Examination of Witnesses (Questions 20000
- 20019)
20000. Mr Elvin says that both common law and
statutory law refer to give and take, and I recognise that. However,
where you do have special cases, the situation where a railway
which is funded by taxpayers' money, I might add, has the effect
of rendering important businesses inoperable, I say that it is
inequitable that such a business should have to close and receive
no recompense for going out of business. That seems to me to be
wholly unfair.
20001. The standard package was referred to
by both Mr Taylors, and it appears that that was made available
or drawn to the knowledge of persons in circumstances where they
were making a planning application. That is not the case here,
as you know. Although we were aware of the safeguarded route,
the situation, in my submission, had changed radically from the
context of that document by the shifting standards which have
come forward over time. The 30dB LAmax was where it was started,
and altered over the course of time to NC20-3dB. Whatever that
document was promulgating has changed over time to the situation
we have now reached. I might add that the railway continued to
be redesigned even up to this morning with Mr Berryman, when what
was in the agreement of 15-metre lengths was happily doubled to
30-metre lengths without the bat of an eyelid. So the design process
continues.
20002. Sir, we rely on the evidence of Dr Hunt,
from Trinity College Cambridge, and shorn of all the technical
details the principle that he is making is a simple one, and that
is that modelling is not an exact science. That principle, I think,
is recognised by the Promoters including Mr Thornely-Taylor, who
himself recognised variations but limited to +5dB. Dr Hunt is
a rigorous academic. He has looked at the published papers in
relation to mathematical models, including mathematical models
dealing with sound and the prediction of sound. However, he concludes
from extensive research that the models are not reliable to a
minimum of 10dB. That is not a maximum figure; that is a minimum
figure. 10dB in acoustic terms, is a doubling of sound. So if
he is right, if you are prepared to accept that that research
that he has carried out is well-founded and correct, the variation
that he is talking about is a doubling of sound.
20003. If he is right, in my submission, then
there is real cause for concern that we need to be protected,
and that brings forward the basis for our saying to you that if
he is right and the Promoters cannot, for whatever reason, meet
their standards then we should be entitled to a measure of protection
by way of compensation. I might add that his research, as he indicated
to you, is based on published data, all in the public realm, and
so far as that point is concerned—that is, his research
of published data has thrown up, as it were, the 10dB point—as
such that was not challenged. It has not been suggested he was
wrong in terms of his research on deriving that figure. All that
is being said is that Mr Thornely-Taylor has, as it were, bucked
the trend for some reason and can predict to a high level of accuracy
in an area which Dr Hunt has said is riddled with uncertainties.
20004. I leave it to you on this basis: that
there is a real and informed doubt as to whether or not you should
accept the contention put forward by the Promoters that their
model is, as it were, twice as accurate as anything else that
Dr Hunt, in his extensive researches, has found.
20005. We called David Bell to give evidence
before you because we wanted you to know from one of the world's
leading studio constructors about how he approaches his task,
and how he works. He builds to exacting industry standards. He
himself is an engineer as well as an acoustician; he is not merely
a construction man. In my submission, you can rely on his practical
skills and judgment. He is an informed man at the sharp end of
the industry. He has said to you that the 8dB difference between
the NC25 (that is the level of the construction noise of the temporary
railway) will be heard as the standard within the studios of NC20-3
third band octave. Putting it another way, where you have got
NC25 as the standard for the temporary railway, NC25 there and
NC25 within the studio do not equal NC25.
20006. Mr Taylor in his evidence to you used
the expression that he felt the company was subject to the roll
of the dice. I think what he meant by that was that there is a
level of material uncertainty which threatens the business. If
the Promoters are right, so be it, then there will be no further
action taken. If they are not right what the Promoters are, in
essence, saying to you is: "If we get it wrong then there
is no recompense available to Grand Central Studios". So
they allow themselves the luxury of getting it wrong and walking
away if they cannot get it right. In my submission, that is not
an acceptable situation for a world-class company to face, and
if that situation arises I am asking you to put a provision in
the Bill relating to compensation. At the end of the day, this
is a situation where we say, based on the evidence of Mr Bell
and Dr Hunt, that there are real and genuine doubts about the
accuracy of the model and what flows from that is we cannot maintain
the existing standards in our studio which, as common ground,
have to be maintained for us to continue. That is the critical
factor you have got to address when you are making your recommendations.
20007. Chairman: Thank you. That concludes
that particular hearing. We now move on to the next hearing which
is the Association of Professional Recording Services and UK Post
Limited.
