EALING BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP (EBP) Thursday 3 July 2014 at 7:00 pm PRESENT: Independent Members: Peter Smith (Independent Chair) Ealing Councillors: Councillors Bell, H Tailor, Joanna Dabrowska, David Millican, R Dheer, Josh Blacker, Johnson and H Dheer. Representatives of local business/organisations: John Goldsmith (Crossrail), Richard Moise (FSB), Geoff Langston (Arizion), Polka Rastoyie (Crispins), Shahram Sabbaghi (Balsamy Property Ltd), Kulwinder Bath (Mail Boxes Etc), Annabel Fogden (Ealing Chamber of Commerce), Bryan Vines (Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College), Dolau Koya (Barracuda), Sailsh Syan (Ethnic), Stare Thomas (GNA), John Kiernandel (Neill & Co), Jessica Kiernandel (Neill & Co), Ann Hunter (Ealing BID), Zef Einsberg (Maxicor), Mike Mills (First Plan), Tim Williams (First Plan), Jon Keysell (GGL), David Thuwer (Johnson), Fiona Pearson (Lambert Smith Hayton), Mellissa Vasaf (Therapy), Linda Levey (For Arts Sake), Paul Kelly (FSB), Sarah Evans (Waitrose) and Hazel Alexander (JCP/DWP) Council Officers: Janine Jenkinson (Democratic Services Officer), Cheryl Mclean (Committee Services Officer), Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager), Lemuel Dickie- Johnson (Project Officer) and Mathieu Rogers (Project Manager) 1. Introduction & Welcome Peter Smith (Independent Chair) welcomed everyone to the meeting. 2. Apologies Apologies were received in advance of the meeting from Councillors Tony Young, Stafford and Ahmed-Shaikh. Councillor David Millican replaced Councillor Tony Young, Councillor Joanna Dabrowska replaced Councillor Stafford and Councillor Tailor replaced Councillor Ahmed-Shaikh for this meeting only. 3. Minutes of Last Meeting and Matters Arising Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2014, be agreed as a true and correct record. 4. Crossrail Ealing Broadway Station / Villiers House John Goldsmith Area Community Relations Manager signature at the next meeting of this Committee. Page 1
John Goldsmith, (Crossrail, Area Community Relations Manager) provided the Partnership with a presentation in relation to the plans for Crossrail at Ealing Broadway Station. He explained the main benefits to rail users would be an increase in capacity, rolling stock and stations, improved connectivity, reliability and infrastructure including track works and signalling. With regard to the rolling stock - he explained that trains would: Be lightweight energy efficient trains (10 to 18% lighter) Maximise passenger capacity 200 m long trains with wide aisles 1,500 seated and standing passengers per train at peak times Regenerate energy during braking (major savings in energy and CO2 emissions) minimise heat energy into the tunnel. The main improvement to Ealing Broadway Station would be: New brighter ticket hall at street level with much wider entrance and ticket line Four lifts providing step-free access from street to platform Redesigned staircases from platforms 1 and 2/3 Platform extensions New canopies for platforms 2/3 and 4 Redesigned waiting room for platform 4 Covered, pedestrianized forecourt New information screens and communications systems Improvement to West Ealing Station included: New station building and ticket hall with entrance from Manor Road New footbridge with stairs and lifts platforms Platform extensions New bay platform for Greenford services New information screens and communication systems Journey times from Ealing Stations were expected to be as follows: Ealing Broadway: Paddington in 7 minutes Tottenham Court Road in 12 minutes Liverpool Street in 18 minutes Canary Wharf in 25 minutes West Ealing: Paddington in 10 minutes Tottenham Court Road in 15 minutes Liverpool Street in 21 minutes Canary Wharf in 27 minutes signature at the next meeting of this Committee. Page 2
The peak service pattern would be: Ealing Broadway 10 trains per hour through central London 4 trains per hour to Heathrow 2 trains per hour to Reading 2 further trains per hour to Maidenhead 2 trains per hour to West Drayton With regard to airports the Partnership was informed that 4 trains per hour would provide a direct service to London Heathrow, there would be step-free access at Farringdon to trains serving Gatwick Airport and Luton Airport, Farringdon to Luton Airport Parkway would take 39 minutes, Farringdon to Gatwick Airport 42 minutes and there would be a direct service to Stansted Airport from Liverpool Street. Commencement of services was scheduled as follows: Liverpool St (Mainline) to Shenfield May 2017 Paddington (Mainline) to Heathrow May 2018 Paddington (Low level) to Abbey Wood Dec 2018 Paddington (low level) to Shenfield May 2019 Maidenhead / Heathrow to Abbey Wood/Shenfield Dec 2019 The Partnership was informed that the annual benefits to Ealing would be: Transport benefits per employee: 114.40 Transport benefits per residents: 127.90 Total Transport Benefits: 41.4 million Increased earnings per worker: 131.80 Total benefits (Transport and Earning): 56.9 million A representative of a local business/organisation asked if there would be a luggage / car park area provided near the station. John Goldsmith advised that there would not be any car park provision or drop off points directly outside the Station, but they