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Tram Depot need not be in town centre

Letter from Peckham Business Park (The owner of part of the site threatened with demolition for the tram depot) to South London Press

Peckham Business Park has been asking for a full and public review of all potential depot sites for the Cross River Tram Depot and its impact on Peckham. Without this we could see large areas of Peckham Town Centre knocked down to make way for the Depot. This does not need to be in Peckham Town centre for the tram to be feasible. In Croydon the depot is located outside the town centre. Before the tram is given the official go ahead a full pubic review must take place before regeneration in Peckham is stunted.

Yours,

Peckham Business Park

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New ‘Split-Site’ Depot Plan Released

The new plan for a ‘split-site’ depot in Peckham for the proposed Cross River Tram has been released by TfL to Peckham Business Park in response to their request under the Freedom of Information Act. Click here to see the new plan. Split-site’ means part of the depot would be in Peckham and part somewhere else, leading people to think that this would be much smaller than the ‘single-site’ depot where the whole depot would be on one site.

But as suspected, the new plan still takes a devastatingly large chunk of the heart of Peckham town centre and almost as much as the original ‘single-site’ depot plan. Click here to see the comparison. The new plans would see 34 trams instead of 48 stabled in the Peckham depot, and maybe all the trams repaired there. The depot would be spread over a wider area affecting mnay more homes. This new plan would still also result in the loss of hundreds of jobs, businesses and community facilities, cause blight for years, and could result in major traffic dispersal throughout Peckham because of competition with the tram for road space at Consort Road railway bridge.

The safeguarding of the whole of ‘site 63P’ in the UDP (Unitary Development Plan) is a major problem as it is such a large part of the heart of Peckham town centre. The UDP is now in its final consultation stage from 1 September to 13 October. This is the last chance to object to the plans as they are expressed in the UDP.

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Tram Depot Plans Not Being Revealed

Until now the only information which TfL has released publicly about the depot plans has been in response to Freedom of Information requests during the UDP public inquiry last year. Through this we discovered the huge extent of the plans to demolish everything between the railway lines and down Rye Lane to Bournemouth Road and along to Consort Road near the railway bridge. See here and here to see that plan. This is only part of the much larger site called 63P (south to Brayards Road) on the UDP development map, any of which may potentially be threatened by the depot plan.

The Planning Inspector rejected the original plan because of the devastating effects on Peckham town centre. Instead he recommended a split-site depot, ie some in Peckham and some elsewhere, implying it would be much smaller and with much less adverse effects. But comments from the Council and from TfL have indicated that they are still planning the ‘major’ tram depot in Peckham, which could take as much land as before in a different arrangement and could be just as devastating.

They are still refusing to release any information to the public about this. They had a ‘consultation’ stall promoting the tram at the I Love Peckham festival on 12 August in Peckham town square. This did not even reveal that the plan is to locate the depot in Peckham, never mind any details about it! See here

Peckham Business Park, which owns and manages a major part of the land affected by this depot plan in the heart of Peckham, has just made a Freedom of Information request for information about the split-site depot plans.

They say

“… our attempts to rationalise activities on the estate and invest in Peckham Town Centre are currently being blighted by the broad brush allocation of a very large area of land for a tram depot… These proposals not only affect our own livelihoods and those of numerous local businesses and local artists, and hundreds of employees, but also the amenities of many neighbouring residents… We remain troubled… that the published UDP reports contain no meaningful information as to the scale, scope and extent of the proposed split site tram depot or its potential impact. It is our view that no meaningful decisions can be taken on the depot without this information being made publicly available…”

Read the full letter here

We await the outcome with interest.

