Tag: HS2

  • Select Committee supports move of proposed vent shaft from Queen’s Park station site

    Palace_of_Westminster,_London_-_Feb_2007

    Further to our post last month, QPARA appears before parliamentary Select Committee, the HS2 Select Committee has now reported and has supported the move of the ventshaft and auto-transformer to the Canterbury Works site in South Kilburn. The HS2 Bill is now going through the normal stages in the House of Commons, after which it will move to the House of Lords.

    Cllr Margaret McClennan, Brent lead member for Housing and Development, has agreed to attend the QPARA monthly meeting on 12 May to talk about the housing scheme for the Queen’s Park station site.

     

  • QPARA appears before parliamentary Select Committee

    Palace_of_Westminster,_London_-_Feb_2007

    QPARA representatives, Robin Sharp and Kevin Barrett, appeared before the  HS2 Select Committee on 26 January. We were ‘petitioners’ against HS2’s plan to build a large ventilation shaft and transformer unit on the Keniston Press and car park site by Queen’s Park station. Although HS2’s most recent plan is to switch this to the Canterbury Works site on Canterbury Road, this is not finally ‘signed up’ and has proved unpopular with community interests there. So QPARA decided to present its case against the vent being at the station site. Much impetus has come from Brent Council which has pressed strongly for this change of location so that it can go ahead with a major housing and retail development scheme. Brent’s scheme would also take in land now occupied by Cullen House, the Falcon pub and part of the gyratory road. This scheme was the subject of local exhibitions, consultations and planning approval three years ago. It now looks more likely to go ahead, but depends on final decisions following the Select Committee’s hearing.

  • Brent and HS2 Ltd to discuss location of HS2 tunnel vent shaft with local residents – Thu 8th and Mon 12th Oct

    HS2 Train

    Brent residents living above the route of the new high speed rail line will have an opportunity to speak to experts working on the project at two community events being held in October.

    QPARA members should note that while QPARA is firmly against the siting of the ventshaft and transformer on the Queen’s Park station car park site, we have no position on the Canterbury Works site proposal.

    Brent Council has asked HS2 to move the proposed location of a tunnel ventilation shaft away from Salusbury Road, which sits within the council’s South Kilburn regeneration area, to a new site at Canterbury Works. These events have been specially arranged by HS2 Ltd and Brent Council to discuss the change with people affected in this part of South Kilburn.

    Councillor Margaret McLennan, Lead Member for Housing and Development at Brent Council said:

    “We welcome the decision by HS2 to accept Canterbury Works as a more suitable site for the proposed works, in response to the petition we submitted to them last year. It means that much needed new and affordable homes in the South Kilburn regeneration area can still be delivered.

    “We know that some local residents will have concerns about what this will mean for the area and so we will be holding two information-sharing events for local people to find out more and ask questions. Representatives from the council and HS2 will be on hand to explain the proposals and address any concerns that people may have.”

    Patricia Thompson, HS2 Ltd Senior Engagement Manager said:

    “We feel it is vitally important to talk directly with local communities to explain the plans for Britain’s new high speed rail network. Though trains will run in a tunnel all the way under Brent, we still need to build a series of ventilation shafts, one of which is to be located within the Brent borough boundary.  These events will give people a chance to find out more about the reasons for the relocation from the original site and the construction at the new site.”

    The events will be held on:

    Thursday 8 October and Monday 12 October 2015

    South Kilburn Studios

    2A Canterbury Road, London NW6 5SW.

    3.00pm – 8.00pm

    Those attending the event will be able to view large-scale maps of the site and speak with engineers, environmentalists and property specialists from HS2 Ltd and Brent Council.

    More information can be found at www.brent.gov.uk/hs2

  • Queen’s Park station car park plans: HS2 vent or housing?

    HS2 Train
    QPARA is continuing to monitor HS2’s plan to build an enormous ventilation shaft structure in the car park in coming years to sit above their tunnels on the new line between London and Birmingham. We have made a submission (called a ‘petition’) to the HS2 Select Committee opposing these plans and suggesting that such an industrial type structure at the very visible ‘gateway’ to the residential Queens Park and South Kilburn areas is inappropriate. The Committee will hear representations from us and other groups along the proposed route as its work progresses through 2015/16. If these plans do not proceed then Brent has a major scheme to provide much needed housing on the site, the latter being expanded to take in a section of the gyratory system plus the large central island on which the block of flats and Falcon pub currently sits.
    Bakerloo line
    QPARA members appreciate the frequency and general reliability of Bakerloo line services, but have noticed that the condition of some carriages is deteriorating. The Bakerloo will not be one of tube lines to have a night service from later in 2015, nor will it get new rolling stock until well after several other lines get. We have been investigating why there is some limbo, and it seems that the plans to extend the line from Elephant and Castle to south east London may be the reason. TfL deliberations continue on this after public consultation recently, and until decisions are made and funding is found the signalling, rolling stock etc may not be improved. QPARA is watching this situation closely and keeping in touch with Brent Council on it.