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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Railway infrastructure firm Network Rail scaled back plans for a new depot for its Thameslink service by almost 50 per cent after both Haringey Council and residents panned the development for blighting views over Alexandra Palace and harming a conservation area.

 

It lost an appeal to build on the site, sandwiched between the residential New River Village and the new Haringey Heartlands scheme, in March last year.

Network Rail then flipped the larger depot to south London and brought the smaller one up to Hornsey, as part of the Thameslink upgrade programme - promising around 120 new jobs.

But the move has angered rail union the RMT as the larger depot had promised 270 jobs.

"Without anyone trying, Haringey has lost 150 jobs,” said John Stanford, Hornsey branch secretary of the RMT union. "It really is important that we get those jobs."

The depot has links with nearby schools and uses local contractors, he said, adding: "It means a lot to the people of the borough, from apprenticeships to numerous job vacancies."

Mr Stanford, who has worked at the 340-employee Hampden Road depot in Harringay for 40 years, added: "From the union’s point of view, and with the unemployment in Haringey, we believe that those new jobs should be here."

Network Rail consulted on the smaller scheme earlier this year, with Thameslink programme director Jim Crawford saying at the time that its benefits "will be felt across London and the south east, with significant opportunities for improvements to services on the line through Hornsey". He added: "The revised plans for Hornsey depot strike a balance between providing for a bigger, better railway and taking into account existing and future neighbours."

But Marcus Ballard, chairman of the Parkside Malvern Residents' Association, warned at the time that any development will have a "grave adverse impact” on their neighbourhood and "should be resisted".

The new planning application was due to be submitted to Haringey Council by March 31 (I Haven't been able to find the application on Haringey's planning website - anyone else found it?). It will require the bridge over Turnpike Lane to be widened. Work could take two years, ready for the new Thameslink trains to come into service by 2015.

It is 45 per cent smaller and two metres lower than the larger depot, accommodating three trains instead of the original six.

The Thameslink programme will see capacity increased on north-south routes through central London between Bedford and Brighton and routes to Peterborough and Cambridge via Finsbury Park.

 


(From a story in the Hornsey Journal)

Tags for Forum Posts: hornsey rail depot-heartlands, network rail

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BTW,  the 'Thameslink programme' was originally known as 'Thameslink 2000' as it was planned to be in service by then - lol - and is now planned to be completed by 2018 and not 2015..

 

27 years from being first mooted until completion.. not bad ..even by British railway standards..  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thameslink_Programme

It has been held up by nimby planning opposition.

How on earth can Parkside Malvern oppose this and yet also oppose the council's work at turning Park Ave, Hornsey Park Rd and Wightman Rd into a Green Lanes bypass?

 

There is more info here. A blog article about what a bunch of nimbys the opposers are here, and some pictures of HGV traffic related to this work... here:

Coronation Sidings delivery
Coronation Sidings & Hornsey deliveries
Not to pour cold Malvern water on local RA or LD objections,  a little imagination could transform Network Rail's addition to Haringey Heartlands' architecture and view of the world. All it needs is for the RMT to use the Depot's links with local schools to commission NHS pupils to create a stunning roof garden and someone from HOL to decorate its 11 (or 13)metre high sides with a mural of Ally Pally or a White Elephant (oh sorry, same thing.)  Jobs not just for Bob Crowe's lads but for Ladderites as well. 

What a wonderfully complex metaphor.  And, in these difficult days for Malvern Water, perhaps converting NIMBYS could be added to the long list of its supposed beneficial qualities.  Send 'em all to Victorian hydrotherapy camp, that's what I say (after all, the Victorians also loved railways, so maybe it will rub off)...

The strict daily regime at a hydrotherapy centre consisted of plenty of fresh Malvern Water, lots of exercise and a strict diet - which probably accounted for its success.  There was a 6am start for 'Packing’, when the patient was wrapped in a long wet sheet and covered in eiderdowns.  At 7am the patient was unwrapped, given a cold shower and rubbed down.  There were two types of shower:  the ‘descending douche’ when a patient stood under a stream of cold Malvern water and the ‘ascending douche’, which needs no description!!  This was followed by a hike up the hills, drinking a glass of water on reaching each well or spring.  As a concession, the infirm were allowed to ride up on a donkey until they were deemed well enough to walk.  Each patient followed a strict diet of no alcohol or rich food

From here

 

 

Here are the plans in full on Haringey's planning pages + a Thameslink presentation document (attached).

