Clause 20
Crossrail Bill
2:00 pm
Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative)
Clause 20 will effectively disapply the provisions of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which will mean that appeals are determined by not a magistrates court, but the Secretary of State, which is concerning. The Government are trying to enact legislation that allows them, or their nominated undertaker, to create a great deal of noise—I accept that sometimes that is unavoidable—in and around London. Under the 1974 Act, the Government can apply for prior consent for such a level of noise. Normally, such appeals would be heard by a magistrates court, but now the Government want to hear those appeals themselves. In legal terms, they would therefore be the defendant and judge. I invite the Minister to clarify the situation and explain how he will seek to remedy it. It is an extremely important matter.
This morning, we tackled briefly the possibility of noise due to the extension of boring and drilling downwards. However, we have only touched on noise. Clearly, noise blight could be a major result of the construction phase under the Bill. Whole communities might well be affected during the construction, and the 1974 Act seems to be more or less the only protection for a neighbourhood or community. It would seem invidious for appeals to be determined by the Secretary of State rather than through the normal channels. How on earth could a local community protect itself? Is the Minister saying that the Government should be above the law for the purposes of this Bill, and therefore—potentially—for the purposes of other Bills?