Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman against the project

1 min read

Jane Ellison, the Conservative Parliamentary Spokesperson for Battersea, delivered a special newsletter in January, raising her voice against the Clapham Junction Proposal.
Acknowledging the need of major improvement for Clapham Junction, she says:

In considering the current planning application I have asked myself two key questions: firstly, will the changes to the station result in a substantially better experience for all of us who use it and, secondly, if this was the ‘once in a generation’ chance to make improvements, is this plan for the station ambitious enough? I believe the answer to both these questions is NO.
Given the record levels of public debt we now bear as a country, there is a third key question. If further improvements to the station can only come at a price (which seems to be Network Rail’s position) is the price of these changes one worth paying? I believe the answer, in the case of this application is, again, NO. I hope the current proposals are rejected by Councillors.

As Jane Ellison added, local Councillors are always interested to hear your views about all planning applications. It is true that, since this application was submitted by Delancey (the developers), the Council had no choice but to consider the application and follow proper legal procedure. A councillor who is a member of the Planning Committee, has to be careful not to “pre-determine” the decision (otherwise it could occur legal action from the developers to overturn the decision).
However other members of the Council can relay the concern of their constituents and at least answer their general queries. This is what Councillors of Northcote ward or Latchmere ward have been doing. This is what Councillors of Shaftesbury ward have chosen to ignore. Until now the orientation of the Conservative Council of Wandsworth is dubious (I also asked the leader of the Council, Edward Lister,  if he could provide a speaker to answer general queries about the plan to the Public Meeting on the 28th, but did not get a positive answer). Therefore we welcome the position of the Conservative spokesperson, Jane Ellison,  in the debate on the Clapham Junction redevelopment. We also agree on her call that we should “now start a local discussion about the future of our station, and, may we had, about the policy of developments in Wandsworth borough.

You can read her leaflet in full here: Battersea Residents’ News – Jane Ellison – January 2009

You can contact Jane Ellison here (contact form).
Or by Post:
Jane Ellison
1 & 3 Summerstown
London
SW17 0QB

Or by Telephone:
Constituency Office: 020 8944 0378

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CJI editor and Clapham Junction Action Group co-founder and coordinator since 2008, Cyril has lived in Clapham Junction since 2001.
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