 

Also a link to the Thameslink Programme microsite.

Attachments:
The following was received from New River Village Residents' Association:

From: Laura Leak - Chair, New River Village RA, N8

Dear fellow residents,

As Chair of the New River Village Residents' Association I would like ask for your support in opposing the planning application that has been submitted to Haringey Council by Network Rail and the Department of Transport to build a 280m long by 11m high train maintenance depot that will operate 24 hours a day. In layman's terms this building will be the length of 2.5 international football pitches and higher than a 3 storey building.

The location for this depot is directly opposite the New River Village estate and will run nearly the entire length of the estate. When it is operational it is intended that most of the maintenance work will be undertaken at night and as such it will be brightly light by 12metre high street lamps along the entire length of the estate where there is currently no night lighting. It is intended to service train repairs as well as train washing and as previously stated will run 24x7. In addition to this the build programme is intended to take 2 years and will include overnight construction such as concrete piling.

Network Rail has tried to suggest that this depot cannot be constructed anywhere else but this is not true - they can relocate it to an area that has a fraction of the local residential concentration, but it will cost them more money to do so.

They have also tried to suggest it will bring jobs to the local area and economic benefits to local business but their own report that is part of the planning application admits that job creation locally will be "minor" and the benefit to local businesses "negligible".

Despite meeting with Network Rail they have refused to offer mitigation for the effects of the development such as noise barriers or adequate screening. They have also failed to offer any S106 measures as compensation that will directly benefit the local community, such as giving over their industrial rental land near the estate as an open space.

This is not about "NIMBYism" - as residents we genuinely feel that the effects of this depot will be devastating for hard working local residents that currently live in the area and the thousands of residents that are expected to occupy properties in the future Clarendon Square development that will look directly onto (and be overshadowed by) a brightly lit 24 hour maintenance shed. We are also concerned that the council is not listening carefully enough to our concerns and that is why we need as much support as we can to oppose this planning application.

I am aware how busy you all are so I have set out below a suggested response that you can copy and paste into your objection. However, please feel free to add your own comments or provide your own response.

Please support us. The consultation period only lasts for another 2 weeks so speed is of the essence. Please use the link below and use reference HGY/2011/0612.

http://www.planningservices.haringey.gov.uk/portal/servlets/Applica...

Suggested objection:

I object to planning application HGY/2011/0612 on the following grounds:

1. Unacceptable light pollution from 24 hour lighting in an area that currently does not have night time lighting.
2. Unacceptable noise nuisance from overnight operations in an area that does not currently support such industry.
3. Unacceptable risk to a designated ecological corridor that is a recognised habitat for endangered wildlife.
4. Inadequate mitigation for light and noise pollution.
5. Negligible benefit to the local community with less than 30 jobs predicted to go to local residents and negligible benefit to local business acknowledged in the submitted environmental report.
6. Inadequate S106 measures to benefit the local community.

On this basis the application should be rejected.

Yours sincerely


If you have any queries please contact me on NRVRA@yahoo.co.uk

Kind regards
Laura Leak
Chair, New River Village RA

I hope this picture helps to understand the scale of it...

It is interesting to note that somewhat clinical view in the picture 2 fails to illustrate the different ground level between the sidings and NRV which can be seen in picture 1. Picture 2 also imulates  the environment as it would be in the evening showing the NRV blocks casting a shadow towards the railway but in the morning hours the proposed depot will be casting a shadow towards the NRV. A minor point, compared with  the main impact of NOISE that this development will generate 24/7.

 

What gets me is that the plan to have it in this location was developed before the NRV was built, I doubt the developer ever shared these facts with those who bought properties there.

 

This needs to be lobbied in a government level as it is where stategic developments like this one are being generated from... Is Featherstone involved?

 

I doubt the developer ever shared these facts with those who bought properties there

 

Better start praying to St James the Less Greater Developer.

Meeting announced for tomorrow - via Green N8 - apols for the short notice - more at http://www.harringayonline.com/events/public-meeting-about-network

Thanks for mentioning the public meeting which I forgot to mention here myself.

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