Following the successful Second Reading of the Crossrail Bill in the House of Commons on 19 July, the Bill has been formally committed to a Select Committee of the House.
The Committee will, in due course, consider petitions lodged against the Bill.
Those directly affected by the project will have had notices served on them informing them that the Bill has been introduced.
The notices tell them where they may get hold of copies of the full range of supporting documentation such as the Environmental Statement found through a button on the Crossrail website or the Department for Transport (DfT) website at http://billdocuments.crossrail.co.uk/
People who are especially and directly affected by the Bill may ‘petition’.
A petition is a written description of the particular concerns and how these might be alleviated.
Petitioners (or their representatives) may have the opportunity to present their arguments to Select Committee hearings in one or both Houses of Parliament.
The House of Commons Private Bill Office have produced a detailed guide ‘How to Petition against a Hybrid Bill in the House of Commons’ which can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/PRBhybpetkit.pdf
A leaflet ‘The Crossrail Bill in the House of Commons: What you need to know’ is available from the DfT or Crossrail.
More information can also be found at the DfT website page
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/divisionhomepage/035435.hcsp
A deadline of 16 September 2005 has been set for the submission of petitions.
You can contact the Private Bill Office in the House of Commons on 020 7219 3250.
The Private Bill office is open to the public from 11am to 3pm weekdays. It also has a web page www.parliament.uk/about_commons/prbohoc.cfm
Cross London Rail Links also has a 24-hour 7-day a week helpdesk 0845 602 3813 and can be e-mailed at helpdesk@crossrail.co.uk
To the right is a downloadable document showing the text of an advert placed in local newspapers along the Crossrail route.
Issued 2 August 2005
