1825 Hrs GMT London Monday 18 May 2009
KHOODEELAAR! TOLD Boris Johnson so! CRASS behaviour by Boris on Crassrail 'funding'. It is all over the place!
We reproduce below the texts of the piece carried by the Guardian, which appears to have temporarily suspended Dan Milmo their usual CRASS role parading ‘transport’ correspondent, thus showing the ‘emerging, and the new’ crassness of CRASSrail funding... The piece contains evidence of continuing lying by all the Crossrail scam peddlers [To be continued]
Johnson urges non-London developers to pay towards Crossrail
Mayor asks transport secretary to get planning bodies in east and south-east England to seek contributions towards the new train line
Boris Johnson with Gordon Brown at the launch of Crossrail in London last week. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Boris Johnson has urged the transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, to make developers outside the capital pay their share towardsLondon's flagship Crossrail project "where appropriate".
The mayor has written to Hoon following a consultation with developers and London boroughs on funding the £16bn train scheme, which will link Maidenhead and Heathrow airport west of the capital with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east via a 21.5km (13 miles) of twin-bore tunnels under London.
When the scheme was first sealed with Johnson's predecessor, Ken Livingstone, it was agreed that the cost of the scheme would be split three ways between the government, the mayor, and London businesses, who would gain from the long-term benefits to the economy from the rail link.
Section 106 planning agreements – which allow councils to impose an obligation on a developer as part of granting planning permission – will be applied on new applications for additional office space around the new stations above a 5,000 square foot threshold and will provide £300m for Crossrail.
Other funding includes a Department for Transport grant, Transport for London borrowing against income from future Crossrail farepayers, and the mayor using his powers to introduce a supplementary business rate on companies.
But the fairness of the planning charge only being applied in London has been questioned by businesses and local authorities, who point out that developments outside London along the Crossrail route will also benefit from the new rail link, which is due to be in place in 2017.
The mayor has now written to Hoon asking him to approach the planning bodies in the south-east and east of England with a view to their seeking contributions, "where appropriate", from developments around Crossrail stations beyond the London boundary.
Johnson has also included a new "viability" test for planning policy to negotiate financial contributions from developers in light of the recession.
The mayor, who is a keen proponent of Crossrail, is also considering lowering the levy to business during the first years of the charging scheme.
In a statement issued today, Johnson said: "Crossrail is vital for the future of the capital. It will transform our transport network and ensure London emerges strongly from the current economic downturn.
"I have listened carefully to the views and concerns of developers over contributions to this crucial venture and I am committed to taking a wholly pragmatic approach in future negotiations and will consider every case individually.
"It is important that we now move forward and ensure that those new developments which benefit most from Crossrail can contribute their fare share."
The mayor has repeatedly made the case for funding Crossrail amid fears that a Tory government could tamper with the project in a bid to curb spending on expensive infrastructure projects. The Conservative mayor said it would be inconceivable that this would happen as construction work began last week.
But Philip Hammond, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said in the House of Commons this month that, while Crossrail was a good project, every development needed to be reviewed in light of the country's financial woes to ensure developments delivered the best value for money.
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