Examination of Witnesses (Questions 6040
- 6059)
6040. MS JONES: Thank you. At the end
of those negotiations, would you like me to come back—I
think you have offered a date—rather than come back in writing?
6041. CHAIRMAN: I think the best thing
to do is to communicate with our Clerk and say what is the situation,
because I do not know what the timescale will be; I do not know
how much time we will have, but if you can do it primarily through
communicating with our Clerk that would be the most helpful way.
Tell us what is going on.
6042. MS JONES: Thank you very much.
6043. MR MOULD: My Lord, just in relation
to that, we will certainly, for our part, seek to pursue matters
with two thoughts in mind: one, that so far as we possibly can
we shall seek to deal with matters in writing, so that your Committee
can receive a written response rather than have to have further
oral debate. We will also be seeking, for our part, as far as
possible, to bring these matters to a conclusion sooner rather
than later. We would like, if there is to be any further hearing
in relation to this, that it should take place as soon as is reasonably
possible, and I am sure that your Committee would echo that thought.
6044. CHAIRMAN: We would like that too.
6045. MR MOULD: Thank you.
6046. CHAIRMAN: I think that is as far
as we can take Ms Jones's Petition this afternoon. Mr Mould, there
is one other thing that I wanted to ask you: you did not think
that, in the ruling that I gave this morning, I had been entirely
accurate about the engineering problems on Route B.
6047. MR MOULD: It was to do with the
date on which we had effectively decided that Route B was not
a runner.
6048. CHAIRMAN: I think I put that in;
that was in 2001, but I also put in a passage which I derived
from the Mott MacDonald study, which was dated March 2005, and
was given me by Mr Horton. I was looking at a thing called the
"Woodseer Street Line" which, I am told by you, is not
Route B.
6049. MR MOULD: It is not Route B, no.
6050. CHAIRMAN: All the same, in order
to get this ruling finalised, I would quite like to know whether
there is some document which raises the question of engineering
problems—track curvature, maintenance, carriage wheels and
speed limits (that sort of thing)—if Route B were adopted.
There probably is such a document but there is a good deal of
paper in this Committee. I am not expecting it today.
6051. MR MOULD: Mr Berryman is telling
me pretty categorically that there is no such document which addresses
those points specifically in relation to Route B.
6052. CHAIRMAN: I see. In that case it
may be very much better just to strike that part of the ruling
out.
6053. MR MOULD: I think that is right,
if I may say so.
6054. CHAIRMAN: I will look at it and
it may be that we can revise that, in which case we will get it
on to the transcript what has been the ultimate solution to the
whole thing.
6055. MR MOULD: Yes. If your Lordship
is content to deal with that at your end of the room, as it were,
then I, for my part, would be quite happy for that to happen in
that way.
6056. CHAIRMAN: If there is no document,
there is no document.
6057. MR MOULD: Quite. Jolly good. Thank
you.
6058. CHAIRMAN: What is going to happen
tomorrow?
6059. MS LIEVEN: Tomorrow, my Lord, we
have the Canary Wharf Group coming.
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