Examination of Witnesses (Questions 11940
- 11959)
11940. Chairman: We are going to suspend
the Committee whilst we take this vote.The Committee suspended
from 6.03pm to 6.19pm for a division in the House
11941. Mr Walton: I will try to be brief.
On the question of the Network Rail Span 4 development Mr Zamit,
there is a planning approval still open, is there not?
(Mr Zamit) Yes, after long consultation, they
have been approved and English Heritage have also approved that
there are some legal documents to sign off but it is now a fully
approved and granted scheme.
11942. It is not your understanding that Network
rail have withdrawn any information that suggests that Network
rail have withdrawn?
(Mr Zamit) None whatsoever. On talking to various
people in the council about the scheme only the other day, my
impression was that it has now been granted permission and there
is no reason why it could go ahead.
11943. If we turn to the access or taxi access
on the site of the Red Star parcels depot. What is PRACT's position
about that being done on a temporary basis?
(Mr Zamit) On a temporary basis, as proposed
in the Bill, we welcome the proposals put in there and our concern
is when it will move back on to the western site.
11944. Should it turn out that the Span 4 development
is delayed or does not go ahead after the completion of Crossrail,
what do you think would perhaps be the attitude to a continuation
of taxi access on the site?
(Mr Zamit) We welcome it staying on the eastern
side but we would be concerned that if the development Span 4
went ahead, that arrangement would have to revert back to the
west side for several years while the construction was started
so they could carry on building but we have already put our concerns
to the committee about the capacity and the effect on traffic
in the area by putting it back on to the western side for seven
years.
11945. Thank you. That is all, Chairman.
The witness withdrew
11946. Chairman: Mr Taylor, do you want
to sum up?
11947. Mr Taylor: Thank you, Sir. We
are going to call Mr Anderson and Mr Berryman. I was also considering
calling Mr Thornely-Taylor if the Committee would find that helpful.
11948. Chairman: I think we have had
quite enough experts for the day. We have other matters which
are going to have to be explained so there will be a point at
some time in the future, that is if you want to go home tonight!
11949. Mr Taylor: I am always enthralled
by the proceedings that go on, it is quite painful sometimes.
Mr David Anderson, recalled
Mr Keith Berryman, recalled
Examined by Ms Lieven
11950. Ms Lieven: We are calling the
two witnesses together to try and expedite things and I have got
a few questions for Mr Berryman to pick up on. Can we put up exhibit
23 and can you explain very briefly to the Committee why it is
we need to reduce capacity on Eastbourne Terrace during the works
and therefore remove the buses?[42]
Start talking before the slide.
(Mr Berryman) As you know the
station at Paddington is the box station underneath the Eastbourne
Terrace Road. In order to build that we want to do it in two halves
by putting down diaphragm walls into the ground and then half
of the roof of the station, diverting the traffic into that part
of the roof and then building the other half. We have got a drawing
here which shows approximately the space that will be left when
we are doing that. The centre line of the box is about here it
more or less directly under the existing curve on the east side
of Eastbourne Terrace. To allow ourselves working space to build
this half of the roof, we need to have that space cleared plus
a little bit of working space between where the deck is being
constructed and the hoarding. The hoarding is for the section
of station which is being constructed here, shown there and there.
That leaves this space here as the road. You can see the total
dimension from there to there is 27 meters, that is about 7 or
8 meters, it is just enough for two lanes of traffic and that
is as much as we can get in during that stage of construction
and it is proposed to maintain the two lanes of traffic in that
area.
11951. Can we then move on to pedestrian exits
and perhaps we can have 001 exhibit. Mr Berryman, can you explain
why there may well be a point at which both of the pedestrian
accesses on to Eastbourne will need to be closed and can you give
some sense of the likely duration, obviously it is all subject
to detailed design.
(Mr Berryman) Indeed. As members of the Committee
who were here yesterday will appreciate there are two entrances
for pedestrians from Eastbourne Terrace into the station, one
is here, this is the Clock Arch, which we stood under next to
the statue of I.K. Brunel and the other one is down here, near
the Sainsbury's store which is known as the Horse Arch and do
not ask me why. The intention would be to try and keep one of
those entrances open as much of the time as possible but of course
with major construction works going on all the way along this
road, along Eastbourne Terrace, it is quite difficult to maintain
access to both of them all of the time and on occasions it will
be difficult to maintain access to one. We do expect that there
will be shortish periods when both of these accesses are closed
but the issue really is something which can only be resolved in
detailed design and when construction planning has been done.
11952. If they do have to be closed for periods,
where will pedestrians coming along Praed Street, in particular
those coming up from Lancaster Gate station, access into the station
be?
(Mr Berryman) It will be down here, I think
it is called the arrivals row but when we were on the tour yesterday
we walked down here alongside the Hilton Hotel.
11953. Ms Lieven: Very briefly, Mr Zamit
raised a point about moving the sewer from Eastbourne Terrace
to Westbourne Terrace and whether that was environmentally acceptable,
can you give any comfort on that?
(Mr Berryman) Yes, indeed. Incumbent with all
the other services we propose to move, the arrangements for this
were made in discussion with the relevant authority, in this case
Thames Water, and it was certainly with their approval I think
from memory it was their suggestion, proposed that this alteration
would be made.
11954. Ms Lieven: The final thing I want
to ask you about is the footbridge over the railway further to
the west. Can you explain, very briefly, what Crossrail is doing
to that footbridge and why we are not upgrading the whole of it?
(Mr Berryman) The short answer is as little
as possible. The problem with the footbridge is that the clearance
between the ground underneath it and the footbridge itself is
not quite sufficient to allow for the electrified railway to pass
underneath it. We would need to raise slightly one span, the span
of the north end of the bridge, it is shown on this plan and I
think it is just there at the moment. The principle is that we
will not be doing anything to the bridge other than raising the
north span by about 200 or 300 millimetres. We are not putting
any people over the bridge. The fact that increased numbers of
people are coming over the bridge is due to the development of
the academy which is going on at the north of the bridge. The
connection to the north of the bridge will be made by the academy,
we are not planning to do anything to it at all other than this
issue of raising it slightly to allow the electrical clearance
underneath. In a perfect world we would jack it up, put some jacks
under each end and jack the bridge up and put packing underneath
it. It may be that we cannot do that because of the general state
of the bridge and we may have to replace the span but the principle
of it is that we will put back what is there now.
11955. Ms Lieven: I will hand over to
Mr Taylor and Mr Anderson.
Examined by Mr Taylor
11956. Mr Taylor: Mr Anderson, I have
two matters, firstly the Red Star deck. Can you confirm that the
promoter is now proposing to keep taxis on the Red Star deck indefinitely?
(Mr Anderson) Yes, that is correct.
11957. Do you have any information as to whether
or not the Span 4 development will now go ahead?
(Mr Anderson) Our understanding is it will
not in the foreseeable future. That is part of the reason why
we have ended up in the position where we are suggesting the taxis
stay on that deck indefinitely.
11958. Where does your information come from
in that regard?
(Mr Anderson) It would be from Network Rail.
11959. What is the likelihood then of the Span
4 development coming forward before Crossrail is constructed?
(Mr Anderson) That would seem unlikely at the
moment.
42 Crossrail Ref: P99, Paddington Station Cross Section
of Existing Eastbourne Terrace profile (WESTCC-32104A-023). Back
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