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LEGAL BLOCK TO CROSSRAIL
Lobby group set for court challenge to thwart £16bn scheme
A POWERFUL lobby group representing some of the richest businesses in the country is hoping to put the brakes on Crossrail after securing a “strong legal opinion” which it says shows the plans are illegal.
The Society for Mayfair and St James’s is mobilising against the £16 billion scheme to tunnel a high-speed rail link beneath central London after plans commissioned by them for an alternative route through Marylebone were snubbed.
The society claims Crossrail refused to consider any alternative routes on the central section despite a legal requirement to limit harm.
Campaigns co-ordinator Marina Morrisson Atwater said: “The legal opinion confirms the Crossrail bill is unlawful in its present form.”
The society blasts planners for ignoring their alternative routes and claimed the government is yet to supply “proof” the scheme is worth the money.
Ms Atwater, who has lived in Mayfair for 30 years, said: “The society has requested, but not seen, any evidence of studies showing benefits to London, employment and UK taxpayers or indeed, any independent evaluation that the Crossrail scheme is value for money.”
The scheme was approved by the Prime Minister last month with a levy on businesses plugging a funding hole that had delayed the works. She said: “The City and Canary Wharf expect UK taxpayers to underwrite not only the cost of Crossrail but also the debt service costs, operational costs, interest and the usual over-runs. Meanwhile, any contribution from business is set to be ring-fenced and time sensitive. No such protections are afforded to taxpayer.”
The society also believes the compensation award system is botched and that the award of the contract to US company Bechtel, which is profiting from reconstruction of Iraq following the invasion, should be open to scrutiny.
A Crossrail spokesman could not comment on the legal opinion but said the central London route had been planned “rigorously” following years of consultation. |
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