HS2 Growth Task Force – The Challenge

Response from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

The local authorities welcome HS2 Limited’s revised delivery role to make High Speed 2 an engine for growth. They are pleased to be able to provide the following response that identifies specific opportunities for the development of land at and around the proposed Old Oak Common HS2 / Crossrail station, and demonstrates how these opportunities can be realised to maximise local economic growth.

The authorities would also like to draw attention to how the design and development of Old Oak Common station can best support regional development, how parts of this development can be delivered in advance of HS2, and highlight an opportunity to achieve a capital return on the North Pole Depot which is owned by the Department for Transport.

This response identifies the opportunity for 92,000 jobs and 22,500 new homes. However, without the outlined changes to current HS2 proposals half the new homes and a quarter of the new jobs will not be created and redevelopment of Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area will be effectively sterilised.

Connecting markets, businesses and people

Question 1: Do cities have visions and strategic plans to maximise growth from HS2?

1.1 In central west London an Opportunity Area Planning Framework for Old Oak Common is being produced by LB Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), LB Brent and LB Ealing in partnership with the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL). This envisages the area becoming London’s next Canary Wharf scale development. With the right infrastructure and station design there is the opportunity to create up to 90,000 jobs and 19,000 homes with new schools, open spaces, shops and leisure facilities (including a new stadium for Queens Park Rangers football team) around the proposed Old Oak Common HS2 / Crossrail Station. The Mayor has recently launched a consultation on the Further Alterations to the London Plan, which following further research identifies the Old Oak Common area as having the capacity to deliver fewer jobs (55,000) but more homes (24,000).

1.2 The first stage of this process a 30 year Vision for Old Oak Common was put out to public consultation in mid 2013. The consultation leaflet can be seen http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/consultations/old-oak-common

1.3 The vision’s objectives are to:  Maximise the opportunity presented by the creation of the strategic transport interchange to regenerate 155 ha of derelict and underused land and contribute significantly to the growth and economic development of London.  Support redevelopment of the area surrounding the proposed interchange, by designing the proposed HS2 station to maximise local and regional connectivity.  Develop the Strategic Industrial Land offer at Park Royal and investigate the potential to relocate businesses from Old Oak Common to free up land adjacent to the international train station.  Investigate the potential for a network of new open spaces and green links creating a “green cross” connecting Old Oak Common Station to North Acton, Willesden Junction, Wormwood Scrubs and the Grand Union Canal.

1.4 Creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation, with plan making and development management powers, to deliver this strategic vision is being progressed.

1.5 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was part of the Old Oak Common visioning process but had to pull out because TfL would not allow inclusion of the Borough’s ambition for a Crossrail Station in the adjacent Kensal Opportunity Area. The Royal Borough continues to lobby for this station as it is the only realistic way this valuable brownfield site, comparable in size to King’s Cross or Paddington Basin, and the surrounding area, which includes some of the most deprived wards in London, could benefit from the increased connectivity HS2 will provide. Without a station this site could accommodate 600-2,000 (depending on whether North Pole Depot is released). With a station and North Pole Depot it can accommodate up to 3,500 homes and provide 2,000 jobs.

Question 2: How are our cities Network Rail and other key partners working together to prepare for HS2 and maximise integration with local transport networks?

2.1 The Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) Working Group was formed in 2012 with membership from the four local authorities LB Hammersmith and Fulham, LB Brent, LB Ealing and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea1), the Greater London Authority, Transport for London and Network Rail. The OAPF is led by Project Team and overseen by a Project Management Board (senior officers) and a Strategy Board (political group). The Project Team with representatives from all parties meets weekly to progress key issues related to HS2/Crossrail and the regeneration of Old Oak Common.

The key issues the OAPF working group is currently progressing are:

 Creating additional Overground rail connections (see point 4)  Enhancing strategic road connectivity (see point 3)  The opportunity to bring forward construction of the Crossrail station at Old Oak Common in advance of HS2 (see point 5)

Unlocking regeneration and development

Question 3: What opportunities are there for station sites to help transform and regenerate their surrounding areas?

