Canary Wharf Group has called for British Land’s planning application for its £3.5bn-plus scheme at Canada Water, SE16, to be refused or deferred until it commits to contributing £200m to the Jubilee Line to negate its impact.
In a late objection submitted in an addendum prior to the first of two hearings on British Land’s planning application by Southwark Council, CWG said that at other significant developments, large financial contributions had been made to support public transport, but that this was lacking in British Land’s application. CWG first raised concerns about the scheme in August 2018.
During the planning application meeting, CWG managing director for strategy Howard Dawber claimed that the transport plans for the project seemed to rely on the Jubilee Line “being so bad that people will choose other routes”.
He added that currently Transport for London reports that it is running 30 trains per hour along the Jubilee Line, but that CWG studies show it is “missing that target 95% of the time” and that it won’t be able to run 34 trains per hour until around 2040.
See also: Historic England attacks British Land’s Canada Water plans
Dawber also reiterated CWG’s objection that the area was “being short-changed” as CWG had put £700m into transport, while at King’s Cross £250m was paid by its developers towards enhancing public transport, and £300m was put towards the Northern Line extension by the Battersea Power Station Development Company.
“Here [in British Land’s application] there’s nothing remotely equivalent,” he said, adding that the community infrastructure levy rates were also a third than those of CWG’s. British Land is to pay £90m towards CIL as part of its section 106 agreement.
In addition, Dawber argued that Crossrail will only “soak up about five years of capacity”, adding that the Elizabeth Line only serves the northern side of London and “doesn’t serve key pieces on the Jubilee Line at Waterloo and London Bridge”.
British Land has spent several years working with Transport for London and Southwark Council on the transport elements of the Canada Water scheme, and will commit more than £33m over 15 years towards transport projects including a new station entrance to Surrey Quays, more staff at Canada Water station, new bus routes and more space for pedestrians and cyclists.
The company has also given its support to a successful £80m bid for government money to help increase the frequency of Overground trains, improve Surrey Quays station and revamp Canada Water bus station.
Stakeholder concerns
Some of CWG’s transport concerns were also raised by Brian Hodge, a spokesman for a consortium of stakeholders in Canada Water.
Hodge pointed out that the Jubilee Line is already at capacity, while the Elizabeth Line is “still some way away” and that only last Friday the Canada Water Tube station was closed due to overcrowding, which he added happens regularly.
Hodge added that recently announced transport improvements “will do nothing to assist in relations to Canada Water and the pressures”.
TfL has said in an initial response, reported in the addendum, that while it acknowledges the public transport concerns, that development in the Canada Water Opportunity Area is enshrined in policy and long planned and that a series of planned strategic interventions are intended to facilitate this.
It added that the delayed Elizabeth Line will be transformative to transport links serving Canary Wharf, “providing a closely matched alternative to the Jubilee Line and, as a result, providing relief at Canada Water”.
TfL argued that the £32.5m package of transport mitigation measures that will be secured in the section 106 agreement with British Land are proportionate to the impacts associated with the development.
“We are satisfied that all the mitigation justified and required from British Land to satisfactorily accommodate the growth predicted from the CWMP has been identified, and will be included in the s106 agreement, which is being finalised now,” TfL said in a statement.
Tesco’s objection
Meanwhile, Tesco also submitted a last-minute objection to British Land’s proposals, saying that no commercial agreement has yet been reached between Tesco and British Land over a replacement shop at the scheme and that references to the new Tesco store are premature.
Tesco is also concerned that there are insufficient safeguards to allow for the continuity of the wider retail offer at Canada Water and that, without this, the vitality of the town centre could be harmed.
The council’s debate over the planning application continues on 30 September, at which TfL is expected to address CWG’s objections, with British Land and other supporters of the scheme also presenting.
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