Examination of Witnesses (Questions 10124
- 10139)
10124. Mr Liddell-Grainger: I bring the
Committee to order.
10125. As usual I inform the Committee of my
intention to suspend at a convenient point after 11.45 so that
everybody may take the opportunity to have coffee and we can go
and listen to PMQs.
10126. There are many cases to hear today and
we will proceed in a similar manner as yesterday. The Committee
wants to hear every Petitioner's case. However, as you know, the
Committee will not listen to the same case more than once. We
understand that many people here today have similar concerns,
and we ask you to listen carefully to other cases being made and
to respond to the Promoters and try not to repeat any other Petitioner's
argument.
10127. If you agree with a case made by another
Petitioner you can tell us which points you support. You do not
need to repeat the argument. Some of the issues regarding Hanbury
Street and Whitechapel have already been raised by the London
Borough of Tower Hamlets last week and the Committee will take
into account what was said last week. We equally encourage counsel
for the Promoters to refrain from making repetitive counter arguments.
10128. I remind everyone that the witnesses
brought forward by the Promoters may be cross-examined by each
Petitioner should they wish to after they have made their case.
10129. I would now ask Mr Elvin to set the scene.
10130. Mr Elvin: I am just going to make
a few brief remarks, and then Mr Mould is going to deal with the
next objective.
10131. Can I just say for the record that I
opened the Spitalfields area petitions generally yesterday and
that our remarks are set out at the beginning of the transcript
from yesterday as, indeed, is our generic evidence from Mr Berryman
and Mr Thornley-Taylor. It starts at paragraph 9792 for the information
of any Petitioners who want to cross-reference. I do not propose
to repeat that unless there is anything that the Committee requires
clarifying.
10132. Can I say this, and I will deal with
this later in the day: on the issue of consultation, which came
up a great deal yesterday, I am proposing at some point convenient
to the Committee today just to introduce a little further material.
We are having circulated a note which was prepared on the consultation
activities in the Spitalfields area which I hope will give the
Committee a little more detailed information. It includes information
about the different language versions and the various aspects
of the different communities within Spitalfields who were consulted.
I will also show the Committee at some time at a more convenient
moment later on some of the panels from the information rounds
which make it clear that the information provided in the local
information points clearly indicated the alignment of the tunnels
between Liverpool Street and Whitechapel as well as the issues
at Hanbury Street because you will recall yesterday one of the
points that was being made, and I did not have the information
to hand because it was over here unfortunately, was that residents
did not know the alignment of the tunnels, and I will show the
Committee that later today.
10133. Mr Liddell-Grainger: I think that
is going to be very helpful. Yesterday was a bit confusing because
there were four different designs, and I do think there was a
lot of misunderstanding.
10134. Mr Elvin: I will present all that
as a piece at some point.
10135. Mr Liddell-Grainger: When would
that be ready?
10136. Mr Elvin: I can probably deal
with it first thing this afternoon.
10137. Mr Liddell-Grainger: That would
be very helpful. Thank you very much indeed. Mr Mould?
10138. Mr Mould: Thank you, sir. You
are going to hear, first, the petition of the Friends of Mile
End Park, and this relates to proposals for an intervention and
emergency shaft at a location in Mile End Park.[1]
If you look at your screens in front of you you can see towards
the top left hand quadrant of the plan the East London Mile End
Stadium shown, and that is within Mile End Park, and you can see
Burdett Road, the A1205, which runs along the eastern side of
the park. Just at the bottom corner of the park, immediately to
the north of the London-Tilbury & Southend railway line, which
is running on embankment at this point, you will see that there
is a cross-hatched area which marks the Mile End Park shaft work
site, and it is in that location that Crossrail proposes an intermediate
access emergency intervention shaft to comply with the one km
distance standard which you are aware of and which we are required
to comply with in accordance with the requirements of the emergency
and rail safety authorities.
10139. Now, this shaft is what remains of Crossrail's
proposals for this location.[2]
Under the original tunnelling strategy, it was proposed that Mile
End Park be used as a temporary excavated material handling site
in association with the tunnelling strategy which focused upon
Hanbury Street, but as the Committee is aware we are now proposing
a revised tunnelling strategy and, under that, which has been
notified to those Petitioners whom it concerns, including the
current Petitioners, the need for Mile End Park to be used for
that purpose, that is to say for the temporary excavated material
handling site, has disappeared. So what remains is the proposal
for a shaft.
1 Crossrail Ref: P90, Mile End Park and Eleanor Street
Shafts, Construction Works and Impacts-Map C12(ii) (LINEWD-ES16-050). Back
2
Crossrail Ref: P90, Mile End Park Shaft, Current Arrangement
(SCN-20060614-001). Back
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