Old Oak Common and Park Royal

3.1 The Old Oak Common vision shows how the HS2 / Crossrail interchange could transform underused land around Old Oak Common into London’s next Canary Wharf scale development (see point 1 for details) and provide a step change for Park Royal, London’s largest industrial estate.

1 RBKC pulled out of the OAPF Working Group in summer 2013 as explained in point 1.5 3.2 50,000 of the 250,000 people who will use the interchange daily are expected to leave the station but Old Oak Common station is only accessible by road from the west which would put considerable pressure onto Old Oak Common Lane and Victoria Road.

3.3 HS2’s proposed road improvements are considered inadequate and would use up any free capacity in the surrounding road network and would therefore reduce the viability of development in the area, adding to delays in delivery. If development is to be brought forward at Old Oak Common it is essential that an alternative access is provided into the station from the east. This could be achieved via a bridge over the Grand Union Canal. In addition to relieving pressure on the surrounding network, this bridge would provide a direct connection to 35 hectares of under-used land to the north of the Grand Union Canal, kick-starting regeneration of an area capable of accommodating 7,000 homes and 5,000 jobs. It would also provide the most direct vehicular link to RBKC in the short-medium term before the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) Depot is released in 2028.

3.34 Without enhanced road connections the Old Oak Common station will just be an HS2 / Crossrail interchange with very limited wider regeneration benefits.

Kensal Gasworks

3.5 HS2 could also help to transform the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area, but as set out in point 5 below this opportunity is put at risk by the decision to relocate the Heathrow Express Depot at Old Oak Common to the North Pole Depot in order to accommodate the new HS2 / Crossrail station. If the North Pole Depot is released for development and there is a Kensal Portobello Crossrail station the site can accommodate 3,500 homes and 2,000 jobs, without either the development capacity is limited to 600 homes.

Question 4: What is the scope to use HS2 stations – and the improved connectivity they offer to kick-start wider economic growth in the local area?

South and West London

4.1 There is a significant opportunity for the HS2 / Crossrail station at Old Oak Common to achieve wider economic growth in south and west London by providing additional connections to Overground services and providing a Crossrail connection to Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area. This would also help to relieve pressure on Euston.

4.2 Two London Overground lines run close to the planned HS2/Crossrail Old Oak Common station. The North London Line runs to the west of the proposed station, connecting Richmond to Willesden Junction and on to Stratford. The West London Line runs to the east connecting Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction and has stations at Shepherd’s Bush, West Brompton and Imperial Wharf (which correspond to the White City, Earl’s Court and South Fulham Riverside regeneration areas respectively). With a direct Overground connection to HS2 at Old Oak Common residents in all these areas would have access to a much greater employment opportunities and businesses would benefit from greater employee and customer accessibility.

4.3 A gross value added study has shown that connecting the Overground network at Old Oak Common would provide for an additional 865,000sqm of development in the Old Oak area, which would provide an additional 6,500 homes, 22,000 jobs and generate an additional £10billion GVA to the UK economy, an additional £32m business rates per annum, and an additional £5m of council tax per annum.

4.4 Current HS2 proposals do not include a connection to Overground services at Old Oak Common. Without additional Overground connections the full development potential of the Old Oak Common site will not be delivered.

Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area

4.5 Poor road connections between North Kensington and Old Oak Common mean that providing an additional Crossrail Station at Kensal/Portobello is the only realistic way of linking Kensal to Old Oak Common. Other options like providing a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) connection are being explored by TfL, but no proposals have yet emerged that could approach the transport connectivity of a Crossrail service. This is untried technology in an uncontrolled environment, is not suited to tidal demand patterns, and – unless the Crossrail station at Old Oak Common could be brought forward – would not be delivered until 2026 at the earliest. We continue to believe that a rail link is the most straightforward route to Old Oak Common, given the significant challenges presented by the presence of the canal and rail embankments. Relocation of the Heathrow Express Depot to North Pole Depot would impose further constraints on any PRT or road-based scheme.

