kingscrossaccess

Islington Tribune 25 July 2008

Camden New Journal 24 July 2008

 

Confused about how the bridge fits with the Argent plan? Don't be!

   

There are three options, each one goes through the Argent tower block and lands at The Boulevard.

Write a letter to the people that can make a bridge happen

Let's get something done here... Below is a list of people to write to. All you need to say is that:

1. We need a bridge giving east/west access across the tracks at the back of King's Cross Station

2. Network Rail are refusing to fund such a bridge

3. What are you (the person you are writing to) going to do about it?

If you want to include more than that, please do. For example, information from this site and from our leaflet might be helpful - there's a paragraph at the end of this posting that you could just copy and paste into your letter or email. If you can only write one letter or email, start with the first on the list below, alternatively, copy the full list of contacts and paste them into the 'to' line of your email. Remember to include your name and home address when sending letters or emails.

And, if you get a reply, let us know!

Full list

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Individuals

Ruth Kelly, Transport Minister

[email protected]
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Theresa Villiers, Shadow Transport Minister (Con)

[email protected]
House of Commons,
London SW1A 0AA

Norman Baker, Shadow Transport Minister (Lib Dem)

[email protected]
204 High Street
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 2NS

Contacts for the Mayor and the Greater London Assembly all share the same postal address:

GLA
City Hall, The Queen's Walk
London SE1 2AA

Boris Johnson Mayor of London

[email protected]

Kulveer Ranger, Mayor’s Transport Adviser

[email protected]

Jennette Arnold, Chair Greater London Assembly & GLA member for Islington

[email protected]

Valerie Shawcross Chair GLA Transport Committee

[email protected]

Caroline Pidgeon Deputy chair GLA Transport Committee

[email protected]

Example paragraph

Network Rail will be closing all entrances to King’s Cross and replacing them with a single entrance on the western side of the station, far from the neighbourhood on the north eastern side of the station- home to well over 17,000 people including a very high proportion of disabled people and carers, and thousands of employees. I want Network Rail to think again. They should replace the York Way/Wharfdale Road entrance with a footbridge across the tracks to the new Western Concourse. If they do not a daily total of over 3,400 people will be condemned to use York Way then Euston Road or Goodsway then Pancras Road – unsafe, dangerous and polluted. Please let me know in your reply how you will support our community to achieve this vital cross-borough link to and from what is becoming the biggest transport hub in Europe . More information can be found at www.kingscrossaccess.com. Additionally, please sign our petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/kxaccess/.

More contacts

King's Cross Railway Lands Group have published a more detailed list of people to write to.

Exhibition/presentation

As appeared at the public meeting 16 July 2004

Download kx_exhibition.pdf

Alternative KX central masterplan

Download camden_town_urban_design_improvement_society_alternative_masterplan_2004.JPG

Argent scheme model

Photos of the model at the German Gym, click on image to enlarge, right click to download/copy.

Note: this bridge is purely an aspiration. Should no-one come forward to build it by 2012, Argent's S106 obligation to house the western side of the bridge on their land ceases.

1. From above.
2. Showing vary narrow pathway between the path to the bridge and high rise offices.
3. View of the bridge and high rise offices from Wharfdale Road.

Network Rail presentation

Network Rail's presentation on access from the north eastern side of the station.

Download york_way_access_16_july_08.pdf

Template letter to Network Rail

Jonathan Baker writes: I attach a template letter from the point of view of an ordinary resident along with a list of names on the network rail social responsibility website. I intend to send the letter to the names listed and thought a copy of it for others to use as a template might help.

Please use the template as the basis for your own letter to the members of Network Rail's Corporate Scoial Responsbility Committee. It's best to send an individual letter to each member, they can all be reached at the address on the template. If you get a response, please let us know.

Download template_letter_to_nr.doc

Quick off the mark - thankyou!

Many thanks to Caroline Pidgeon AM (I prefer the acronym GLAM - Greater London Assembly Member - it adds a certain something) and Deputy Chair of the GLA Transport Committee, not only for her wholehearted support of this campaign since the word go, but also for the letter she has sent to Network Rail today:

Re: Pedestrian access from North East of King’s Cross/St Pancras station

I am writing on behalf of the Liberal Democrat members of the London Assembly to object to Network Rail’s decision that there is to be no replacement for the original north-eastern entrance to the King’s Cross/St Pancras station complex.

You will already be well aware of the furore that this announcement caused among residents in the nearby King’s Cross community, and that a well-attended protest meeting was held yesterday evening. Local people feel very strongly that by closing the existing entrance for pedestrians and cyclists they are being cut off from goods and services that have previously been an integral part of their community. It is all the more ironic that just at the point where the regenerated St Pancras has become an attractive retail outlet it will become inaccessible to its host community.

In terms of access to the station and the trains, pedestrians from the north-east will have to walk three times as far as they currently do to reach the entrances of either station. This scarcely seems to address the sustainability agenda of central Government at a time when we are supposedly encouraging walking, cycling and the use of public transport.

The process by which Network Rail came to its current position on NE access seems to us very questionable. Residents feel there has been no adequate consultation. The feasibility study undertaken by ARUP appears to have considered only options which had already been judged to be impracticable. Moreover, ARUP seem to have overlooked a commitment made by Network Rail (at the LB Camden Development Control Committee meeting that gave final planning consent) that they would consult the community as part of their feasibility study.

I would urge Network Rail to look seriously into providing a badly needed pedestrian and cycle link from the east to the west of the station starting at the junction of Wharfdale Road and York Way and ending near the new concourse of King's Cross and the new entrance to St Pancras on Pancras Way. This would hugely enhance the redeveloped station and restore the bond between the stations and their surrounding community.

Yours sincerely

Caroline Pidgeon

Deputy Chair, Transport Committee

Liberal Democrat Assembly Member