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Freedom of Information Request on Cross River Tram Depot Plans

PRESS RELEASE FROM PECKHAM VISION
_________________________________________________________

Freedom of Information Request on Cross River Tram Depot Plans

Peckham Business Park, which owns and manages a major part of the land affected by this depot plan in the heart of Peckham, has now (August 2006) made a request under the Freedom of Information Act for information about the split-site depot plans. They say

�� our attempts to rationalise activities on the estate and invest in Peckham Town Centre are currently being blighted by the broad brush allocation of a very large area of land for a tram depot� These proposals not only affect our own livelihoods and those of numerous local businesses and local artists, and hundreds of employees, but also the amenities of many neighbouring residents�. We remain troubled � that the published UDP reports contain no meaningful information as to the scale, scope and extent of the proposed split site tram depot or its potential impact � It is our view that no meaningful decisions can be taken on the depot without this information being made publicly available��

Read the full letter here

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Campaign for openness in Peckham Tram Depot plans

Extract from SAVO NEWS – July/August 2006 issue

The Council is going ahead with its plan to impose the Cross River Tram Depot on a huge site in the middle of Peckham Town Centre before there has been adequate evaluation of its impact. The site is teeming with economic and social life, has significant potential for revival, has hundreds of jobs, dozens of businesses, several churches, scores of artists, lots of housing, and lots of adaptable buildings. So demolishing it would have serious adverse effects. These were recognised by the Government Planning Inspector after the Public Inquiry into the UDP (Unitary development Planned for the borough). He said the comparison with all the many other sites which had been examined had been based on the misinformation that the site was near derelict, and so it was a defective decision.

He recommended instead a ‘split-site’ Depot there, ie part of the Depot in Peckham and part somewhere else, and this has been put into the modified UDP coming out for consultation from 1 September to 13 October. The problem is that the words in the UDP put no limit on the size of a ‘split-site’, and it could have just as many adverse effects effect a brand new policy on land use in Peckham Town Centre, and the 6 week consultation on the UDP modifications in September/October is the first and only time to make comments before the UDP is finalised. To be meaningful there has to be information from TfL about the size and arrangements of the Depot plans they are working on now.

Peckham Vision is campaigning to get this information released. Anyone with an interest in Peckham Town Centre can help by asking their ward councillors, GLA member, and MP to press TfL for information and openness about these plans at this critical stage.

If you support this campaign, join the mailing list, and keep in touch. Please email info@peckhamvision.org.

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The Peckham Society News, Summer 2006, No. 104

INSPECTOR CRITICISES BOURNEMOUTH ROAD SITE FOR TRAM DEPOT

The Southwark Council website has disclosed that the Inspector at the inquiry to Southwark�s Unitary Development Plan (UDP) has criticised Southwark Council for promoting the Bournemouth Road site for the tram depot by describing it as derelict and ripe for development.

On Saturday 18 March 2006 Peckham Vision arranged a follow-up meeting following the very successful Peckham Society meeting on 21 January. Peckham Vision is a small group comprising representatives of local residents, the Peckham Society, artists and businesses. This group wishes to raise awareness on issues concerning central Peckham.� The symposium had a similar format and venue compared to the 21 January meeting. There were exhibitions showing enlarged maps and pictures of the historic centre of Peckham. There was the opportunity to view the layout of the Bournemouth Road site from the roof of the Bussey building and also see the heritage features of Peckham Rye Station and the proposed central conservation area.
The intention of this Peckham Vision meeting was to focus on the proposed depot and maintenance sites for the Cross River Tramway from Camden. The proposed Peckham Society route for the tram which avoids the historic buildings was also demonstrated.� The Inspector�s report disclosure on the website, which neither Transport for London (TfL) nor the leader of Southwark Council knew about, was the main talking point. For many reasons the inspector turned down Southwark�s promotion of the site for a tram depot. Southwark Council have the last word and could recommend this site for the depot.

Eileen Conn introduced the meeting on the themes of:

  • Would the depot be good or bad for Peckham?
  • Where else should the depot be?
  • What are the alternative routes in Peckham?

