Paddington Business Improvement District Limited
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IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS SESSION 2005-06 CROSSRAIL BILL PETITION Against the Bill - On Merits - Praying to be heard by Counsel, &c. TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED THE HUMBLE PETITION of: PADDINGTON BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT LIMITED SHEWETH as follows:— 1 A Bill (hereinafter referred to as "the Bill") has been introduced into and is now pending in your Honourable House intituled "A Bill to make provision for a railway transport system running from Maidenhead, in the County of Berkshire, and Heathrow Airport, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, through central London to Shenfield, in the County of Essex, and Abbey Wood, in the London Borough of Greenwich; and for connected purposes.". 2 The Bill is promoted by the Secretary of State for Transport (hereinafter called "the Promoter"). Relevant clauses of the Bill 3 Clauses 1 to 20 of the Bill together with Schedules 1 to 9 make provision for the construction and maintenance of the proposed works including the main works set out in Schedule 1. Provision is included to confer powers for various building and 3606870.01 engineering operations, for compulsory acquisition and the temporary use of and entry upon land, for the grant of planning permission and other consents, for the disapplication or modification of heritage and other controls and to govern interference with trees and the regulation of noise. 4 Clauses 21 to 44 of the Bill together with Schedule 10 make provision for the application with modifications and the disapplication in part of the existing railways regulatory regime which is contained in and in arrangements made under the Railways Act 1993 and associated legislation. In particular, they provide for the disapplication of licensing requirements, the imposition of special duties on the Office of Rail Regulation ("ORR"), the modification of railway access contract and franchising arrangements and the disapplication of railway closure requirements and of the need for consent from Transport for London in relation to impacts on key system assets. Provision is also included to enable agreements to be required as between the nominated undertaker and controllers of railway assets, to govern the basis for arbitration and to provide for the transfer of statutory powers in relation to railway assets. 5 Clauses 45 to 59 of the Bill together with Schedules 11 to 14 contain miscellaneous and general provisions. These include provision for the making of transfer schemes, the designation of nominated undertakers, the devolution of functions and as respects other actions to be taken by the Secretary of State. Provision is also made in particular for the disapplication or modification of various additional miscellaneous controls, for the treatment of burial grounds, for the application of provisions of the Bill to future extensions of Crossrail, for the particular protection of certain specified interests and as respects arbitration. Your Petitioners and their properties 6 Your Petitioners are the Paddington Business Improvement District Limited ("Paddington BID"), a private company, limited by guarantee. The Paddington BID went live on 1 April 2005 in accordance with the Local Government Act 2003 as a vehicle for carrying out Business Improvement District arrangements. 3606870.01 This was a result of a vote in which the Paddington BID was elected with an overwhelming majority, with 87% of businesses backing the proposal. The purpose of the Paddington BED under the Local Government Act 2003 is to carry out projects for the benefit of the business improvement district or those who live, work or carry out any activity in the district. Paddington BID provides the opportunity for businesses to invest and have a direct say in the management of the business improvement district area ("BID area"), and your Petitioners' members include non domestic rate payers who are responsible for paying the BID levy, Voluntary Members and Residential Members. The BID area comprises the following streets, either in whole or in part: Bishop's Bridge Road Bouverie Place Chilworth Mews Chilworth Street Cleveland Terrace Conduit Mews Conduit Passage Conduit Place Craven Road Eastbourne Mews Eastbourne Terrace Edgware Road Harbet Road Junction Mews Junction Place London Mews London Street Norfolk Crescent 3606870.01 Norfolk Place Norfolk Square Norfolk Square Mews Praed Mews Praed Street Rainsford Street St Michael's Street Sale Place South Wharf Road Southwick Mews Southwick Street Spring Street Star Street Sussex Gardens Talbot Square Westbourne Terrace Winsland Mews Winsland Street The BID area is wholly within the City of Westminster and the Paddingtbn BID works in partnership with and supplements Westminster City Council local government activities in a number of ways, including— (a) promoting the BID area as a better place to invest, work, do business and visit; (b) promoting regeneration in the BID area; (c) improving environmental standards; (d) reducing crime; 3606870.01 (e) enhancing the built environment; and (f) supporting conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment in the BID area. 8 Your Petitioners represent and have concerns in relation to the interests of the BED area. The BID area has a diverse and valuable heritage, with over 400 businesses operating in the area contributing to Paddington's economy. These include more than 80 hotels, and more than 60 restaurants, cafes and public houses. The Paddington BID has an interest in the BID area's amenity and the viability of local businesses. Its members own or have an interest in properties within the BID area, some of which are subject to compulsory acquisition or use under the Bill, and some of which, whilst not subject to the compulsory purchase proposals of the Bill, are in the immediate vicinity of the proposed works and liable to be injuriously affected by them. 9 Your Petitioners support the proposed project and welcome the decision to construct Crossrail, so long as the works are carried out so as to ensure that the burdens on your Petitioners and businesses within the BID area are justified by a genuine cross London rail movement. There are, however, many matters which cause great concern to your Petitioners. Accordingly, your Petitioners seek further assurances. Furthermore, it is respectfully submitted that the rights, interests and property of your Petitioners, and those who live and work in the BID area, will be injuriously affected by the Bill if it is passed into law in its present form. Accordingly, your Petitioners object to the Bill for the reasons set out below. Your Petitioners' concerns Worksites: general 10 Your Petitioners apprehend that there will be disruptive site preparation and construction activities at four work sites within the BID area, and that the impacts of this activity will continue to be felt throughout the BED area for a period of at least 5 years. Your Petitioners are particularly concerned about the impacts of noise, vibration, dust and dirt, hours of working, visual impact and disruption to the safety of road traffic and pedestrians. Accordingly, your Petitioners submit that the nominated undertaker should agree with Westminster City Council (in consultation with your Petitioners) to suitable standards in respect of each of these matters and that there should be provision for suitable mitigation measures including a code of construction practice and noise insulation policy. Ancillary documentation such as the proposed Code of Construction Practice, which should make this provision, remains in a draft form which is neither acceptable in principle, nor in its presumptions, proposals and extent of detail. 11 Furthermore, your Petitioners are concerned about the potential effects on road traffic, pedestrians and property owners near and en route to the worksites. The physical area and potential impact of each proposed worksite should be kept to a minimum with the safety of the public, whether pedestrians or other road users, being of paramount importance. Your Petitioners submit that there should be suitable compensation provisions in place to ensure that all of the residents, businesses and property owners in the BED area are properly compensated for the damage caused by construction and the use of Crossrail. 12 Your Petitioners represent many hotels in the vicinity of proposed worksites. When taking bookings, hoteliers are required to inform prospective customers of construction works that are likely to affect their stay. Your Petitioners therefore submit that the nominated undertaker should provide them with detailed plans, method statements, work programmes, and schedules of deliveries (particularly abnormal deliveries) in relation to each working site, well in advance of the commencement of operations. Your Petitioners should be notified well in advance of any alterations in methods of construction and construction operations, particularly in relation to site servicing and set up arrangements. Dust 13 Your Petitioners are concerned about dust and dirt produced during construction. Your Petitioners would wish to see binding commitments imposed on the Promoter to require adherence to agreed measures to reduce dust, and to carry out additional mitigation if dust becomes a nuisance to properties in the BID area. Your Petitioners request that provision be made to ensure that the Promoter takes responsibility for the reimbursement of the property owners affected for additional