Thank you to everyone who came to my Crossrail 2 public meeting on Monday. Over 200 local residents attended the meeting on a cold December evening, which shows the strong interest many have in this. I think it is crucially important that residents get every opportunity to find out more about Crossrail and ask questions directly of the team.
Many residents were frustrated at the lack of detail from Crossrail 2 about some parts of their plans, and I share this frustration. I am also dismayed that only one option has been consulted upon. As the plans progress there will be further consultations, hopefully on other options, and I will do my part by organising further public meetings and sharing as much information as I can.
At the meeting there was concern that more detail was given in a previous meeting for local businesses. Love Wimbledon have helpfully published slides from that meeting here, which look broadly similar to Monday’s slides. I think the main difference was those presenting at each meeting and the questions asked.
Overall, it is vitally important that you feed into the current consultation with your views, as they will be taken into account for the future direction of the project. You can respond to the consultation online here, by emailing [email protected] or by writing to “Freepost Crossrail 2 Consultations” by 8th January 2015.
My view is that when completed, Crossrail 2 should bring many benefits to Wimbledon. It will relieve pressure on services to Waterloo, reduce journey times into Central London and beyond, give more local people job opportunities within a 45 minute commute and attract more businesses and jobs to Wimbledon itself.
However, I want to ensure that Crossrail 2 brings as little disruption as possible to Wimbledon during its construction and maximises the potential for redevelopment locally. I believe that TfL’s current route option does not look like the best solution for Wimbledon and will lead to the destruction of much of the Town Centre. That’s why I have been lobbying for a change to get a route that delivers real regeneration for Wimbledon and minimises disruption, namely a tunnel under Wimbledon Station.