Examination of Witnesses (Questions 9000
- 9019)
9000. Chairman: Mr Richards, are you
satisfied with that?
9001. Mr Richards: We are not satisfied
with that, I am afraid. The settlement deed point is noted and
many thanks for that, sir. However, with the settlement there
is talk that the Promoter will pay for the various works and the
Petitioner will pay for the monitoring. This is only if certain
criteria are met in the next part of the stage.
9002. Mr Mould: I made that absolutely
clear, that is not qualified. I am giving the commitment that
we will treat this church as a special case.
9003. Chairman: I think that is right,
Mr Richards. It is very, very clear and that is why I am asking
whether or not it is sufficient.
9004. Mr Richards: Thank you very much.
It was not clear to me that the church was to be treated as a
special case. The interpretation I drew from what Mr Mould said,
and my apologies if I misinterpreted it, was that there were procedures
and they would apply to the church, and the Promoter would ensure
that it would follow its procedures in relation to the church
but would not make a special case. If, as I understand it and
the Committee understands it, the Promoter is prepared to agree
to ongoing monitoring for which it will pay and, if it will pay
for the works to be carried out that are identified, and the church
does not have to pay for those works and then recoup them from
the Promoter, then that is the situation which we would be happy
with. Perhaps I can just take instruction. Just to clarify, and
I do not know if Mr Mould can assist me, that is up to the point
at which traffic starts to run or up to the point at which traffic
starts to run and in the two-year period following?
9005. Mr Mould: Yes, the two-year period
following.
9006. Mr Richards: Thank you. That being
the case, I think we are happy with what is being offered. We
are grateful to the Promoter for that.
9007. Chairman: That is very good. Mr
Mould, we will hold you to your word.
9008. Mr Mould: I will make sure that,
so far as it is in my power, we will comply with it, you can rest
assured that is our intention.
9009. Chairman: That being the case,
Mr Richards, you are happy to settle?
9010. Mr Richards: We are enormously
grateful to the Committee for its time and to the Promoter for
its concession on this matter. Thank you very much.
9011. Chairman: Reverend Burke, would
you like to say a word?
9012. Reverend Burke: I think the situation
we find ourselves in now is one with which the church is unlikely
to be exposed to financial liability either in the run-up to construction
or indeed beyond construction, and that is a welcome development
which I think we are pleased to see.
9013. There is still some concern about the
impact of the tunnelling and about the routing, but, in the process
leading up to that starting, hopefully the consultation we can
engage in might produce some helpful results which we would not
produce by just thrashing it out in the hearing today.
9014. Chairman: Can I assure you that
the settlement, which I think is a very good one, which has been
offered and accepted today, it is part and parcel of it that we
expect ongoing discussions which actually counsel has stated will
continue.
9015. Mr Mould: Sir, it seems to me it
would be absolutely counterproductive if we were to proceed on
any other basis.
9016. Chairman: Well, thank you very
much. We are very grateful. Reverend Burke, you are happy?
9017. Reverend Burke: I think so, yes!
9018. Chairman: If you are happy, we
have all got a chance! Once again, we have a Petitioner who has
been called once, DB Investments. Is there anybody here present
from DB Investments? (No response) Then let it be noted that their
case has been called twice.
9019. Can I now inform you that the Committee
will visit Whitechapel on Tuesday 23 May and any Petitioner who
has an interest in such matters can join in with that visit. If
they need details, please can they contact the Clerk. For the
representatives of the Promoters and Petitioners, we will assemble
as a Committee at 10.30 in New Palace Yard next Tuesday to begin
that. However, after our visit to the area, we will return and
resume the Committee hearing from six until eight next Tuesday
in this room. Thank you very much indeed.
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