Examination of Witnesses (Questions 9020
- 9039)
Ordered: that Counsel and Parties be called in.
The Petition of Kempton Court Residents.
The Petitioner appeared in Person.
9020. Chairman: Today the Committee will
hear the Petitions of the Kempton Court Residents and others followed
by the Southend Arterial Action Group. Ms Lieven, do you want
to outline for the Committee?
9021. Ms Lieven: Sir, I do not know whether
that would be helpful to the Committee. We do have a model outside,
so effectively the Committee have a choice: I could briefly outline
Whitechapel Station using photos, axonometrics and plans or the
Committee could go outside and Mr Berryman could explain the model,
or we could start with one and move and on to the other.
9022. Chairman: I think what we will
do is we will nip outside and Mr Berryman can take us through
the model and then we will come back in and resume. We will do
that now.
After a short break
9023. Chairman: Ms Lieven, do you want
to add anything?
9024. Ms Lieven: Sir, I think in the
light of Mr Berryman's explanation I probably only have to touch
on two things. One is Mr Berryman mentioned that our scheme at
Fulbourne Street rests on being able to take away two of the District
Line lines and widen the platforms. That in turn rests on promoting
an additional provision, which we intend to do, and that will
be put in in due course. If, for whatever wholly unexpected reason,
the additional provision does not go forward, is rejected, which
is always a possibility, then there is the fallback of the Cambridge
Heath Road Station, which was assessed in the Environmental Statement.
The reason I want to say this publicly so that it goes on the
transcript is that the Promoter's position is that if AP3 is approved,
the additional provision, then we will build the Fulbourne Street
ticket hall and not the Cambridge Heath Road ticket hall because
the Cambridge Heath Road ticket hall would simply not be justified
on pedestrian flows that would then be produced. Sir, I know that
Tower Hamlets are concerned about that and I thought it was important
to get that point on the record.
9025. The only other point I should touch on
now is in relation to the Kempton Court Residents' Association
Petition. As the Committee may have been informed through communications
in the last couple of days, one of the Kempton Court Residents'
Association's principal points is noise impact. Ms Singleton is
going to speak to that tonight, as I understand it. We are not
intending, unless the Committee strongly wishes us to, to call
noise evidence tonight because we wish to go away and have a really
good look at the noise projections and all the relevant noise
impact in the vicinity of Whitechapel Station and then produce
a document which will deal with that matter comprehensively which
we can send to Ms Singleton and all the petitioners who raise
these points and which we can then present to the Committee. There
are a number of different noise sources in that location and it
is quite a complicated noise situation. We want to be absolutely
certain that the position we present to the Committee and the
position we present to petitioners when they appear is entirely
accurate and comprehensive. I do not think I can say, hand on
heart, we can do that this evening. I hope that is acceptable.
We have discussed it with Ms Singleton. I think her position is
she wanted to attend this evening so she could present her case
to the Committee but I think she is content that we deal with
the noise issues in that way.
9026. So far as the other issues are concerned,
I have Mr Berryman here and if the Committee wants to hear him
on matters such as traffic controls, which I know is another concern
of Kempton Court residents, then I have got him ready to give
evidence if that is what the Committee wants.
9027. Chairman: That is helpful. I think
your suggestion on noise is a very apt suggestion and I think
that is the way we will go. Ms Singleton, that does not reflect
on you, you can make any issue in your submission that you wish
to raise.
9028. Ms Singleton: I can still talk
about surface noise?
9029. Chairman: Anything you want really.
Would you like to start?
9030. Ms Singleton: Chairman, and Members
of the Committee, I represent the residents of Durward Street,
which is quite a long, slightly different shaped street.[1]
I am representing the residents of Kempton Court itself, Trinity
Hall, which is a London Board school which was converted nine
years ago into residences, the west end side of Durward Street
that was built by a housing association, and the Albion Health
Centre, which is in the Sainsbury's car park area, abutting on
to that.[2]
9031. What we will be having around this area
will be four worksites and utilities work. There are around 300
residents in Durward Street who will be impacted by all of this
work. I just want to look quickly at the history from the point
of view of the residents who are there. Kempton Court was built
10 years ago and it has 110 flats. Following on from that Trinity
Hall was converted and about four years ago the west side of Durward
Street was developed from an empty site. It would be fair to say
that when the residents of Kempton Court bought their properties
there was no question of Crossrail in sight. We had all heard
about the Hackney-Chelsea and east-west railway and so on, but
it was not talked as being anywhere near Whitechapel, it was from
Stratford to Liverpool Street or somewhere else.
