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IMG_1760.jpgSummary of panel debate:

Chair EG's Damian Wild
Gareth Osborn, director Thames Valley, SEGRO
Allan Gregory, director of surface access, BAA
Ruth Bagley, chief executive, Slough Borough council
Scott Witchalls, partner, Peter Brett Associates
Paul Newman, project sponsor - Reading Station, Network Rail

DW to Tony Travers: If you'd been asked to conduct at airport review what would be your conclusion?

TT common sense would dictate that as Heathrow is already a success but building on that success would be sensible. But people living in the area want something but don't want more of it and that is the problem. Property values under the flight path are quite expensive so that obviously isn't a problem. There is a risk that the campaigning against the expansion will shift the airport to the east. If Heathrow can't be expanded then should be a hub in the east

DW Is WRATH (Western Rail Access to Heathrow) going to solve all the problems?

SW Isn't going to solve all but we have to build ourselves out of these problems. It has significant benefits but we need other infrastructure. Got to plan for rapid housing growth. Having been through the mill to get funding for schemes like Reading Station off the ground but a lot of it depends on who you are asking. Down side is that business doesn't have a vote. It was a vote winner to say we won't expand Heathrow.


TVPF Conference: Ruth Bagley on importance of WRATH and Heathrow

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Ruth Bagley, Chief Exective Slough Borough Council

WRATH (Western Rail Access To Heathrow): Tony Travers mentioned need for collective approach towards infrastructure and planning, this is a small example, which has got sign up from local businesses and communities. It's been a long standing problem. 

I could, wouldn't want to as it's middle of M25, stand on eastern boundary of my borough and stare at the lights at the end of the runway at Heathrow but I can't catch a train or if I do it takes much, much longer than driving. 

We are proposing a rail link from Reading and Slough to Heathrow. It's been adopted by Network Rail and could be open by 2018 and cost is under half a billion. Four trains an hour from Reading via to Slough to Heathrow. Twenty-two minutes from buying tickets at Slough station to checking in.

Return on capital investment in under 10 years is what we predicted in business plan. Area it would benefit is 20% of the UK population. It's about protecting and maintaining a huge part of the UK economy.


Opening address: Tony Travers, director of LSE, London

Ascot gives a feel of what better class of airport might feel like.

Success of west: Heathrow airport and good rail links, good road links and a large accessible labour market. Success has led to success.

Is everything set fare? Thames Valley and greater South East area are fairly successful but other countries that have rapidly expanding cities such as in China and Brasil. Well known city regions like London, New York & Tokyo are going to be challenged and in order to stay competitive are going to have to grow.

No planning is less and less likely to produce success. The Government can't not plan. In Britain what we've tended to do is build infrastructure in response to over crowding rather than to lead development. We follow rather than lead. 


Pics: New concourse at Kings Cross

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The new concourse at Kings Cross opened this Wednesday and it's looking pretty good. The Focus team passed through this morning on our way to  the Leeds reception (more on that later) and while the staff in some of the shops and cafes were clearly getting used to their new set-ups, the concourse with its new roof  looked impressive. It's another example of a train station retail taking a leaf out of airport lounges shopping offer by trying to make their offer more attractive and take advantage of their captive audience.  

Most of the shops will probably be on turnover rents which could help the train station owners to finally take advantage of their massive land ownings. If Kings Cross can pull off the same trick as St Pancras they will be laughing. Apparently, according to The Economist this week 20% of people at the St Pancras aren't even travelling but mooching around the shops and eating in the restaurants.



Budget 2012 - what's it mean for the regions

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5296559285_970a504244.jpgGeorge Osborne opened up his piggy bank this lunchtime. Heaving the national level stuff to one side here's what Osborne's budget will mean for the regions:

  • Ten cities to become "super connected cities" as part of a £100m investment. Belfast, Bradford, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle will benefit from the fund.

  • A new enterprise zone in Deeside, north Wales appears to have been a bit of a fluff up for the Chancellor as the zone was announced by the welsh assembly government 6 months ago. But others offering "enhanced capital allowances" for businesses in Scotland: Dundee, Irvine and Nigg as well as Northern Ireland were also announced.  


  • Lord Heseltine will conduct a review into how goverment departments can encourage private sector growth in the regions. Heseltine is already chairman of the regional growth fund. He will report back to government in the autumn

  • And extra £270m for the Growth places fund
Picture by Pasukaru76

Related posts:

Guest post: Heathrow's third runway, the only viable option?

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John Izett is a partner at Montagu Evans

"If you believe the Coalition government you'd say it's dead and buried. But putting aside the politics of the last 
general election and Boris's campaign for re-election, any considered assessment of what UK plc needs, the cost of alternatives and what is really deliverable before we fall behind beyond recovery points to Heathrow's third runway re-emerging as the best option in the next few years.

A new international hub in the Thames estuary seems to me to be a flight of fancy. The environmental outcry about building a massive four runway new airport will dwarf the protests associated with the granting of planning for an extra runway at Heathrow. 

The delays will be measured in years - current estimates are that Lord Foster's hub on the Isle of Grain or Boris's two floating islands near Whitstable would not be operational until 2030 at best. The costs will be astronomic, at between £40- £50bn and likely to be a lot more. With public finances shot for years ahead, is it realistic to think that the private sector would have the stomach or capacity to take on the risks of such a colossal new venture? 

The current inertia wouldn't matter if the UK's position as a major international transfer hub and destination wasn't being threatened and the gap widening every year. Heathrow shortage of slots means that it now serves 156 international cities (down from 200 10 years ago), behind Paris Charles De Gaulle at 224 and Frankfurt at 235.

