Update on Crossrail 2 consultation

As you are aware, Transport for London (TfL) are currently working on proposals to bring a new underground rail line through the area, which would bring many local benefits. Crossrail 2 will intersect with the Northern line in Wandsworth and the 270,000 peak time journeys it will provide are essential to relieving congestion on the Northern line – TfL estimates it would cut crowding on the Northern line by 30% at peak times. It will also put Clapham Junction on the Tube network and make it one of the best connected stations in the UK.

Your local Conservative councillors and I remain very supportive of the overall project, but we want to make sure we get the best result for local residents. We have been calling on TfL to release as much information as possible in regards to their case for the preferred route, via Balham rather than Tooting. As your local Conservative team, we will also be working to encourage TfL to mitigate the impact of construction as much as possible.

Originally, TfL proposed that the new Crossrail 2 link with the Northern line would be built at Tooting Broadway station. They made a strong and compelling business case for this. However, after commissioning geological work, they now say that Tooting is likely not a viable option as the work would take significantly more time and money to complete. As such, they have drawn up a new proposal, creating the link at Balham station instead. This would also mean new ventilation shaft sites in Springfield Park and near Bolingbroke Grove – the 'Bolingbroke shaft'.

Moving the station itself is controversial, as is the impact the Bolingbroke shaft will have on Wandsworth Common. To date, we believe TfL has not published sufficient information about the proposed shaft sites and what they will look like if work was to go ahead with them. Additionally, the geological data for Tooting and business case for Balham have not yet been made public.

Jonathan Cook, Deputy Leader of Wandsworth Council, and transport spokesman has confirmed that Wandsworth Council will examine the geological issues at Tooting Broadway if it is published by TfL and are prepared to commission their own independent geo-technical review if needed.

I know this is a very complex issue which residents are keen to engage with and better understand and I, along with our London Assembly Member Richard Tracey are calling on TfL to provide as much information as possible, as soon as possible, in order to ensure the public are able to feed into this consultation meaningfully. To provide sufficient time for TfL to publish and the public to digest this information, we have also asked for an extension to the consultation deadline, currently set at 8 January, to be moved to the end of January 2016.

In the meantime, there are a series of public events taking place locally that we want to draw your attention to. Firstly, at the request of our London Assembly Member Richard Tracey and myself, TfL have agreed to our invitation to attend a public meeting on Monday 23 November from 6.30pm in the Civic Suite, Wandsworth Town Hall. The meeting will be chaired by Richard Tracey, and this will be your chance to ask detailed questions to TfL officials, including their engineering team and the Managing Director of Crossrail 2, Michèle Dix. This is in addition to the series of public meetings that TfL have arranged locally. Full details of all these meetings are at the bottom of this email.

I know that many residents are concerned about what is being proposed and want to stay informed. As such, if you haven't already responded to my survey, please do so at www.BalhamorTooting.org.uk where you can give your view on the location of the station and be kept informed of developments.

What we are immediately calling for

Local Conservatives are calling on TfL to:

1. Extend the public consultation to the end of January 2016, to allow more time for residents to engage with the significant changes proposed.
2. Release key information which prompted TfL’s change of plans, including the geological survey data for the Tooting proposal and now the business and geological survey data for the new Balham proposal – as well as the regeneration assessment the project would have in Tooting and the equivalent report for Balham.
3. Explore alternatives to the proposed ventilation shafts, particularly at the proposed site on Wandsworth Common. More also needs to be known about the proposed site near Springfield Hospital to ensure that, if it goes ahead, it is incorporated effectively into the Springfield Park plan.
4. Establish a better follow-up process for complex financial and engineering questions raised at the drop-in events. To ensure that if the Crossrail 2 team present cannot answer a specific question, there is a follow-up mechanism.

Dates of local Public meetings

Main Public Meeting
Civic Suite, Wandsworth Town Hall, SW18 2PU
Monday 23November, 6.30pm

Tooting Broadway area
Both events will be held outside 6 Selkirk Road, London, SW17 0ES
Wednesday 25 November, 12 noon – 8 pm
Thursday 26 November, 12 noon – 8 pm

Balham area
Both events will be held outside 3 Balham Grove, London, SW12 8AY
Friday 27 November, 12 noon – 8 pm
Saturday 28 November, 11am – 4 pm

Wandsworth Common area 
Outside 7-9 Bellvue Road, London, SW17 7EG
Saturday 12 December, 11am - 4pm

Central London Golf Centre, Burntwood Lane, SW17 0AT
Monday 14 December, 12 noon – 8pm

I will continue to work with our London Assembly Member Richard Tracey, with your local Conservative councillors, neighbouring MP for Battersea, Balham and Wandsworth Jane Ellison and with our London Assembly Candidate David Dean to make sure we get the best possible outcome from this project.

With best wishes, 

Dan Watkins
Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Tooting