9032. Our first intimation was when we went
to the first round of consultation when I discovered that there
was going to be a station at Cambridge Heath Road. That is quite
a long way from Durward Street. It was impacting but not too worrying.
At that time the ventilation shafts were projected to be in Vallance
Gardens, which is just behind Durward Street. That did seem rather
odd because Vallance Gardens had just had quite a lot of money
spent on doing it up.
9033. At the next round we learned there would
be a station which would be coming to Court Street on the west
side of Durward Street, and that would have a big impact. At the
same time the ventilation shafts were being moved to Essex Wharf,
much nearer Kempton Court and Trinity Hall.
9034. At the third round of consultation we
discovered that, in fact, Fulbourne Street was then going to be
the entrance. The first time we learned that Kempton Court would
be affected was when the little red brochure was provided that
said some of the car parking spaces in Kempton Court had been
moved. It is quite recent knowledge that we have had of the possibility
of the station being at Whitechapel and the impact that would
have on us.
9035. From the pictures you have seen Durward
Street looks to be a nice, little modern street but, in fact,
it is a very old street and has been on maps for hundreds of years.
It was originally Ducking Pond Row and it became Bucks Row. It
was changed to Durward Street after a rather unfortunate incident
because the first victim of Jack the Ripper was killed in the
street. As well as the usual pedestrians this brings the unlikely
thing of groups of tourists coming along to see the exact place.
In recent times there were tenement buildings that have all been
knocked down over the last 12 or 13 years.
9036. I would just like to touch on the consultation.
We do feel that we had very poor consultation on the effects of
Crossrail. I would just draw your attention to round one which
was in a building at Wodeham Gardens where I believe only about
40 people attended.[3]
I have a quote from a letter here: "Your two days' exhibition
about the Whitechapel Station had no local publicity and was located
in an unknown community room on a new housing estate yet to appear
in the A-Z, a sure way to ensure nobody comes". As I live
in the area and I knew that Wodeham Gardens had been created on
this new housing estate I walked all round it and could not find
the building. I rang up the council, asked the local school and
the leisure centre and nobody could tell me where this community
centre was. I chose to walk around it again at the time it was
projected to be open and, sure enough, there it was. It is a building
with no distinguishing features, nothing that says anything about
it being Wodeham Gardens. It is very disappointing that such a
place had been selected.
9037. Personally, the people in Kempton Court
had not had written information from Crossrail until fairly recently
so, consequently, very few people knew about the second round
in Sainsbury's car park except that I put up messages, and I found
out by accident. I did not get a letter and I am on the list of
people to write to.
9038. Round three at Whitechapel Sports Centre
was better publicised. There is also a list—I am not sure
what it is called—of all the people who have been consulted
and when you get to Kempton Court there is just a blank page and
it says "Ballymore". Ballymore are the developers. Nobody
has been able to explain, although I wrote to Crossrail, why we
were not written to at that point. If you ring up a mail order
catalogue or anybody else you can always get the list of registered
electors, and yet somehow this very important site in the whole
development of Crossrail in Whitechapel—
9039. Chairman: Ms Singleton, can I just
ask you was it only the residents of Kempton Court who had not
been notified or was it all residents in that particular area?
1 Committee Ref: A103, Photograph of Durward Street
(TOWNHLB-7005-002). Back
2
Committee Ref: A103, Photographs of Kempton Court and Trinity
Hall (TOWNHLB-7005-003 and -004). Back
3
Committee Ref: A103, Photograph Wodeham Gardens (TOWNHLB-7005-007). Back
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