Question 5 What more could central Government do to remove barriers or facilitate local economic growth as a result of HS2?

Removing Barriers - Department for Transport

5.1 In terms of removing barriers to development the Department for Transport could change its position on relocating the Heathrow Express depot to the North Pole Depot, and as joint sponsors of Crossrail reverse the decision not to allow provision of Kensal Portobello Crossrail Station.

5.2 As currently set out in the HS2 Bill developing the HS2 / Crossrail station at Old Oak Common requires relocation of the Heathrow Express Depot to North Pole Depot east which is in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This relocation site was selected by Networkrail because it is currently in railway use. However, the North Pole Depot had previously been identified for disposal by British Rail Board (Residuary) Ltd (BRBR) and transferred to London and Continental Railways (LCR). It was included in initial work on an SPD for Kensal Gasworks , which suggested that 600-900 homes could be accommodated on the site in RBKC and 4000 homes in Hammersmith & Fulham. Sale of this site would be a direct receipt to the Department for Transport. This opportunity cost and the regeneration benefits have not been factored into Networkrail’s decision making.

5.3 More seriously the decision to relocate the Heathrow Express depot to the North Pole depot effectively sterilises the entire 17 hectare Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area. This is a prime and largely empty brownfield site which is land locked on three sides by the canal and railway and only has one access road from the east. As a result the development capacity of this site is constrained by the need provide adequate emergency access. This was to have been overcome by providing an additional road access, via a bridge across the railway line, into the site from the North Pole Depot. Without somewhere to land the bridge the development capacity of the entire site, which is comparable in size to King’s Cross or Paddington Basin regeneration areas, will be constrained to approximately 600 homes and a new supermarket.

5.4 If North Pole Depot does not come forward for development then the development capacity of Kensal Gasworks would be drastically reduced, and Mitre Bridge Industrial Estate in H&F would not come forward for development. Together these sites could accommodate 5,000 homes which could generate a gross development value in the region of £3.75bn.

5.5 HS2 Ltd, the Department for Transport and Network Rail are considering alternative sites along the Heathrow Express route that could accommodate the depot. We believe that North Pole East Depot presents the most valuable site in terms of development potential, and unlocking wider development capacity, and that, subject to feasibility, others sites along the Heathrow Express corridor would therefore be more appropriate for relocating the Heathrow Express Depot.

Removing Barriers – Crossrail Joint Sponsors (DfT andTfL)

5.6 To enable residents in North Kensington to benefit from HS2 and to fully realise the development opportunity at Kensal Canalside the Crossrail Joint Sponsors should reverse the decision not to allow provision of an additional Kensal Portobello Crossrail station. This decision was made on the incorrect assumption that all Crossrail trains would stop at Kensal Portobello resulting in journey time disbenefits of £1.5bn over 60 years. Our proposal, for a service with four trains an hour stopping at Kensal Portobello, as described under point 6, would see a net gain in journey time benefits, taking account of journey time savings to passengers using Kensal Portobello station. This proposal would deliver a business case significantly higher than the current route-wide Crossrail Benefit Cost Ratio of 2:1, improve the reliability of Crossrail services and meet all the tests previously set by the Mayor for provision of this station. These tests were that the station: i) would not add to the cost of Crossrail; ii) would not delay the Crossrail programme and iii) not reduce performance of other train services.

5.7 Providing a Crossrail station and relocating the Heathrow Express Depot to an alternative site would enable optimum development of Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area providing 3,500 homes, 2,000 jobs and delivering £690m GVA.

5.8 If these barriers are not removed then the opportunity cost of preventing optimal development of Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area should be set against the business case for HS2.

