Examination of Witnesses (Questions 10471
- 10479)
Ordered at 10.00am: that Counsel and Parties be called
in.
10471. CHAIRMAN: Good morning. Mr Mould?
The Petition of Smithfield Market Tenants
Association
10472. MR MOULD: My Lord, this morning, as
I think your Lordships were told yesterday, we have the petition
of the Smithfield Market Traders' Association. My learned friends,
Mr James Dingemans, QC and Mr Paul Lettman appear for the petitioners.
In the usual way, if it is convenient for your Lordships, I was
proposing to set the scene and tell you where we got to in relation
to this Petition.
10473. CHAIRMAN: That would be very helpful.
10474. MR MOULD: Then I will hand over
to my learned friend. If we can have Exhibit 04-052, please.[1]
As your Lordships will be very well aware, we are in the vicinity
of Farringdon and Crossrail proposes a station at Farringdon.
We have shown on this plan the general location of the Crossrail
station. Farringdon Road is running broadly here (indicating)
you see the existing Metropolitan and Circle Line tracks here;
Barbican Station on the Metropolitan and Circle Line I am showing
now. Smithfield Market itself, the east and west market and the
west market buildings and then the poultry market, as your Lordships
will be familiar with. The key point to note here is that the
eastern ticket hall for the Crossrail station is to be constructed
at this site, which we know is the Lindsey Street site based on
Lindsey Street which runs here between the eastern flank of the
east market building and the Lindsey Street site itself. Under
the scheme presented to the House of Commons Select Committee,
the intention was there should be an escalator shaft constructed
beneath the basement of the east market building. I am just showing
the outline, the dog leg of that structure here. That would have
been constructed within and beneath the market building in the
basement. You see the basement shown here with access being via
a spiral ramp, which I am outlining, which lies to the south of
the market complex in the location I am showing here.
10475. I will come back to that in a moment,
but can we put up 04-053.[2]
This is just an aerial photograph to trigger the memory. This
is Lindsey Street, forgive me, that is an incorrect reference.
The street marked as Hayne Street is Lindsey Street. Hayne Street
lies to the east of the ticket hall site where I am outlining
here. Here is the Lindsey Street ticket hall site for the Farringdon
eastern ticket hall. Here is the eastern market building and the
remainder of the market complex lying to the west. As your Lordships
may be familiar, traffic circulates in a one-way system around
the market complex at the present time.
10476. It might also be worth noting that there
are dedicated loading bays and parking spaces located around the
market buildings themselves which are used by the traders and
their customers, including some hermetically sealed up-to-date,
modern all-singing, all-dancing loading bays which are located
broadly on the northern side of the market complex. There are
some loading bays on Lindsey Street in the location that I have
shown here, which may be mentioned later in the course of these
proceedings.
10477. Can we have 054, please?[3]
This shows you on plan the scheme as it was before the House of
Commons Select Committee and the only point I wish to draw your
attention to is that you see the escalators serving the eastern
ticket hall and you see that the area within which that escalator
shaft will be constructed. As you can see, it pushes quite significantly
into and beneath the east market building itself. As I say, on
that basis, it would be necessary to go into the east market and
to undertake quite a challenging engineering process within the
basement of the market itself. We can see that a little more clearly
if we go to 055 where I have a cross-section for you of that scheme.[4]
You can see that here (indicating) on the left-hand side of the
section is the east market building structure, Lindsey Street
I am just pointing out and then the Lindsey Street work site with
the new ticket hall showing with a schematic over-site development
over the top of it. Then we have the escalator shaft, the crucial
point to today's proceedings, passing beneath the market building.
You can see the subterranean structure which would be constructed
for that purpose beneath the market itself.
10478. Go to 056 and I can tell your Lordships
about some quite significant changes which are proposed.[5]
What I am showing you now is the layout for the scheme design
as it is currently proposed in a revised form. The key point here
to note is that it is no longer on this basis proposed to construct
the escalators on that former alignment, that is to say that they
pass beneath the east market building. What is now proposed is
that the escalator—and I am pointing out the escalator lying
here—will be constructed on a revised alignment which would
be essentially at right angles to the former proposal. They would
dog-leg at the northern end of the Lindsey Street site so that
they would then link in on an angle to the Crossrail platforms
which are running broadly beneath—
10479. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: May
I ask a question? I do not think we have ever asked this before
but the escalators that are being used here, are they pre-constructed
complete units or are they built integrally into the station here?
The difference being that the ones that are built in have a completely
different vibration performance to the ones which are self-contained
in table units.
1 Committee Ref: P73, Farringdon Station (LONDLB-23-04-052) Back
2
Committee Ref: P73, Aerial View-Farringdon (LONDLB-23-04-053) Back
3
Committee Ref: P73, Farringdon Station-Lindsay Street End-Interchange
Level 1 (LONDLB-23-04-054) Back
4
Committee Ref: P73, Farringdon Station-Lindsay Street End-Section
(LONDLB-23-04-055) Back
5
Committee Ref: P73, Farringdon Eastern Ticket Hall-Lindsay Street
End-Section (LONDLB-23-04-056) Back
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