West End Letters: Crossrail

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 24 October 2008

All change at Oxford Street

• CROSSRAIL served compulsory purchase notices last week on 13 properties that will soon be demolished to make way for the new Tottenham Court Road station.
More notices will be served on other buildings on and around the east end of Oxford Street. For years the indecision over Crossrail has blighted this area and starved it of investment, and it shows.
Now the start of Crossrail’s construction, reaffirmed last week by both the new London mayor and the government, means that we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to decide how best to enhance this hugely important part of the West End.
All our research has shown consistently that the majority of visitors, retailers and landlords in the West End feel that the east end of Oxford Street is not of the quality that should be expected for the world’s top shopping destination.
They want major improvements.
Increasing competition, both from developments within London and from other world cities, means that we have constantly to invest in a better West End of which residents, retailers and visitors can be rightly proud.
Westminster City Council share this view. The council’s recently adopted plan for the area, the joint ORB action plan, stated that “the east end of Oxford Street… lets down the shopping experience in the rest of the street. We must work together to address this in order to bring a fresh impetus and a new retail flavour to the area, which may benefit from one or more new ‘anchor’ tenants or destinations.”
The council’s ORB action plan was widely consulted upon and has the formal support of New West End Company, Transport for London and all the local amenity societies that make-up the London West End Community Network.
But the West End is so successful because it has grown naturally and organically over many centuries, adapting and developing in a way that has avoided the often sterile environment of over-planned city centres.
We have to be careful to ensure that any future plans to improve the east end of Oxford Street for visitors and residents alike keep the unique atmosphere that has made it such a success.
Recent redevelopments on Regent Street, Marylebone High Street and Carnaby Street show that you can create modern retail space while retaining and enhancing the character of an area. With major works about to start in the area I look forward to the debate about how we make the most of this opportunity for the benefit of everyone.
DAME JUDITH MAYHEW JONAS
New West End Company

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:

Your comments: