As reported in my last News Update, there were consultations recently on the Car Giant proposals and for the new HS2/Crossrail Station for Old Oak Common. I thought the Car Giant proposals seem to be heading in the right direction :

Visit www.oldoakpark.co.uk

We would like to see more use being made of the canal and there is much detail to be developed before an expected planning application is submitted by the end of this year.

But the current proposals for the HS2 station are dire beyond imagination. (See attached images). The ‘photo montage’ purports to show what the new station might look like in 2041 : But there is no reference to the proposed development around the station – 24,000 new homes : 55,000 new jobs. The station looks like a massive  – well, bus shelter? – which has landed from outer space with no connections to its surroundings. And why have a whole raft of sidings for Crossrail suddenly appeared in the middle of the development area? (East of the station). Local groups including the Grand Union Alliance and Friends of Wormwood Scrubs are also rightly incensed. If this is how HS2 treat local people, it is not surprising that there is so much opposition.

Remember that if HS2 goes ahead, the station at Old Oak Common will be the main interchange between Crossrail (Due to open December 2018) and HS2. In operational terms, this station will be the largest UK railway station after Waterloo. Regardless whether you support the principle of HS2 or not, I am sure that you would agree that the station :

• Should be completely integrated with the surrounding area and development.
• Should be of the highest architectural quality.

I have consequently written to this end, and recommending an international architectural competition, to both the OPDC (The Mayor Development Corporation) and HS2 : I am glad to report that the OPDC are in complete agreement.

Watch this space!