Crossrail: New photographs

Link to web site

"New images released by Crossrail today show the tunnelling marathon taking place beneath the capital, with round-the-clock work on-track to create 26 miles (42km) of tunnels beneath London.

"The new Crossrail route from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east includes a marathon-equivalent 26 mile (42km) section of tunnels. Following the aerial images of Crossrail construction sites released last month, new tunnelling images released today show how Europe’s biggest construction project is also making its mark beneath the capital."

Nicky Gavron AM: "Euston: destruction or opportunity?"

Link to web site
(image is from the area plan)

"In Euston, HS2 means major change. The station itself will need to expand in size, either vertically or horizontally, to accomodate high-speed trains in addition to current traffic. This new station will also have new track leading to it, requiring demolition of much of the neighbourhood to the north/northwest of the station. The area will lose hundreds of homes, at least 20 businesses, listed buildings and open spaces, and the historic Leslie Green underground station building.

"But with such change comes opportunity. Euston will now be even more connected, and even more of a centre for business and higher education. The Greater London Authority is working with Camden council to develop a Euston Area Plan to ensure that, if HS2 goes ahead, Euston:

“get[s] the best possible results for local people and businesses, and to make the most of any potential benefits a new station and rail link could present.”

"This means the homes, jobs, and open spaces affected by HS2 must be replaced with more and better ones, with local people in mind."

"Boris targets Arab states in bid to raise £80bn for a new airport"

Link to Evening Standard

"Boris Johnson is to embark on a week-long tour of the Gulf states to drum up financial backing for his plans for a new international airport.

"The Mayor plans to visit Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait in mid-April to raise up to £80 billion for a new 180 million- passenger-a-year super-hub. City Hall’s preferred option remains a new four-runway airport in the Thames Estuary, but senior aides view expansion of Stansted as a more realistic option."

Evening Standard: "British Land banks on Crossrail in £142m Ealing buy"

Link to web site

"Property giant British Land took a £142.5 million bet on Crossrail today, as it snapped up a major shopping centre in west London from its Dutch owner.

"... Ealing’s centre is almost 30 years old, and British Land thinks the deal will unlock redevelopment potential and shift its retail portfolio to London and the South-East. British Land retail head Charles Maudsley said:

“We believe there are opportunities to develop the shopping centre as a retail destination, both as we improve the retail mix and increase the leisure offer, and as the area benefits from residential development and the completion of Crossrail."

Terry Farrell: on the London housing crisis (and Old Oak Common)

Link to Evening Standard

"There are lots of myths and misconceptions about many big ideas. 

"With housing, there is the idea that planning and land availability are the biggest barriers. That’s just not true. Planners give consent for lots of things, which then get stalled because of fear of the market.

"There are a lot of developers sitting on their hands because of uncertainty over the market. I got planning for 10,000 homes in Greenwich Peninsula, for example, and for 1,000 in Chelsea. So that proves it isn’t lack of land, or a planning problem. There must be huge other factors.

"If houses are needed on one side, and planning has been granted on the other, then what’s in the middle, stopping it? It must be to do with finance. Finance, and a muddled marketplace. 

"There have been claims that we need to build on green belt land. But you don’t need to. There is a huge amount of suitable land without doing that. At Old Oak Common [in west London, proposed site of an HS2 interchange] you could get 10-15,000 homes; another 10-15,000 at White City; 3,000 at Convoys Wharf in Deptford and 3,000 at Wood Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. 

"Look east from Canary Wharf tower, to the Royal Docks. I reckon if you build at central London density you could get 30-40,000 homes there."

Join our debate:
The Future of London's Property Market
20 March, 6.45pm until 8pm
Emmanuel Centre, Westminster

Free tickets available from: standardevents.co.uk/housing