Andrew MacKinlay: ..., Haslemere, Liphook, Liss, Petersfield, Rowlands Castle, Havant, Bedhampton, Fratton and Portsmouth and trains to the Isle of Wight." Trains would also go to Hinchley Wood, Claygate, Oxshott, Cobham, Effingham Junction, Horsley, Clandon, London Road and Guildford, and going the other way they would stop at Berrylands, New Maiden, Raynes Park, Wimbledon, Earlsfield, Clapham Junction,...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...was made that the route would be switched to a line closely parallel with the A2. The new route affected a minimum of properties, some 10, at Henhurst road and Scalers hill in the parish of Cobham. The relevant railway promoter, British Rail's Union Railways subsidiary, showed considerable caution in the light of its previous massive compensation costs. Over the years, I have had to fight...
...Channel Tunnel portal at Castle Hill, Folkestone, in Kent, together with associated works, and of works which can be carried out in conjunction therewith; to provide for the improvement of the A2 at Cobham, in Kent, and of the M2 between junctions 1 and 4, together with associated works; to make provision with respect to compensation in relation to the acquisition of blighted land; and for...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...M2 improvement works". Those works take place in an especially sensitive area of the green belt, which is strong on the natural environment. It contains Ashenbank wood and, in relation to heritage, Cobham hall. That region must be treated with careful consideration by the Select Committee when it returns to it. Encompassed within the M2-A2 works is a junction for the so-called Wainscott...
Elliot Morley: ...today. I do not deny that jobs are involved in hunting, but I believe the number is somewhat exaggerated. I also believe that those jobs could be protected by a switch to drag hunting. In 1983, the Cobham report estimated that the total number of people employed in hunting was 3,333, which presumably included indirect employment. In 1992, the people who produced that report increased the...
Mr Michael Colvin: ...mentioned by a number of hon. Members this evening. It would be a dreadful omission if, during a debate on rural England, we did not mention the financial and amenity benefits of field sports. The Cobham report, sponsored by the Standing Conference on Countryside Sports and updated three years ago, estimates that field sports generate £2.7 billion-worth of business and give recreation to...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...freight loops, with consequent opportunities for environmental improvements and improved landscaping. Perhaps the impact of most national significance is that proposed for Ashenbank wood and Cobham park. Ashenbank is real, ancient woodland. It is of significance for wildlife habitat and a site of special scientific interest. Cobham park and its ponds alongside the route are a fine example...
...Channel Tunnel portal at Castle Hill, Folkestone, in Kent. together with associated works, and of works which can be carried out in conjunction therewith; to provide for the improvement of the A2 at Cobham, in Kent, and of the M2 between junctions 1 and 4, together with associated works; to make provision with respect to compensation in relation to the acquisition of blighted land; and for...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...the Member for Kettering (Mr. Freeman), who was Minister of State throughout the saga. A number of problems remain. I want to highlight the site of special scientific interest at Ashenbank wood and Cobham park—the latter is part of our national heritage and was laid out by Repton. I recently convened a meeting at Cobham hall of local councils and environmental organisations at which...
Mr Jacques Arnold: Has my hon. Friend noted that Ashenbank wood in the parish of Cobham in my constituency is a site of special scientific interest and stands directly in the route of that very large project, the high-speed rail link? Will he, together with his colleagues at the Department of Transport, ensure that the environment is safeguarded at that point?
Ian Taylor: ...urge the Minister to deal with those planning guidance notes, so that we can have further clarity. In my constituency, the important fact is the existence, not far away, of five main town centres: Cobham, Esher, Molesey, Walton on Thames and Weybridge, which contain approximately 400,000 sq ft of retail sales floor space. Access to shops is available, especially in Walton, where nearly...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ..., I still have some other concerns. The plans as announced trap five properties between the line of the channel tunnel rail link and the A2—four properties at Longview, off the Henhurst road, Cobham, and The Lodge at Scalers Hill, Cobham. The lives of those constituents will be made increasingly intolerable as the channel tunnel rail link is constructed and then operated, and will be...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...their homes, and the high-speed rail link route announced. Those houses have for many years been sandwiched between two main transport arteries. They are four houses at Longview off Henhurst road, Cobham, and two houses in Scalers hill, also in the parish of Cobham. The capital and amenity values of those properties have been ruined by public transport, and their owners must be...
Mr Roger Freeman: ...to make a choice on what should be safeguarded and go into the Bill. As I have said, consultation can continue on construction and mitigation. I also appreciate that the impact on Ashenbank wood and Cobham park causes concern because those are sensitive areas. Union Railways has looked at the options for minimising impacts and the Government will consider those, taking account of the...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...road crossing, which could be at a far lower level and might even pass beneath the carriageway of the road. We also need a careful assessment of the environmental impact on the historic parish of Cobham. I wonder why such wide cuttings are necessary in the plans, and why they cannot be narrow, walled cuttings. During the period of consultation, I hope that much other work will be done,...
Ian Taylor: ...they can be designated under the Act. That is causing enormous difficulty, but, paradoxically, the difficulty is being made much worse by the consultation document. A very controversial site in Cobham in my constituency has been chosen, slightly perversely by the Elmbridge borough council, and taken up by the county council. That case has created great local opposition. The Cobham action...
Mr Jacques Arnold: ...essential to ensure that the lives of thousands of my constituents in Northfleet and Gravesend are not made intolerable. The other point of concern in my constituency relates to the parish of Cobham. The crossing of the Medway by the high-speed rail link remains a matter of uncertainty. Ove Arup's original proposal had the link crossing the river flush with the M2 bridge. Later plans from...
Ian Taylor: ...in the early morning, which happens to be the time when people go to work but children are also going to school. The two are incompatible, and that problem must be dealt with. Aynyard road in Cobham has quite a few young families living on it, and they face a similar problem with morning cut-through traffic. When traffic movements change or a new development takes place in part of the...
Christopher Chope: ...sections. The first, between the M2 and Swanscombe, was constructed with a black top pavement. It has several minor accesses in addition to the major junctions, and at both Swanscombe hill and Cobham hill it incorporates severe gradients on the London-bound carriageway. The second section, from Swanscombe to the county boundary and continuing into the London borough of Bexley, was...
Ian Taylor: .... There are not just problems of site maintenance; the real cost is that of clearing up after the gipsies have gone. We often have to put up protection against their return. On the Old Common in Cobham in my constituencyy, it is reckoned that the council spent £10,000 putting in a ditch to try to prevent the return of the gipsies after a particularly prolonged stay. I shall be brief,...