Examination of Witnesses (Questions 17560
- 17579)
17560. Yesterday I made the point indicating
that the undertaking which we have given to Tower Hamlets on a
borough-wide basis, in relation to limiting the physical area
of each proposed worksite to that reasonably required for the
construction works and releasing such sites for reinstatement
as soon as reasonably practical after the construction works are
completed, applies to this site.
(Mr Berryman) Indeed it
does. There is another point worth making about this access road:
the number of vehicles we expect to be taking spoil away from
the site is about three per day.
17561. Mr Binley: Mr Mould, it does seem
to me that the road is taking up quite a bit of the area and secondly
it is going to need to be restored. It does seem to me that there
is a real opportunity there, at very little cost to yourself,
to be immensely kind in terms of the restoration. I see you nodding,
which suggests that is in your mind.
(Mr Berryman) It is, indeed.
17562. Can you explain what you might be kind
enough to do to enhance this facility?
(Mr Berryman) You will see
there is an existing path, and I understand from some plans we
have recently received from the borough that part of their plan
is to make this into a wider, more prominent path. It may be possible
that we would be able to use the construction of our road as a
sub-base for that wider path. It may be possible. We would need
to do design work. We have not had their drawings yet but just
a verbal indication that is what they are planning to do. In any
event, even if we do have to use this as a road, we will probably
be using something like the aluminium planks which people put
down when there is a village fete or something of that sort, and
moving vehicles in that way. Naturally, we would restore any grass
which is damaged, by re-turfing or what is appropriate.
17563. Will you be a little more adventurous?
Will you talk to the local people and ask them what they might
ideally like as an addition in that park, as a way of saying thank
you for the disruption you have caused?
(Mr Berryman) To some extent
we can do that.
17564. The answer is yes, Mr Berryman, is it?
(Mr Berryman) The answer
is yes.
17565. Mrs James: Working in conjunction
with local people about what they would like.
(Mr Berryman) Indeed. Although
I think you need to bear in mind that it is not just us: the local
authority have a voice, Lee Side Regeneration have a voice. It
is something which would have to be done between us; it is not
something we can unilaterally do.
17566. Mrs James: Local people are losing
a place of quiet contemplation for quite a while. It is not just
somewhere to play.
17567. Chairman: The trees are going
to be safeguarded.
(Mr Berryman) Yes. We have
one small cherry tree here but we will obviously replace that.
17568. Mr Mould: It may help to remind
members of the Committee what was said yesterday in relation to
reinstatement: "The council has secure substantial capital
funding for improvements that were programmed to be spent during
the next two or three years. The council has commissioned a landscape
proposal for Grove Hall Park and a master plan is being prepared.
This is still work in progress but it would seem that the scheme
as it currently exists would not be significantly prejudiced by
the Crossrail proposals. The council is anxious to ensure that
Crossrail undertake to reinstate both parts of the park affected
by the proposals and the specification within the emerging master
plan. The letter of 11 October does contain an undertaking that
the site will be reinstated having regard to the reasonable requirements
of the master plan."
17569. The other point I would make in relation
to what was said yesterday is that we dealt with the question
of consultation which I think Mrs James was driving at. They said:
"The council, as we have made clear throughout, supports
the Crossrail project but is extremely anxious to ensure that
it is carried through with all available mitigation measures and
on the basis of the fullest possible consultation with those who
will inevitably be affected by its construction. The letter of
11 October indicates that the Promoter is committed to working
constructively with the council on an ongoing consultation on
Crossrail proposals in the Tower Hamlet area. For its part, the
council is committed to attempting to ensure that full consultation
machinery is set up by the Promoter and operated across the borough
as a whole." This was in the context of a document that the
council said in substance reflected agreement between the council
and Crossrail in relation to the H.A.M. and Wick issues and was
only subject to further discussion on the detailed wording.
17570. Chairman: Is the money coming
from government or from Crossrail?
17571. Mr Mould: That is from the government.
It is certainly not from Crossrail funds.
(Mr Berryman) That is correct.
17572. Mr Binley: But he is going to
be very kind.
17573. Mr Mould: I do not want to take
any more time on this. I just wanted to remind you on this point.
While we are on the question of environmental impact, the question
of the impact on trees was touched on this morning. I would like
the Committee to understand what the position is in relation to
the impact on existing trees in the park.(Mr Berryman)
The object of the exercise is not to disturb any mature trees
at all in any way. There are some young trees which may have to
be disturbed but they are of a size which can be replanted as
they are now.
17574. In relation to the substantial London
plane trees, are we anticipating any need to disturb them?
(Mr Berryman) We certainly
are not. Indeed, part of the planning of the works is predicated
on the idea that you do not disturb any of these substantial and
extremely attractive trees.
17575. Finally, on this aspect of the case,
the question of the risk of de-watering was raised this morning
in relation to the trees. Is that something which is of any significance?
(Mr Berryman) No, basically. I am not quite
sure what the geology is. I think it is clay just here, and we
may not need to do very much dewatering at all, but, even if we
do, it is the deep groundwater which will be affected rather than
the water which feeds the trees, if you like.
17576. Can we move away from Grove Hall Park
and touch on a point raised this morning about the footpath in
the vicinity of Wrexham Road and Wick Lane. Could we put up slide
040 and could you help us with this, please.[40]
(Mr Berryman) I can do that.
I was hoping not to have to get into this because it is extremely
complicated.
17577. Just the broad location.
(Mr Berryman) This is the
A12, the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach Road, and you can
see the existing sewer, the Wick Lane sewer, which runs under
the road there. That sewer, in addition to being a trunk sewer
also picks up a number of local services. In order to re-provide
for those sewage services, we have to make some alterations here.
We propose to construct a new sewer, a small diameter sewer, constructed
in trench from the road, to connect up with an existing sewer
which runs along this road. In order to do that we have to have
a works area, which is similar to any other works area which a
water utility company might require in the ordinary course of
their business. This is not exceptional work for them. The interesting
thing is that this sewer, as you probably realise, falls down
that way to go towards the pumping station and our new sewer is
up here, so we have to reverse the flow in this sewer—which
means that people have to get in there and put concrete in the
bottom of it and make it flow up hill, so to speak.
17578. Chairman: Not you.
(Mr Berryman) Not me, I
am afraid. That is something I would be happy to leave to someone
else to do. That is why we need this works area. The accommodation
here is just to provide for the workforce there. We had originally
assumed that we could close this footpath and people would find
another route around—there is another route around—but
as a result of consultation we looked at that again and we realised
that you can keep the footpath open most of the time. Unfortunately,
when we make this connection here—which is probably self-evident
from the plan—whilst that particular bit of work is being
done, it is not really possible to keep the footpath open, so,
for that period, which I think is about a month, that footpath
would need to close.
17579. If we turn to page 26, this is a letter
sent to the Secretary of the Fairfield Conservation Area Residents
Association of 13 October.[41]
If we look at the italicised passage in the middle of the page,
we see there the commitment we have made in that respect.(Mr
Berryman) " . . . we will use all reasonable endeavours
to keep Wick Lane open to pedestrians."
40 Crossrail Ref: P126, H.A.M. and Wick Lane Sewers
Diversion-Sketch 10, Wick Lane and Wrexham Road Worksite Layout
(TOWHLB-29104-040). Back
41
Crossrail Ref: P126, Correspondence from CLRL to Fairfield Conservation
Area Residents Association, 13 October 2006 (TOWHLB-29104-026). Back
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