From Watford Observer July 2, 2004

New depot plans not enough to satisfy residents

by KATIE SAMUEL

REVISED plans for the new tube depot proposed for Croxley Green have failed to
meet the approval of local residents, who have pledged to continue to fight
against the development.
In March this year, representatives from Metronet and London Underground
Limited (LUL) held a meeting to answer any concerns neighbours had about the
plans.
More than 100 people attended and were angry that the representatives were
unprepared and unable to answer many of their queries.
However, Metronet says it did take on board most of the issues raised and has
since revised the plans accordingly, leading to a decision to have the majority
of the deliveries for the site now come in by barge instead of lorry.
The aim of the depot is to be a base for track renewal work that will take
place over the next 15 years.
Extensive investigation was carried out at a number of sites and Croxley
was found to be most suitable - using disused railway land to the south of
Croxley Green and the north west of the Grand Union Canal.
But some residents feel the site should not have been considered because of
its positioning within the Green Belt.
One resident, who did not wished to be named, said: "I am amazed the
proposals have got to this stage with it being Green Belt land - why is Three
Rivers District Council prepared to allow this?
"There is a school on Harvey Road so there are children going down there
and even if they have cut down the number of lorries, just one lorry is one too
many."
The neighbour of the site also feels strongly that issues bought up at the
public meeting have not been dealt with sufficiently and that a second meeting
should have been arranged to answer questions that Metronet and LUL had been
unable to respond to.
She said: "There will still be lorries going down Harvey Road and workers
will still come down there.
"And in addition to this, we do not feel like part of London Underground
as we are not even in zone six and have to buy more expensive tickets to travel
- there must be an alternative."
Neighbours also expressed concern that lorries would still be travelling
into the area to load the barges.
However, Metronet were quick to quash these rumours, explaining that the
bulk of the material will travel by barge which will be loaded from trains via
West Drayton or via quarry in Denham.
With regards to arranging a second public meeting, the representatives from
Metronet and LUL met with those from Three Rivers District Council and decided
that a two-day presentation would be more apt and personal where residents
could put forward their concerns on a one-to-one basis.
They denied the development would be inappropriate within the Green Belt,
explaining that after their investigations, there was no alternative site that
provided all the necessary features that Croxley Green could.
The 21-day consultation period is in its final stages and anyone wishing to
see a copy of the application can obtain one from Croxley Green library or
Three Rivers District Council.



John Burke
WRUG