, but I think it is right that a number of the representations
which have been made to you are deeply unhappy at, first, the
lack of clarity, as they say, in relation to compensation and,
secondly, in some cases the lack of mitigation on offer and in
other cases the decisions which appear to have been taken thus
far or the colourings on the maps that we have seen as to who
is likely to qualify and who is not. Therefore, although I think
it is also true that a considerable part of the disquiet is over
the scheme as a whole, I think it is also true that there has
been too little from Crossrail in terms of explaining itself and
in terms of setting out for residents what they can see is a fair
basis of compensation. They simply do not see that at the moment.
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