London's Mayor complains: "This lack of connectivity threatens Heathrow and London and the UK economy." 

Before plans for the 3rd runway were dropped it was forecast to cost £9bn -a bargain compared to the Thames estuary alternatives. And yes the noise from a 3rd runway would affect far more people in west London than the newly disturbed living in the Thames estuary but dare I mention that for most jet noise was a known accompaniment when they decided to live under the Heathrow flight path and for a significant number it supports their employment directly or indirectly.

The Coalition has promised an interim aviation report next March and a final report in spring 2013. I am bound to ask what are the odds on a resurrected 3rd runway at Heathrow against a new hub in the Thames estuary?"

Got something to say about a current news topic or a new angle to a well-worn debate? If you are interested in writing a guest post then get in touch stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com

Upgrading Bank station - NLA City of London conference, session 2

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**Live blogging from the NLA City of London conference. Expect typos and grammatical errors**


Allan Thomson, Station Capacity Manager, TfL London Underground

Thumbnail image for bank 1804121602_7c413bdbc2.jpg
Tube is carrying 1bn passengers a year expecting growth of well over a 1m people a year says the Mayor. 

Northern line upgrade part 1 already underway expecting a 20% growth in passengers.

Throughout the city passengers are struggling to get through our stations and Bank is in the heart of it.
 
Demolition of Walbrook Square is now underway - Bloomberg will get a new entrance to the Waterloo and City line with new escalators.

Northern line big issue, it runs under King William St and platforms are directly under it and DLR is under the Northern line.

Not much has happened since the 1930s very narrow platforms very difficult to get on and off platforms, staircases are very narrow - major choking point. DLR is also suffering now.

Quite often Bank station has to be closed and trains run through because of overcrowding, that quickly causes problems at London Bridge and across the network. 

Going to get step free access, increase capacity, brand new south bound platform and running tunnel, a bank of 4 new lifts. New escalators and stairs to DLR doubling capacity at northern end. New ticket hall halfway down King William Street. 

It will be a big challenge and major disruption for the centre of London. 10 King William Street will be demolished and a shaft sunk - which will take 6 years.

Timetable:
Public exhibition is on now
Public inquiry 2013
Start on site 2015
Completion 2021

LSH research: Impact of Crossrail and Thameslink on property values

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Views from Centrepoint 019.jpgThe top of Centrepoint was an appropriate spot to launch research into the impact Crossrail and the Thameslink upgrade will have on rents and property values. Not only do you get incredible views across London but you can also look down on the site of the new Tottenham Court Road crossrail station (click on image for larger version).

What Lambert Smith Hampton has done, in a nutshell, is calculate the short term and longer term impact of values and rents around 15 key stations along the Crossrail and Thameslink routes. In Saturday's EG we'll be publishing a map with LSH's key stats for the 15 stations which you can have a sneak peek at here but just whizzing through the full report it easy to spot that some hot spots are hotter than others.

At the western end of Crossrail the Slough/Heathrow area is expected to see the biggest gains with prime rental growth in the next two years predicted to be 7.5% per annum while in the east, Canary Wharf will see a rise of 8% pa.

For Thameslink it is Kings Cross/Euston and Blackfriar's which are the hottest spots. The former with an 11% pa increase on prime rents and the latter 11.5% pa together with a yield compression of 75bp between 2011 and 2013.

#CSR: The morning after regional round-up

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If there was any drinking to be done last night, post Chancellor George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review announcement it was probably more a case of drowning sorrows rather than celebrating.

Leeds City Council was very quick to issue a press release yesterday afternoon announcing that it will be making spending cuts of £150m by 2015 - some £50m next year alone.

But how about other parts of the country, what has the reaction been?

South West

  • SWRDA's chief economist Nigel Jump is reported on southwestbusiness.co.uk as saying that the region has lost out to the north when it comes to infrastructure spending and the announcement yesterday confirms fears that 120,000 jobs could go from the region

East of England

  • Cambridge News has an opinion piece from Steve Sharratt, chairman of the Space for Ideas Business Forum in which he highlights the pro's and con's for the region emphasising the need for Central Government to give sustained support in order to create new jobs.

Midlands


Yorkshire

  • The Yorkshire Post analyses the impact of raising the pension age and fears for public sector jobs in the area but also lists where investment will be made.
  • In South Yorkshire, The Star leads on the potential for thousands of job losses in the area noting that Sheffield council will announce how many town hall jobs will go in December.
North West


North East









#CSR: Initial impact on the regions and comment round up

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axe.jpgLot to digest in Chancellor George Osborne's spending review today, with details to emerge over the coming weeks. But here are some initial thoughts and comments from around the country and it's not all bad news:

- Local authority budgets to be cut by 7.1% per year for four years but local authorities will have more control throwing the spotlight on TIF's and LEP's. No doubt the fall-out from this will emerge over the coming months although some councils have already announced budget cuts.

- 150,000 affordable homes to be built in next four years - got to be good news for house builders across the country and those with planning permission for schemes which include social housing.

- Government is planning to raise billions for a green bank to invest in off shore wind farms, carbon capture and other green technologies which could be good news for those parts of the country which have been making noises about creating green technology clusters. Yorkshire Insider is one local news source that has picked up on the potential opportunities.

- Permanent tax levy on banks - details to be announced tomorrow - aimed at raising maximum from banks without risking the UK losing it's competitive edge on the world financial stage. Depending on detail it is unlikely to spark any rapid growth in the banking sector which has historically taken good chunks of office space in the City and Edinburgh.

Transport £30bn invested over next four years including:


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