CAMDEN COUNCIL PROTECTS RESIDENTS FROM CHANNEL TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION NOISE

6 March 2006

Camden Council has successfully taken steps to ensure King’s Cross residents are not disturbed by noise from construction work on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Following a court hearing last week (28 February 2006), magistrates ruled that contractors had breached agreed night working conditions and disturbed residents with noise. The prosecution was brought against four companies for the same offence: Costain Limited, O’Rourke Civil Engineering Limited, Bachy Solentanche Limited and EMCOR Drake and Scull Group Plc. The companies were fined £2,500 each and also ordered to pay £1,000 each for the council’s costs.

The case followed a complaint from a local resident who was woken up around midnight by noise, and witnessed workers moving metal objects around, in March 2005. Camden Council has worked closely with CTRL and felt that the project had generally kept to high environmental standards. However, it decided it was important to prosecute to protect the local community from the significant impact of the construction work. The council had already twice warned the contractors that it was concerned about noise disturbance at night on the site, in January and February 2005. At that time, work was being carried out to create an underground ‘box’ for the new Thameslink station.

Camden Council originally refused to allow 24-hour, seven days a week working for the CTRL project because of the massive impact it would have had on local residents’ lives. In February 2004, following a Public Inquiry, the Secretary of State backed the council’s decision to refuse permission for round-the-clock working to Union Railways North Ltd. The CTRL project agreed to restrict the main working hours to a 10pm finish but for ‘quieter’ construction activities to be allowed underground, as these would not disturb residents.

Cllr John Thane, Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council said:

“We are glad that we have been able to address local residents concerns and protect them from noise disturbance at night. Obviously we recognise the national importance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and its role in helping regenerate the King’s Cross area, and we have worked closely with the CTRL project throughout. However, we have consistently said that this work must not adversely affect the local community, so it was hugely important that we acted to protect local people. We are pleased that that the contractors took the incident seriously and subsequently put a number of additional measures in place to ensure that there was no further night-time disturbance.“

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