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Boris: I'll block Victoria towers until firm pays Crossrail cash
Ruth Bloomfield17 Jun 2009
MAYOR Boris Johnson has threatened to halt a billion-pound project to transform the streets around Victoria Station in a row over Crossrail funding.
Plans to build five tower blocks to the station's north were approved in February as part of a huge renovation of the 6.1-acre site.
To secure the deal, developer Land Securities agreed to pay £2.5million to revamp the Victoria Palace Theatre, which is showing Billy Elliot.
But today it emerged the Mayor has ordered Westminster council to withhold planning permission unless Land Securities also contributes £1.2million towards the Crossrail link.
Land Securities responded angrily to Mr Johnson's last-minute intervention, with Westminster planners due to consider the scheme tomorrow. It said in a statement: "The direction to refuse at such a late stage in the planning process for a major London regeneration project is of great concern with significant implications, especially at this time of economic stress."
To revive the project the developer is suggesting cutting the amount it will spend on public art to find the money to pay the Crossrail tax, introduced by the Mayor to raise up to £300million towards the east-to-west rail link through central London, improving access to the City from Heathrow.
It planned to spend £2million on statues and other art in the area, but will instead contribute £800,000 - although it says it will also incorporate "artistic features" into the buildings.
The row highlights tensions over Mr Johnson's Crossrail funding strategy. Critics say the financial burden of the levy could force developers to abandon schemes with the building industry reeling from the recession.
A spokesman for the Mayor said: "Crossrail is of overwhelming strategic importance to the development of London, particularly in tackling congestion on the rail network caused by development.
"In those circumstances it is entirely appropriate to seek contributions. This will often be justified under the London Plan, but it is also a well-established principle that emerging policies can be taken into account in planning decisions."
Land Securities plans to redevelop the block between Victoria Street, Buckingham Palace Road, Bressenden Place and Allington Street.
Westminster council supported the plans of modern blocks despite objections from English Heritage, which claims they will do "serious" harm to the "historic environment". The proposed developments are a 13-storey block in Buckingham Palace Road, a 19-storey office building in Victoria Street and three blocks in Bressenden Place - two 14-storey and one 12-storey.
As well as shops and flats, there will be 35 affordable homes and almost 1,000 parking spaces for bicycles. The Thistle Royal Westminster Hotel will be knocked down. Land Securities also intends the buildings to use rainwater or greywater - waste water from dishwashing or laundry - on garden areas and there will be charging points for electric vehicles.
The development is a scaled-back version of a plan Land Securities put forward last year but had to revise after planners decided that three proposed skyscrapers, the tallest at 134 metres, would have ruined views of Buckingham Palace.
A spokeswoman for Land Securities said the firm did not wish to comment until after tomorrow's planning committee meeting. Westminster council also would not comment before the meeting.
Reader views (10)
How much public money is being spent on lavish salaries for consultants for Crossrail? I hear there are some already being paid huge sums with free flats in the centre London. Would be good to name and shame them in this age of austerity cuts.
- squid, London UK, 28/07/2010 07:34
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What’s totality unbelievable here is that Land Securities are getting away with such a meagre Crossrail contribution!
Their development will put enormous additional strain on the Victoria public infrastructure and they’ve had the cheek to threaten they’ll be scaling back their public art budget as a consequence. This incidentally is fine with me, since their interpretation of what constitutes public realm enhancement is something London can easily do without, but what isn’t okay, is for developers to build what they build, without significant consideration and significant accompanying financial contributions to begin to redressing the impacts of their developments. No development site in London exists in isolation from the infrastructure required to get people to it.
Whether or not you agree with Crossrail, what ought to be the focus here is that if you’re a commercial developer seeking to make a profit, and by doing so you exploit your sites infrastructure connectivity, which in turn represents a significant amount of its value, then it’s entirely reasonable that you contribute to the expansion, upgrading and maintaining of that public infrastructure.
This development when let will significantly contribute to congestion in Victoria, and they ought to be contributing a whole lot more.
- Nicholas, London, 18/06/2009 22:52
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Crossrail has been and is a seriously flawed project contrived in its ‘Crossrail Act’ state to let Big Business take chunks of scarce public resources away from being applied to important infrastructure needs in and around London. Crossrail is not economic. Never has been. The Crossrail Act was passed by denying constitutional law and constitutional objections to be duly, evidentially, adequately, fully or at all put to Parliament. BOTH major Parties colluded in suppressing the evidence that would show the crassness of Crossrail. Even Gordon Brown’s own specialist Rod Eddington [formerly of British Airways] advised against Crossrail. Both Houses of UK Parliament had token Select Committees on the CrossRail Bill [2005 -2008] but BOTH were whipped and programmed to DENY the scrutiny of the contents, the purpose, the costs and the implications of the scam. The Crossrail Bill was Lobbied through by a known 'ex' aide to one Transport Secretary [in the CRASSrail Bill chain] Douglas Alexander. The Crassness of Crossrail is evident in its contrivance, in its passage and in the grubby behaviour of all concerned in its peddling. Scrap it now. By behaving like a bully, who is frqrt5ebnetly going on the record to show that he is engaged in bullying those London businesses that are reluctant pay a Crossrail levy, Boris Johnson is proving, whether by intent or by idiocy, the deep wastefulness and crassness of this Crossrail scam.
Muhammad Haque
Organiser
KHOODEELAAR! No to Big Busine
- Muhammad Haque, London UK, 18/06/2009 00:43
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Why should they pay for this 'White Elephant'? They are putting money to good use to improve the lovely Victoria Palace Theater.
- Vince, London, West London, 17/06/2009 17:11
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The Crossrail funding strategy is another insane legacy of Livingston's appalling tenure as Mayor. It is time that Boris revisited this whole project and killed it off in favour of increased investment in the Tube. Crossrail is not needed and cannot be afforded either in the current economic climate or in the future either.
- Matt, London, UK, 17/06/2009 15:42
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Land Securities new development will bring extra commuters into central London, but it's refusing to pay a share of the cost of improving cental London transport links to cope with them. It's obvious why they should pay a contribution towards Crossrail!
- Nigel, London, 17/06/2009 13:07
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Land securities should ask Boris why he demands they pay him £1.2 million as a contribution to crossrail when he is wasting £3.3 million pounds in replacing perfectly good artic buses on 3 routes.
The tender awards on routes 38,507 and 521 costs £21.1 million yet retaining the existing buses would have only cost £17.8 million. ( Note - A new fleet of artics on all these routes would have only cost £19 million pounds!).
Given the present property situation they can leave Victoria just as it is and wait for the return of a Mayor who knows what he is doing!!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 17/06/2009 12:15
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Wow, I din't realise BoJo would be pulling sociaist blackmail stunts like this! I thought that was more Kens style.
Shame on you BoJo, this eems very out of charicter.
- Ben, London, W1, 17/06/2009 11:58
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I hope Land Securites sue Boris for messing them about at the last minute. All he's doing is blackmailing them.
- P Staker, London, 17/06/2009 11:39
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Two million quid for "public art"? Pretension Knows No Economy, I guess.
- Andrew, London, 17/06/2009 10:13
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