would consider provision in the surrounding area. Plans for the allocation of a delivery loading bay and drop off point for the retail units would be developed in due course. A representative of a local business/organisation asked if Crossrail would service Heathrow Terminal 5. John Goldsmith advised that Heathrow had infrastructure in place and Crossrail would not be servicing Terminal 5. Councillor Joanna Dabrowska asked what mitigation measures had been undertaken to overcome any risks to the proposals. John Goldsmith told the Partnership that at this stage there was risks associated with the construction stage and noise. He explained that Crossrail worked with the Council to ensure that appropriate mitigation measures were applied. In addition, drop-in sessions would be held to present information and answer questions from members of the public. He explained that signature at the next meeting of this Committee. Page 3
design proposals could also be considered a risk and discussion with the Council would be undertaken to ensure that agreement was reached. A representative of a local business/organisation asked why more seating was not provided on the trains and why the plans for Ealing Broadway did not include escalators. John Goldsmith said that the proposed seating and standing spaces sought to accommodate the maximum number people travelling He said that the majority of commuters would only be taking short journeys and the provision of more standing space would allow an easier flow of commuters. Zef Eisenberg CEO Maxicorp Property Management, Development and Investment Company and Jonathan Keysell Associate Director Child Graddon Lewis Architects & Designers Zef Eisenberg and Jonathan Keysell presented the initial plans for Villiers House, which was located above Ealing Broadway Station. The Partnership was informed that Villiers House was a well-built structure and they hoped to bring alive the scheme and provide a design that was co-ordinated with proposals for Ealing Broadway Station. Jonathan Keysell explained that ideas for the use and design of the building were still in the initial development phase and they were open to ideas and feedback. With regards to design, he told the Partnership that a collaborative approach would be adopted to ensure that Villiers House and Ealing Broadway Station represented a continuation of the same theme. He explained that they were also keen for the design to incorporate green elements and be sympathetic to the surrounding Conservation Area. Councillor Joanna Dabrowska asked if it would be possible to extend Villiers House over the Ealing Broadway railway. John Goldsmith explained that this would be disruptive to the railway and was not a possible option. The Chair thanked John Goldsmith, Zef Eisenberg and Jonathan Keysell for their presentations. Resolved: That the presentations provided to the Ealing Business Partnership be noted. 5. Ealing Business Partnership Election of Chair 2014-16 At the meeting of Ealing Business Partnership (EBP) on 12 February 2014 it was noted that an election process for the position of Chair and Vice Chair for the 2014-16 period would take place. A letter had been set to the Ealing Business Partnership mailing list on 28 April announcing the vacancies and inviting nominations for the positions of independent Chair and Vice Chair. The deadline for return of nomination papers was 23 May 2014. Four nominations were received by the deadline of 5:00p.m. Friday 23 May 2014, details of the nominations received were provided in Appendix 1 of the report. signature at the next meeting of this Committee. Page 4
Following the publication of the agenda, Sarah Evans had withdrawn her candidature. As more than one nomination had been received, an election was required. Ballot papers were issued at the meeting; returned ballots were counted by the EBP Returning Officer during the meeting. The nominee with the most votes would be declared the Chair and the nominee with the second highest number of votes would be declared the Vice Chair. The Independent Chair and Vice Chair elected would remain in position until the end of the 2015-16 Municipal Year. The Independent Chair would work with officers to address issues raised by local businesses in the London Borough of Ealing. The primary purpose of EBP was to ensure that the Council consulted with businesses annually in association with its budget setting process. This requirement was set out in Section 65 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which placed a duty on the Council to consult Non-Domestic ratepayers in its area about proposals for expenditure for each financial year. The 2014/16 Chair would need to be mindful of these requirements when the budget reports were submitted to the meetings February 2015 and 2016. There were no other specific legal requirements around non-statutory partnership meetings with businesses. Resolved: That (i) Geoff Langston be elected as EBP Independent Chair for 2014-16. (ii) Mahanta Shrestha be elected as EBP Independent Vice-Chair for 2014-16. 6. Date of Next Meeting The meeting noted that the next timetabled date is 23 October 2014. The meeting finished at 8:30 pm. Geoff Langston, Independent Chair signature at the next meeting of this Committee. Page 5