The Canary Wharf Group has formally objected to British Land’s redevelopment proposals for Canada Water, SE16, claiming they underestimate likely demand for public transport and overestimate its capacity.
The objection comes just a fortnight after Historic England also tabled opposition to the plans owing to their likely adverse effect on London’s skyline and heritage assets.
Canary Wharf Group claims that the redevelopment’s effects on the Jubilee Line have not been properly assessed and that crowding effects have been significantly under-reported.
Canary Wharf says that despite the size of the development, almost no transport improvements have been identified.
Inconsistencies
Canary Wharf Group also claims that in several areas inconsistencies or omissions have led to a likely underestimation of trips and that “questionable methodologies” have been used.
The group adds that the 7m sq ft scheme, which includes nearly 4,500 homes, is comparable to the Battersea Power Station development, which has a £1bn Northern Line extension to help manage the transport impacts. It suggests that the Bakerloo Line extension, instead of heading towards Lewisham down the Old Kent Road from Elephant & Castle, should be diverted to Canada Water and Canary Wharf, before ending in Charlton.
Improving transport capacity
Jason Larkin, head of planning at Canary Wharf Group, said: “[The Bakerloo Line re-route] would provide significantly improved public transport capacity to the area around Canada Water and on the Isle of Dogs, and would help the development aspirations of the London Boroughs of Southwark and Tower Hamlets.
“We have also developed a scheme to provide a new link from Canary Wharf to Euston via the City as part of the DfT’s recent call for market-led rail proposals. This scheme would also support growth in Southwark by helping relieve congestion on the Jubilee Line.”
A joint statement from British Land and Canary Wharf Group said:
“It is not unusual for developers to submit objections to neighbouring schemes and often these are technical in nature and relate to wider issues beyond the narrow confines of the application in question. This is very much the case with CWG’s approach to the Canada Water Masterplan, where the objections focus predominantly around transport infrastructure for an ever growing east London where there is much demand for more jobs and homes.
“Both parties have been engaged in ongoing discussions, which are continuing (and involve in some cases Transport for London). In addition, the transport consultants for the respective parties are reviewing assumptions in the modelling for Canada Water and the Jubilee Line.
“It is anticipated that a number of issues will be resolved over the coming weeks as those discussions continue and in advance of the application being considered by the London Borough of Southwark later this year.”
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