Examination of Witnesses (Questions 80
- 99)
80. The Bill also contains a series of protective
provisions in relation to utility apparatus, communication networks,
flood and land drainage defences, fisheries, inland waterways
and navigation on (and other matters relating to) the River Thames.
81. I turn now to another topic, the topic of
compulsory purchase.[29]
With regard to the compulsory purchase of land, it is considered
in the case of these powers that the public interest in acquiring
land to build the Crossrail project outweighs the interests of
owners and occupiers. No sensible way can be found to build major
infrastructure of this kind, especially through London, without
acquiring land held by others. As for that public interest, it
is the position that the Bill provisions are compliant with the
European Convention on Human Rights.
82. The Bill seeks powers for the compulsory
purchase of land within limits of deviation for the works and
the limits of land to be acquired and used; these are known as
the "Bill limits". The purpose of these limits is to
ensure sufficient flexibility for the detailed design of the scheme.
The full extent of land within these limits will not necessarily
be acquired. Where it is clear, following detailed design work,
that not all the land within the limits is required, the Secretary
of State will not seek to acquire this land and will be prepared
to give the necessary assurances to the landowners in question
to that effect. This is set out in the Promoter's Land Acquisition
Policy which is dealt with in Information Paper C9. A number of
such agreements have already been entered into in relation to
a number of sites along the route. That process of course is ongoing.
83. There are a number of locations in central
London where the project requires buildings to be demolished.
In such cases the Bill contains powers to construct the railway
operational buildings, such as stations and ventilation shafts
and so forth, but does not give powers as to the construction
of other "Over Site Development".[30]
That process will be dealt with separately through the normal
planning process of the relevant local planning authorities and
is not a matter for bill powers under the Crossrail Bill or the
current parliamentary process. An explanation of and reference
to undertakings given in relation to the provision of over site
development, of the kind I have just mentioned, is to be found
in Information Paper D2 at paragraphs 4.11-4.14.
84. Turning then to the question of compensation.
I will not take more than a few moments on this because you are
going to be hearing more about this tomorrow morning. The Bill
provisions adopt the national compensation code.[31]
That code is based upon the principle of fair compensation; that
principle being, broadly stated, that a person who suffers loss
by reason of the compulsory acquisition of property gets no less
than but no more than the loss which he has suffered as a result.
85. Parliament has set a standards framework
for the provision of compensation and the Secretary of State does
not consider it fair or appropriate to take a different approach
to this project. In taking that course, the Secretary of State
has adopted an approach which has been applied to other major
rail projects in the past, and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is
an example of that.
86. The operation of the national compensation
code is described in Information Paper C2, and I have mentioned
that we will be returning to that theme tomorrow morning.
87. Just touching briefly on the question of
blight, hardship and relocation, the Promoter will continue to
communicate with the owners and occupiers of property which are
proposed to be compulsorily purchased, and will expect the nominated
undertaker to take all reasonably practicable steps to limit the
impact of Crossrail on existing businesses. Further information
is given in Information Paper C1 in relation to these matters.
That document explains how, in accordance with the provisions
of the national compensation code, efforts will be taken to assist
businesses displaced by the Crossrail project. It refers to the
establishment of an agency to assist such businesses in meeting
their relocation requirements.
88. The question of blight and the Promoter's
discretionary purchase scheme to cover cases of hardship which
are not covered by the statutory blight notice regime will be
dealt with tomorrow, but they are explained in another Information
Paper number C8.
89. Finally with regard to the disposal of land,
the Promoter has published a land disposal policy which sets out
the process by which, in appropriate cases, land which has been
required only for the construction of the railway will, once that
process has been completed, be offered back to landowners. That
policy is set out in Information Paper C10 which is in the pack
which you have in front of you.
90. I will now hand back to Mr Elvin.
91. MR ELVIN: My Lords, my Lady, I now
turn to deal with the interactions between Crossrail and other
railway operators.[32]
92. Outside the central tunnel Crossrail will
make shared use of the existing railway network, as Ms Lieven
described to you earlier, with other passenger and freight operators.
Careful planning has been needed from an early stage to consider
how to timetable the services so they fit together to provide
the optimum service pattern.
93. It is fundamental to securing the necessary
investment in Crossrail to be able to guarantee the service it
proposes, and the service which Parliament has approved, to make
sure that that will actually be provided. As a result, extensive
railway powers were included in clauses 22-45 of the Bill. These
powers have proved to be controversial within the rail industry
and were the subject of extensive petitioning in the House of
Commons.
