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St Barnabas-in-Soho interior |
WEST END | NEWS | CROSSRAIL PROJECT | MAYFAIR ACTION GROUP | ST BARNABAS-IN-SOHO | GRADE 1 LISTED
House of Lords hears petitions against £16bn Crossrail project
GROUPS opposing the government’s £16 billion Crossrail project are staging a last-ditch attempt to block the legislation being pushed through.
Ron Whelan from the Mayfair Action Group, which is mobilising a legal team to take on Crossrail bosses, said: “It’s going to be a complete nightmare and we are going to fight to stop it.
“They want to tear up Hanover Square for a white elephant. I just hope they don’t find the funding because it could be the death of Mayfair for years.”
The group is demanding the tracks be rerouted away from the exclusive area, claiming hundreds of families will be forced out of their homes by the “crazy” plans.
Galvanised by the prospect of more than five years of noise, bulldozers, demolition and transport chaos, Crossrail’s opponents have lobbied the government as the bill is set to go through its remaining stages in the House of Lords before being returned to the Commons, so digging can start in 2010.
Details of petitions presented to a Lords select committee, published this week, also cite fears for the Grade-I listed 18th-century House of St Barnabas-in-Soho.
Staff at the renowned homeless centre in Greek Street called on the company overseeing the project, Cross London Rail Links Ltd – formed by Transport for London and the Department of Transport – to reassure them construction would not threaten their historic building.
Pippa Bagnell, chief executive of St Barnabas House said: “We want them to change the route. The digging is going right underneath us and could have a devastating effect on our plasterwork. There are hardly any examples like this in London. The whole thing is a huge worry.”
Residents’ groups from Paddington, Westbourne Park, Soho, as well as Mayfair were joined by Westminster City Council and hundreds of others to voice their objections to the plans that will see 24 trains an hour pass through the West End.
The Westbourne Park Villa’s Residents’ Association told the committee that the cumulative effect of Crossrail on the area, which is already blighted by noise from the Westway and the current railway line, would be “unbearable”.
This was echoed by the Paddington Residents’ Active Concern on Transport, which is also worried that Paddington Station may not be able to cope with the disruption.
Cross London Rail Links Ltd have given assurances to all parties that disruption will be kept to a minimum.
The select committee will resit to consider another 67 petitions lodged against the bill before it finally reports back.
The 74-mile Crossrail route will run overland from Maidenhead to Paddington before going underground with central London stops at Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and White-chapel. Government is stumping up a third of the money up-front with the City of London and businesses making up the rest in a complex funding jigsaw. |
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