The Petition of Association of Professional Recording
Studios and UK Post
Mr Alastair Lewis appeared on behalf of the Petitioner.
Sharpe Pritchard appeared as Agent
20008. Mr Lewis: It is actually the Professional
Recording Studios and there is another joint Petitioner, his name
is UK Post, so it is a joint Petition. I have a prepared written
statement and I have timed myself 15 minutes tops, I hope.
20009. Chairman: Very good.
20010. Mr Lewis: I will try not to mention
decibels!
20011. Sir, in simple terms, everything you
hear every day on the radio, television, film and new media in
the UK was almost certainly touched, altered and controlled by
a member of the UK post-production industry. My clients are the
principal trade bodies who represent this industry. My clients
ask that Crossrail provide the best possible mitigation for the
sound and vibration that the construction and operation of Crossrail
will cause. My client's charge is that Crossrail have so far failed
in its duty of care to balance damage to local industries and
cost to the public purse against the cost of providing the best
possible mitigation against sound vibrations.
20012. The APRS is a trade organisation whose
primary aim is to develop and maintain excellence at all levels
within the UK's audio industry. It was established in 1947 and
has over 250 members. The APRS aims to promote the highest standards
of professionalism and quality within the audio industry and is
concerned with, among other matters, standards, training, technical
and legal issues. Its members include recording studios, post-production
houses, mastering, replication, pressing and duplicating facilities
and providers of education and training as well as record producers,
audio engineers, manufacturers, suppliers and consultants.
20013. UK Post and Service is a trade organisation
which represents the post-production and special effects' sector
at home and internationally. It was established in 2004 and has
146 members. Seventy per cent of those are in London and 30 per
cent of the total are based in Soho. UK Post and Services supports
and promotes the industry, acts as a strategic lobbying body,
and focuses particularly on fiscal, legislative and workforce
issues affecting the industry. Its membership encompasses companies
involved in visual effects, visual and audio special effects,
physical effects, animation, picture and sound editing, computer
generated images and interactive media.
20014. The UK has a global reputation in the
media industry and attracts a great deal of overseas and domestic
business. The industry in London is situated namely, as we have
heard, in the Soho area and constitutes the centre of excellence
for the industry for the whole of the UK for sound and picture
services to the advertising and film industry. UK Post commissioned
a report in October 2005, undertaken by Oxford economic forecasters.
It valued the film, post-production and special effects sector
at £370 million. That figure does not take into account all
the television post-production activity in Soho. The industry
is a significant contributor to UK PLC. Its strategic importance
is the envy of many. For illustration, Malaysia, one of the emerging
tiger economies, has established a multi-media super corridor
or city trying to emulate the concentration of excellence that
locations such as Hollywood and UK Soho represent, so we are under
competition.
20015. The importance of Soho to the UK post
industry is illustrated by the map on which you have seen showing
the location of the many studio facilities in the Soho area.[5]
It might be useful if it was put up again. As you have seen, there
are a number of studios situated directly above or close to the
proposed Crossrail line. Many of these studios are members of
or represented by the APRS and UK Post and Services.
20016. My clients' members can broadly be described
as "cottage industries". Most of them are small businesses
built up from by entrepreneurs like Ivor and Carol, often having
worked their way up through the industry learning the ropes.
20017. Although they operate in a competitive
environment, they rely on each other to a great extent, not just
because each of them plays different but complementary roles in
the film and television industry, but also because they encourage
and maintain the idea of Soho being a place to go for the services
which they offer. This concentration of services in such a small
area of Soho is unique in the world and allows for a level of
efficiency and creative excellence second to none.
20018. Examples of the type of the work carried
out by the Petitioners' members include the creation of the title
sequence for the BBC's coverage of the 2006 football World Cup,
the special effects in the recent BBC television series, Ocean
Odyssey, and the recording of the Elvis impersonator in the
now famous Radio 2 advertisement. Further examples of special
effects include world-leading examples like Gladiator,
Harry Potter, and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory,
all created in Soho.
20019. Studios usually have only one chance
to carry out a project. They have to be booked for a specific
time and often there is one opportunity for the work to be done.
It would be unacceptable for studios to have to cancel, delay
or postpone work due to noise interruptions caused by the construction
or operation of Crossrail.
5 Committee Ref: A221, Grand Central Studios-What
harm can Crossrail cause sound studios in Soho? (WESTCC-9305A-032). Back
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