94. In order to overcome uncertainty surrounding
the potential use of Bill powers, the Government has pressed ahead
with obtaining what is known as an "access option"—that
is to say, an agreement with Network Rail which requires the approval
of the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) and which enables Crossrail
services to be run. This is a standard industry mechanism used
to secure rights over Network Rail's infrastructure. The ORR is
shortly to reach a decision under its normal duties contained
within the Railways Act 1993 and taking account of the representations
received within the consultation process it has undertaken. Indeed,
there was a hearing held by the ORR on 1 February, and we understand
that the Board of the ORR is meeting this afternoon, and we expect
to get a "minded to" indication of the broad thinking
of the ORR at some stage this week, we hope. Of course, the Committee
will be kept up-to-date with any developments.
95. A great deal of work has gone into the access
option process, including timetabling and other modelling work.
This work has been carried out with the involvement of the relevant
freight and passenger train operating interests. There remain
concerns, mainly from freight interests, which have been expressed
to the ORR. If an access option is secured then it is the Promoter's
intention to bring forward amendments to cut back the railway
powers of the Bill. It is hoped that the access option will be
granted shortly, and appropriate amendments tabled before this
House as soon as possible thereafter. However, as your Lordships
will understand, until the precise terms of any access option
can be scrutinised, the Promoter is not in a position to identify
the precise form that these amendments will take. My Lords, my
Lady, the details of our position on the railway powers, the timetabling,
the access option and other related matters are set out in the
Information Papers H1 to H4.
96. In response to concerns raised by Petitioners
before the Select Committee in the other place the Promoter reviewed
the depot strategy. This resulted in a new depot strategy being
promoted whereby the main Crossrail depot would be located on
an existing rail facility at Old Oak Common in West London, rather
than at Romford as originally proposed. This would involve displacing
what are non-freight operations of EWS (that is English, Welsh
and Scottish Railways). The House of Commons Select Committee
agreed that the depot should be located at Old Oak Common on the
basis of an undertaking by the Promoter that it would continue
to work with EWS to try to find a way to retain as much as possible
of EWS's activities at Old Oak Common, if so desired. This work
is still continuing.
97. A number of Petitioners are concerned to
see the Crossrail service extended to Reading in the west and
to Ebbsfleet in the south-east. The Promoter has made it clear
before the House of Commons that the Bill does nothing to preclude
the extension of the Crossrail service in the future, but that
is not proposed now. The Promoter does not consider there is a
sufficient transport justification which would support the cost
of the extension of these services. As Lord Bassam indicated in
second reading, if a robust justification for an extension to
the Crossrail service were to emerge in future it could be pursued
through the procedures of the Transport and Works Act 1992—as
my Lord mentioned earlier this morning—rather than by delaying
the currently much-needed Crossrail project from coming forward.
As my Lord has already mentioned this morning, on 6 February this
year the Minister, Mr Harris, announced that additional land between
Maidenhead and Reading is to be safeguarded so as to provide the
flexibility for such an extension, if it subsequently became justified.
98. Further concerns were raised before the
Select Committee in the other Place regarding the potential impact
of Crossrail services on mainline services to and from the south
west of England and from south Wales. In normal operation Crossrail
services will run on the "slow" lines of the Great Western
Railway, as Ms Lieven explained, and will not affect the operation
of such services which use the "fast" lines of the railway.
99. Turning now to a series of environmental
issues and controls, briefly touching on noise and vibration,
noise will be the subject, of course, of a presentation this afternoon.
So I am going to say very little, other than to say that the Promoter
has established a comprehensive regime to control and mitigate
noise and vibration. This is explained in a number of Information
Papers explaining how noise and vibration related impacts from
the construction and operation of Crossrail are to be mitigated.
These relate to noise and vibration from sources underground,
from surface railway noise, noise from fixed installations (such
as ventilation shafts) and noise from construction operations.
As I say, Mr Thornely-Taylor will be presenting to your Lordships
this afternoon on that issue.
29 Crossrail Ref: P1, Compulsory Purchase (LINEWD-OPN1-026) Back
30
Crossrail Ref: P1, Over Site Development (LINEWD-OPN1-027) Back
31
Crossrail Ref: P1, Compensation Issues (LINEWD-OPN1-028) Back
32
Crossrail Ref: P1, Interactions with other Railway Operators
(LINEWD-OPN1-029) Back
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