Channel Tunnel (Hansard, 25 June 1993)

§ Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North)

I have the honour to present a number of petitions to the House concerning the construction of the channel tunnel rail link which runs through Islington to the proposed new terminal at St. Pancras station. It obviously has a considerable effect upon my constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith). Together, we are presenting eight petitions. The first reads: The humble petition of the residents of Grosvenor avenue, London, N5, sheweth: That, if the route of the Channel Tunnel High Speed Rail Link follows that of the existing North London Line it will cause severe damage to the environment, particularly housing, businesses and roads as it will bring excessive vibrations, noise pollution and further loss of open space. Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable house abandon any further plans to site the Rail Link through Islington because of the damage that will be caused to property, the environment and the general well-being of the residents. And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. The second petition is from a neighbouring area, known as Newington Green, London, NI. It reads: The humble petition of the residents of Newington Green, London, NI, sheweth: That we wish to register strong protest at the Government proposal to route the Channel Tunnel high speed rail link along the route of the North London line. We believe this will result in unnecessary and unacceptable noise to the residents and that the increased vibration will cause damage to our homes. Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable house urge the Government to abandon all plans to route the Channel Tunnel high speed rail link along the route of the North London line. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The third petition is from a neighbouring area which is very seriously affected by the proposals, in that the road, Mildmay grove, is on either side of the north London line. The railway is in the centre of the grove. The petition reads: 'The humble petition of the residents of Mildmay Grove, London, NI, sheweth that we wish to object to the proposals to route Channel Tunnel and Freight traffic along the North London Line. We believe this will increase the already unacceptable level of noise and vibration causing damage to our homes and the local environment. Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable house urge British Railways to abandon all plans to route Channel Tunnel passenger and freight traffic along the North London line. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The first two petitions are supported by 122 people and 114 people. The third, the Mildmay grove petition, is 560 supported by 125 people. Another very large petition is supported by 2,700 people. This petition, from constituents in Islington, is signed by people who live throughout the borough and in the neighbouring boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets. It reads: The humble petition of the constituents of Islington sheweth: that we wish to register strong protest at the Government's proposal to route a Channel Tunnel high-speed Rail Link through east London via Stratford to King's Cross/St. Pancras and the siting of Channel Tunnel facilities at Stratford. We believe such facilities at Stratford and the routing of a high speed Rail link across Islington will result in unnecessary and unacceptable damage to our environment and local economy. Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable house instruct Union Railways to abandon all plans to route a Channel Tunnel high speed Rail link across the Borough of Islington. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. I am pleased to present these petitions. They have the full support of many more people throughout the community, as well as my support and that of many local councillors. We hope that the Secretary of State for Transport will take seriously the environmental concerns of people who live in a densely built-up urban area, in just the same way as we should like the concerns regarding the environment of people who live in Kent and other areas that are affected by the channel tunnel to be taken on board.