Facilitating local economic growth – Crossrail and Network Rail

5.9 Regeneration of the Old Oak Common area could start in advance of HS2 if the Crossrail and London Overground stations were constructed earlier.

5.10 Under current proposals, Old Oak Common station would be built as two separate construction projects: i) the HS2 station and ii) the Crossrail and Great Western Main Line station. It is currently envisaged that both elements of the station would open in 2026. The early delivery of Crossrail and Great Western Main Line station and the Overground connections, described under point 4, would significantly help to kick start regeneration in the Old Oak Common area. There is demonstrable developer interest in achieving earlier development detailed under point 6.4 below.

Question 6: How can we maximise the potential for accessing private finance and securing effective business participation?

Kensal Gasworks

6.1 RBKC have identified that additional private finance could be attracted from the owners of the Kensal Gasworks sites to deliver a Kensal Portobello Crossrail station (currently estimated at £30m) a bridge to North Pole Depot (£28m) and contribute towards four tracking the Crossrail lines between Ladbrooke Grove Bridge and Mitre Bridge (£20m).

6.2 Four tracking this part of the line would enable provision of a new Kensal Portobello Crossrail station served by a skip stop service of four Crossrail trains an hour. This would allow the Kensal Opportunity Area to be developed to its full potential, delivering £690m GVA.

6.3 It would also provide extra line capacity that would considerably increase the resilience of Crossrail services between central London and Old Oak Common allowing them to cope better with service perturbation and enabling maintenance to be undertaken without closing the line. This in turn would make it easier to timetable services to manage the huge numbers of HS2 passengers (12.5m in 2026) forecast to change onto Crossrail from HS2 at Old Oak and reduce pressure of passenger numbers on Euston. Something Crossrail has been struggling to achieve on just two tracks. The Royal Borough is actively seeking to persuade the Crossrail sponsors to consider this proposal.

Old Oak Common

6.4 In the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, there has been strong interest from the developer community to bring forward development at Old Oak Common in advance of the HS2 station proposals. In December 2013, Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) Football Club announced their intention to submit a planning application on 30 hectares of land to the north of the Grand Union Canal to provide a new football stadium as well as thousands of new homes and jobs. Subject to this being acceptable in planning terms, development of this land could front-load the early provision of infrastructure to the north of the canal and create a new community at Old Oak in advance of the planned implementation of the HS2 station. This would help set the Old Oak Common station within a place and would help support the borough's aspiration for the station to be delivered earlier and to be a destination, not just for travellers, but also for local people, once it has opened. LBHF are keen to continue to engage with the business community to discuss the potential for kick-starting regeneration in advance of the construction of the Old Oak Common HS2 station and investigate how private sector finance can assist in making Old Oak Common a new destination in London, supported by state of the art physical, environment and social infrastructure.

Summary of additional benefits/opportunity costs that could be achieved/ avoided

Issue Benefit / opportunity cost Providing adequate connections to the Reduced development viability and strategic road network consequent development delay. Relocating the Heathrow Express Depot Up to 2,400 homes could be accommodated to the North Pole Depot on the North Pole Depot site. Without this site development of the whole Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area and the part of North Pole Depot in Hammersmith and Fulham would be restricted to approximately 1,000 homes (a loss of 4,000 homes and c.2,000 jobs). Providing Overground rail connections at 6,500 homes, 22,000 jobs and an additional Old Oak Common £10billion GVA to the UK economy. Providing an additional Crossrail Station at Up to £60m private investment to provide a Kensal Portobello station and four tracking the Crossrail line. £690m GVA. 1,500 additional homes and c.2,000 jobs. Bringing forward Crossrail and Earlier delivery of significant regeneration at Overground stations at Old Oak Common Old Oak Common. Constructing Crossrail in in advance of HS2 advance of HS2 would avoid any potential delay in the HS2 project impacting on the delivery of Crossrail at Old Oak.