Examination of Witnesses (Questions 17440
- 17459)
17440. That makes clear their position, and
they make the point that if the intermediate safety shaft is not
there, then they would not be able to satisfy their obligations
as a designer, operator and employer under the Health and Safety
legislation. "The Sewer Diversion would not be acceptable
without the intermediate shaft."
17441. They conclude that "the intermediate
shaft is an integral and essential part of the proposed Sewer
Diversion." That is the statutory undertaker's position in
relation to the need for the intermediate shaft and the reasons
why that need arises.
17442. Could we turn then to page 39, a larger
scale plan showing the proposed work site within Grove Hall Park
itself and the access road.[10]
We can see the various bits of equipment and other associate facilities
that would be required for the six-month period during which the
construction of the shaft would be taking place within the park.
I will ask Mr Berryman in due course to explain in more detail
the arrangements for operating that work site when he gives evidence.
Finally, I should show you page 30, so that
you can get a sense of the Petitioners.[11]
As I said the first Petitioners represent a number of residents
from the Wrexham Road and Baldock Street area and in the Manhattan
building, which is just off the picture, beyond the railway line
to the north. You will also be hearing from Mr and Mrs Wheeler,
who reside at 1 Baldock Street, over one of the running tunnels
for the Crossrail Railway, and from Mr Chambers, whose property
is over one of the running tunnels. I understand that the other
Petitioner who is to appear today is Paddington Churches Housing
Association. They have a development site which we are going to
hear a little bit more about during in relation to an alternative
proposal which the current Petitioners are going to be putting
forward.
17443. At page 30 we have shown the line of
the diversion that we are now proposing for the H.A.M. Wick sewer,
so you get a sense in terms of the geography between the Petitioners
and the proposals under the bill and the amended provision.
17444. That is by way of a very swift introduction
and overview. Unless there are any questions arising at this stage,
I will hand over to the Petitioners.
17445. Chairman: Mr Lyon, you have not
appeared before this Committee before, have you?
17446. Mr Lyon: I have, once previously.
My colleague has not.
17447. Chairman: Take your time. It is
a bit of a frightening experience for people, but take your time.
17448. Mr Lyon: Thank you very much.
Might I start by saying that the Fairfield Conservation Area Residents
Association has petitioned twice. We are here to present in relation
to both our petitions, not merely in relation to our petition
against the additional provisions.
17449. I would like to start by setting the
scene. Could I ask for our slide 4 to be shown, please.[12]
That area in yellow is the conservation area. It is predominantly
residential in nature with some limited commercial developments,
small, medium and large. You have already heard that there are
a number of new developments in the area and the previous slide
indicated two of those, substantial developments. Therefore, the
local population is expected to increase substantially. The Mayor
of London's figures propose that the increase in domestic properties,
and therefore the increase in the local population, will be in
the region of about 52%.
17450. The area consists predominantly of narrow
streets, and those narrow streets are associated with residential-type
use, and small vehicles. The largest vehicle that we typically
see down one of these roads is a refuse freighter. As you can
see, the area is bisected by the Great Eastern railway line and
has the A12 Blackwell Tunnel approach running immediately to its
east and the A11 running underneath it. We are very close to the
2012 Olympic site which will be immediately the other side of
the road to the east. You can imagine, with these busy roads,
the A12 and A11, two access and egress points to the A12, that
there is a great deal of congestion, particularly in the evenings,
and there is a certain amount of rat-running that takes place
at the moment. The area does occasionally gridlock and we will
be suggesting that any increase in traffic flow associated with
these works will be inclined to increase both congestion and the
likelihood of gridlock. I am sure you also appreciate that with
all this activity in the area the area is already heavily polluted.
Unfortunately we do not have any figures.
17451. What I would like to do now is pass to
Jacqueline Bradshaw-Price, who will give you some information
on the history of the area.
17452. Ms Bradshaw-Price: Hello. I will
just introduce myself. I am very grateful for this opportunity
to speak before you today. I am an arts therapist; I work and
live in Tower Hamlets and I work with drug addicts, alcoholics,
excluded children and I work in hospice. So I am very well placed
to see what happens to people when they come under stress and
to see the consequences of bad planning, poverty and a lack of
facilities. I would like to make it clear I am not against progress;
I just think that Grove Hall Park has a 200-year old history,
it has been looked after for 200 years and I would see it looked
after for the next 200 years. I feel very, very strongly about
this, and I would encourage the Committee to come down and have
a look at the area, if they have the time.
