Examination of Witnesses (Questions 9200
- 9214)
9200. We had a meeting with Crossrail last Thursday,
so this last bit has been a bit of a nightmare answering their
responses. If I can get Crossrail to forward the email questions
and answers, Jonathan Bagg has those, some of these will help.
I am trying to think of your time at the moment.
9201. Chairman: Can I tell you we will
keep open all communications and this Committee has asked Crossrail
and the Promoter continually to keep avenues open for discussions
and communications. Be assured that will occur. The reason I am
being a bit pushy at the moment is, as you can see, the Secretary
of State is on his feet and responding in a debate so there is
going to be a vote very, very soon and we have not yet heard the
response from the Promoter. If we continue for much longer—do
not worry—there will be no chance to come back with the
stenographers so the Committee will reconvene tomorrow morning
with the Promoter's response unless we can get it in tonight.
It is entirely up to you.
9202. Ms Kemp: I am afraid we have got
to go somewhere tomorrow. I do speak to Crossrail frequently,
so we are trying to work this one out together at the moment.
As long as it is not finalised.
9203. Chairman: Be assured that on the
evidence you have given and your petition we will look very seriously
at all matters connected to that and in the response provided
by the Promoter to ensure we give full consideration to what you
are saying. What the response will be I do not know because I
am only one of ten. Certainly we will give it full and detailed
consideration.
9204. Mrs James: I am very concerned
that the lady gets the time that she needs.
9205. Ms Kemp: Our biggest concern, apart
from the danger from the vehicles and dangers to pedestrians and
anyone down our road, is where we are going to park while they
are doing all of this. We have had some suggestions. If you can
show the photograph showing the inside of the road.[25]
This shows the edge of the road and you can see right in the front
a private road. The dark part on the left is the pavement, which
is the council's pavement, but the road between that and the grass
is a private road. As you can see, it is a very rough surface.
Often we have to park along this side. If there are two cars,
these houses will have cars parked outside them as well. What
Crossrail is talking about on the right-hand side is they were
originally going to put seven car parking spaces there, which
is only four for the road. This is a quiet time of the day, even
if they are working during the day we have traffic going in and
out all the time. Seven spaces along there when everybody comes
home is not enough. Then they said they would put 15 side-by-side
along the trees. If you put 15 along there with the average car
being 16 feet long, and we are parking that side, none of us fancy
having a concrete mixer passing a couple of feet from the sides
or ends of our parked cars. Even if they put that there, while
they are building the road, my car is the blue one and I have
got to get out across this road they are going to be completely
renewing and widening. I cannot jump over that to get to a parking
space. There is not enough room at the far end.
9206. Our concern is there are a lot of single
ladies and younger ladies down our road. If you look at the map
there are no other places for us to park. We are on the 127 and
if you turn left there are no spaces there. We are two or three
streets away from where we will have to park. We have a couple
of women who work late, nurses, et cetera and it is a long way
to walk in the dark. Unfortunately, only a matter of three or
four weeks ago there was a murder at Ardleigh Green and a few
months prior to that there was a murder just half a mile the other
side. We have a lot of problems around the area at night. We have
elderly people. We cannot walk from two or three roads away carrying
shopping or coming back late at night. Crossrail's solution so
far has not been helpful because there is just one way into the
road, we cannot get any other access to it, and we have not got
enough space to park during the three months while it is being
built.
9207. Chairman: Are you content, Ms Kemp,
or have you got anything more to say?
9208. Ms Kemp: No, those are our main
concerns, and what is happening with the road.
9209. Mr Mould: Sir, I note the time
and what you have said about what is available to us tonight.
With the best will in the world I will not be able to give the
Committee the assistance I want to give in relation to the points
that have been made in a very few minutes this evening. What I
would like to suggest, if it is convenient to you, is that we
find a convenient time when we can come back, convenient to the
Petitioners, and, as Mrs James said, we can hear any other points
they wish to make when they do not feel they are under a time
pressure and I can then provide you with a comprehensive response.
9210. Chairman: That is very helpful.
But at the same time you can keep negotiating with them to see
if there are ways in which you can find a solution to their concerns.
9211. Mr Mould: Of course. What I was
going to say, sir, if I may, is it has been extremely useful to
hear aired in Committee some of the concerns that they have because
although we have been talking to them, as Ms Kemp has kindly said,
there is nothing like hearing these things aired in public to
concentrate the mind on what people are looking to achieve. In
particular, in relation to the way forward in terms of arranging
details, assume, and I know there are points being made about
the alternatives, we go down the line of what we propose, which
is to use this cul-de-sac for concrete mixers and other smaller
commercial vehicles at the level of usage I have mentioned, on
that basis we—
9212. Chairman: What I am going to suggest
is that we take up your suggestion and we will arrange a time
when you can come back to hear Mr Mould's response.
9213. Ms Kemp: I would be grateful for
that because we have not covered everything.
9214. Chairman: In the interim he has given
the undertakings he has given. We have to move now because there
is a division for a vote. I apologise for that. The Committee
will recommence tomorrow morning at 10 am.
25 Committee Ref: A107, Photograph of Green grass
area to be used as car park spaces (HAVGLB-35805-007). Back
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