Prince Charles when visiting the SSBA in Brick Lane “said something should be done with the East End” Kay Jordan told MPs as she warned of Xrail

Prince Charles when visiting the SSBA in Brick Lane “said something should be done with the East End” Kay Jordan recalled as she told them about the Crossrail hole plot. Then she added: “I should say that now we are certainly having something done to us [.]”!

QUOTING the officially published record:


Ms Jordan:

We do object to having to be considered that we will put a percentage on our rates to support a rail link tunnel connecting simply the City of London to Canary Wharf in the east and Heathrow in the west, and no amount of argument claiming economic regeneration, which has been claimed, additionality or connectivity will change our minds about this. We are convinced that the proposals are anything but what they say they are and represent the advancement of the City into the East End. They will do, as far as we are concerned, the opposite to what they say they will do and in our opinion they will devastate and completely destroy our vibrant and multi-cultural community. I will note that I put in my notes here, "I expect the Chairman by now to be saying what he is not wanting to hear from Miss Jordan," and for his sake I will now turn to the detail of the Bill.
11305. My papers are numbers 1 to 4. If you could start with one, please. This is the slide you saw much earlier when these proceedings started.[10] In fact, my office has kindly altered it to try and highlight what the Promoters were saying where our properties are affected by it. You can see a very large yellow block in the middle. Down on the right-hand side is a block where the arrow route of the traffic is, which is a converted synagogue and business centre where my office is. In fact, just behind the very large block in the middle which was going to be the hole, you will just be able see two little strips of yellow.


11306. Could you turn to the next document, please.[11] This document shows our property holding as it is affected by the railway. These are the properties that are affected. You can see large chunks of property to the left of where the main hole would be, which are workshops and flats which were the ones the housing co-operative started off with. The plots to the south, I have mentioned. The block in the north is another collection of properties that we have off Brick Lane which are subject to being probably interfered with with the first Crossrail proposal. Come along and you will see to the east of where the hole is there is a whole series of blocks which are also properties, some of which are owned by the SSPA and the very large property on the left-hand side is a community centre which is owned by the local authority but managed by ourselves.


11307. Could you turn to the next picture, please.[12] I have put this in as a graphic representation. It is an extract from a manual report of—and if I could read Bengali, then I could tell you—it is 1989. It was representing our tenants and members. You can see from Hanbury Street and Princelet Street we sit exactly in and around where this hole is, so you will see how we are affected.


11308. Could I see the next picture, please.[13] These pictures are of the properties in Hanbury and Princelet Streets. You will see the Dutch gable properties which are on Hanbury Street which were improved in the late 1980s and the single row of terrace with the big building in the background. The big building is in fact Britannia House which is, or was in fact, to be knocked down and the single row of properties are back workshops behind a terrace of property owned by the housing co-operative. These were properties we separated out in terms of residential and industrial use. You can see the tenants outside. This, in fact, was a building site that Prince Charles came to when he said something should be done with the East End. I should say that now we are certainly having something done to us.