Reference to a map indicated the size of the five acre site and the TfL route to gain access to the site. Chris Reese mentioned the other depot proposals on the tram route and that it was only in the most recent depot proposals that Peckham had been mentioned. Previously Peckham had been discounted by TfL. Peter Frost followed Chris and mentioned the splitting of both tram routes, to the north, Camden and King�s Cross and the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal FC) and to the south Peckham and Brixton. There would be a common route between Mornington Crescent and the Elephant & Castle. Adam Khan suggested alternative uses for the site and Benny O�Looney showed the Peckham Society alternative central route.

We had a long question and answer session and many people gave their views on the tram and depot proposals. The meeting of about eighty people was given as much information as we had at our disposal. Hopefully next time TfL, Cross River Partnership and Southwark Council will attend so that we can have a more meaningful dialogue.

Peter Frost

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‘Split-Site’ Depot is a Brand New Policy

The next stage of the tram depot process is the 6 week consultation period from 1 September to 13 October 2006. The modified UDP will be published soon for comment. In it will be the brand new policy of locating a ‘split-site’ depot in Peckham. This is the first time there has been any chance to find out about this or comment on it. But will TfL provide any information about the new plans or will the Council be interested in listening?

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TfL Urged to Reveal Their Tram Depot Plans in Peckham

Reply from South London Press

Thank you for drawing attention to the proposal to locate the Cross River Tram Depot in the heart of Peckham town centre (SLP 30 June). The Planning Inspector rejected the original proposal to locate the whole of the depot in Peckham because of the potentially destructive effects on the town centre and on jobs, businesses, churches and homes. He said that the choice of Peckham in the first place had been defective as it was based on the Peckham site being near derelict. He reported that this was �simply not true�.

The problem is that any so called Split-Site Depot in Peckham may in practice be the main (if not the only) Depot and could be almost as huge as the original proposal. This might have as many adverse effects as the original proposal rejected by the Planning Inspector. The key point is that no-one knows what the plans might be. The Split-Site Depot is in fact a new policy at the last minute in the Unitary Development Plan process. There is, for example, no information about its size, how many jobs, homes, and other activities would be displaced, where the trams and heavy engineering workshops would be in relation to neighbouring homes; and there has been no consultation about it at all.

It is urgent that TfL release this information. It is urgent that they get on with the review of the site options for the Split-Site Depot and get Peckham properly compared and evaluated alongside all the other options for the first time. The issue is the lack of transparency, and the rush to premature decisions based on defective information. Peckham Vision was formed to campaign precisely on this point (not as a preservation group). Information needs to be publicly available now about these plans so we can all have an informed discussion about the future of Peckham Town Centre. Then we can have sound decisions on where the Tram Depot should be located.

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TfL Urged to Reveal Their Tram Depot Plans in Peckham

Reply from Southwark News

Cllr Kim Humphreys deputy leader says� (Southwark News 29 June) we need to think about the economic benefits of a tram. This is so, but it is a major diversion from the different and important issue in Peckham Vision�s deputation to full Council on Wednesday 28 June.

Any decision now to allocate a huge site in the heart of Peckham town centre for a tram DEPOT is premature. The land now proposed to be safeguarded for a �Split-Site� Tram Depot is the same as the site previously identified for a single-site depot. There has been no reduction. No information is available from Transport for London on how big the Depot would be, and how close the noisy and disruptive parts of the depot would be to the hundreds of neighbouring houses, never mind the loss of jobs, businesses and creative cultural activities. These are all major economic benefits, without the depot.

It is vital that this information is supplied for an informed public and transparent assessment of the positive and negative effects on jobs, businesses, homes and disruption to Peckham. The information on which previous decisions were taken to locate the Depot in Peckham is seriously inaccurate, misleading and, as the Planning Inspector put it, �simply not true�.

During the recent election Cllr Kim Humphreys said “I hope the planning authorities can come up with a suitable location that does not blight the area for residents, so we will work with local residents to find a mutually agreeable solution.”

Will he now honour his promise? Will he now press Transport for London to get ahead urgently with a full public review of all possible sites for the new policy of ‘Split-Site� depots? Will he get Peckham included so that we can have these discussions?