How to Help   -

03 July 2010 - contact  your Surrey County Councillor to make sure they don't water down their objections.

The first Department of Transport (DoT) cnsultation ended in September 2009.   All those who wrote to them before 18 September 2009 should have received an acknowledgement from the Department, (and another one from BAA).  

Since then Airtrack has carried out more detailed modelling of the new timetables and reassessed the impact on the affected level crossings.   

The Environmental Statement on which most people based their Letters of Objection has been amended.  An  "Addendum to the Environmental Statement"  has been published which now forms part of the  TWA application.  It revises the projected level crossing down-times as they affect Egham,  and purports to show that the impacts will be less severe than originally projected.

If you made an objection to the original Application based on those downtimes, BAA will find it easy to argue to the Public Inquiry that your Objection is no longer relevant.    We asked people to write again (by 23 June 2010)  reiterating that even the new down times were not acceptable and that their objections still stand.  

Surrey County Council have been given extra time to review and respond to the new estimated downtimes, and their response will be finalised on 20 July, based on discussions by their Cabinet on 13July.   Please contact your Surrey County Councillors and remind them that even with the new estimates (which don't look particulary sound to us) the effect on Egham will be devastating.  

The next step will be the public inquiry, which may take place in late 2010.   

Those objectors who said they wished to speak at the public inquiry will be contacted beforehand and asked for a written Statement of what they wish to say. Your statement will be submitted to the Inspector even if you decide that you don't want to make a personal appearance.   This is your opportunity to expand on your original objection, or provide evidence.

If you have the expertise, resources, time or energy to help, the Chamber of Commerce will be grateful for all the help we can get preparing our own "Statement". 

If you have said that you wish to appear before the inquiry and would like to coordinate your own submission with that of the Chamber, please do get in touch. 

Our own submission to the TWA inquiry are unlikely to win the battle for us.   We need to make sure the Surrey County Council,  our Highways Authority,  is fully committed to the tunnel,  and to finding, from all possible sources,  the funds to build it. 

Our local Councillors, and our County Councillors, must be encouraged to convince Surrey County Council that savings in travel time, and congestion, and pollution to the rest of the County of  having through trains to Heathrow, will be overshadowed by the extra cost if Egham grinds to a halt. The new environmental statement will make is easier for the County Council to argue that Egham is just one of many affected towns and does not need special help.   You can help by contacting Surrey County Council, either direct or through Councillors, to make sure they don't put this on the back burner.

The Cabinet Member for Transport at Surrey County Council is: 

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