17453. Could I have image number one, please?[13]
This is a couple of pictures showing typical houses in the area.
These date from 1907 but some are a lot older, but it is a very—when
I say "close community" I do not mean it is close in
the sense that it is difficult to access; a lot of people know
one another. We know a lot of one another by sight.
17454. Could I have image two, please?[14]
This is an A-Z. It shows how little green there is in the immediate
area. Could I have a pointer stick? That is Grove Hall Park there.
That is Victoria Park which was set up in the mid-1800s because
there was absolutely no green at all in the area. This is Tower
Hamlets Cemetery which is a park but it is not really a park in
the sense that people can use it. You can walk around there; it
is an area of nature conservation.
17455. The name "Bow" is a corruption
of the French word "beau" and it was a very beautiful
area. That was up until the mid-1800s. Grove Hall Estate was built
round the 1700s and it was this area here. There was a big building
across there and all of this was part of the Grove Hall Estate.
You have already seen one conservation area, so I will not repeat
that. In the early 1900s there was a LCC councillor who decided
there was very little greenery in this area. It was a very densely
populated residential and manufacturing area and there was no
public recreation ground. At the time the average green space
in London was one acre to 750 people; in this area it was one
acre to 17,000, and I think it is now one acre to more than that.
17456. In 1907 the Grove Hall Park Estate was
sold and it was delivered into the hands of a developer who decided
he was going to build all over here. A decision was made by the
council to save (and I will quote): " . . . a small bit of
natural beauty amongst a vast wilderness of bricks and mortar,
for the local people and for lasting benefit to the neighbourhood."
All this can be checked; it is all in the local archives. It thereafter
became known as the people's park, and it is still the people's
park because they are the ones who bought it—we bought this.
The sum needed at the time was £8,800 of which 25% was paid
for by the local council and the rest was paid for by the people:
by thousands of local people and hundreds of local businesses.
Two of the main businesses were the Bryant & May factory,
which is here, and also Thomas Cook. That is Thomas Cook of Thomas
Cook & Sons. They donated £500 each. They were the entrepreneurs
of their time and they thought it was important enough to protect
open spaces, and it seems to me that they took far greater interest
in local people than entrepreneurs do today. I think that applies
to the council as well.
17457. Could I have view number five, please?[15]
This is the old park just before demolition of the house. This
is a plane tree and this one still stands today in the park. So
these trees are well over 100 years old. This was demolished and
there is nothing left of that today.
17458. Could I have the next one, please—six?[16]
These show views of the park in the 1970s and it was in a much
better state than it is now. There is a fence all the way along,
these trees are growing well and this was a plane tree that was
cut down by the local council in the 1980s. The local children,
who know full well this is the people's park, were very upset—hence
that picture.
17459. The next image, please. I do not know
if you can read this but this is the letter from Thomas Cook.[17]
"It was with great pleasure that I sent you on the correspondence
with regard to Grove Hall Park and children's playground. It has
been one of my greatest satisfactions with regard to the year
1908 that the undertaking which seemed so hopeless when first
entered upon has, thanks to the enthusiastic work of so many,
notably Mr Bartholomew, achieved success." It did seem hopeless
at the time; they did not think they were going to be able to
buy it from the developer.
10 Crossrail Ref: P126, H.A.M. and Wick Lane Sewers
Diversion, Locality of Petitioners (TOWHLB-29104-030). Back
11
Crossrail Ref: P126, H.A.M. and Wick Lane Sewers Diversion-Sketch
9, Grove Hall Park Worksite Layout (TOWHLB-29104-039). Back
12
Committee Ref: A193 Fairfield Conservation Area Residents Association,
Conservation Area and Listed Structures (TOWHLB-29105-004). Back
13
Committee Ref: A193, Fairfield Conservation Area Residents Association,
Grove Hall Park (TOWHLB-29105-001). Back
14
Committee Ref: A193, Fairfield Conservation Area Residents Association,
A-Z Map of Tower Hamlets (TOWHLB-29105-002). Back
15
Committee Ref: A193, Fairfield Conservation Area Residents Association,
Historic photograph of Grove Hall Park (TOWHLB-29105-005). Back
16
Committee Ref: A193, Fairfield Conservation Area Residents Association,
Photograph of Grove Hall Park c. 1970's (TOWHLB-29105-006). Back
17
Committee Ref: A193, Fairfield Conservation Area Residents Association,
Correspondence from Thomas Cook, Grove Hall Park, Bow, 2 January
1909 (TOWHLB-29105-007). Back
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