High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill

Suppleme ntary written evidence from CAMDEN LONDON BOROUGH COUNCIL (HSR 30)

Background

Councillor Sarah Hayward g a ve evidence to the Public Bill Committee on the High Speed Rail (Preparation Bill) on the 9 th July 2013. During the session Ms Hayward was asked by Mrs Caroline Spelman how many business properties are affected by HS2 , to which Ms Hayward responded that she thought the figure was 2,500 but did not have the actual figures to hand . She confirmed the Council would provide the Committee with that information. This supplemental memorandum provides the information requested.

Information requested

HS2 Limited has indicated in its draft Environmental Statement that approximately 2,570 jobs in the Euston area will be lost; 150 jobs lost in the Camden Town/Link Area and 50 jobs lost in the Primrose Hill to Kilburn area arising from demolition works related to HS2. However the Council fears that these figures represent an under-estimation as they come from direct land requirements. The draft Environmental Statement fails to account for broader potential impacts on businesses in the wider area which could lead to further job losses.

Further, HS2 indicated that a total of approximately 180 businesses in the London Borough of Camden could be affected by safeguarding, although again, the Council considers that this figure could be significantly higher.  A high level of uncertainty remains over the severe impacts of construction in commercial areas such as Euston, Camden Town and others.  The span of these impacts on businesses is considered to be significantly wider than the safeguarding area and in these commercial areas many hundreds of businesses are likely to be detrimentally impacted to some degree.         

Clarification

The Council wishes to take this opportunity to stress that it is not just Euston Station and Camden Town that will be adversely impacted by the HS2 development, although they will be the most significant areas affected. The blight to Camden is borough-wide, for example the Rowley Way Estate will also be severely affected as will the Adelaide Road and Camley Street areas of the borough , to name but a few .

The Council’s concern is that there are significant impacts created by HS2 that will cause harm extending beyond the Euston and Camden Town areas, negatively affecting not just businesses but also housing, schools and school places, tourism, communities, creating a damaging influence on the borough as a whole and onto other parts of London.

The extent of this harm is so widespread that the Council cannot emphasise enough the concern that it has if the HS2 proposal were to proceed in its current form.

July 2013