The majority of Londoners and local authorities support Crossrail it has been shown in a new report.
A review of Crossrail’s extensive consultation programme over the last two years also shows that support and awareness of the proposed railway has grown.
The new ‘aggregated report’ summarising the activities and results of Rounds 1 and 2 shows the consultation to be a wide-ranging and full statistically analysed process. The report can be obtained by contacting Crossrail.
Bernard Gambrill
Bernard Gambrill, Head of Crossrail Public Affairs, commented: ‘We carried out far more activity than was stipulated in the government guidelines from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). We wanted to make sure we consulted as many people as we possibly could, providing them with as much information in the time available.’
Since 2003 Crossrail has held two full London-wide rounds of public awareness and consultation.
A range of media has been used to communicate the benefits and seek comment from those with an interest in the project. This includes stakeholders, community groups, rail passengers, students, directly affected parties and the general public.
The methods used have included public information centres at 57 locations along the route, leaflet drops and brochures, advertisements and press releases in local and London wide newspapers, a dedicated 24 hour helpline and website and ‘The Link’, a newsletter distributed in schools within one mile of the Crossrail route. And many face-to-face meetings directly with local authorities, community groups and individuals.
All information is available in community languages, Braille, large print and audio cassette versions.
An independent National Opinion Poll (NOP) survey has confirmed these consultation results - almost one in two residents (49%) near the Crossrail route told pollsters they are aware of the scheme.
Crossrail Consultation Manager, Simon Bennett said: ‘This shows that we have been effective in the consultation methods we have used to reach people along the route.
‘This research also gives us insight into how best to reach the communities along the route as the project moves into the authorisation and construction stages.’
Simon Bennett
The NOP survey revealed that perceptions of the Crossrail scheme were generally positive. More than two in three (73%) of the total sample agreed that ‘Crossrail would ease overcrowding on London’s transport system’. A similar proportion (71%) agreed that ‘Crossrail would open up transport options for people like me’.
Three out of five people (60%) polled agreed that ‘Crossrail would increase economic prosperity in the local area’
The results were collated through a combination of interviews with 1577 residents living within two kilometres of any of the proposed Crossrail stations and random digit dialing surveys of the same areas.
• Further information on the Crossrail economic benefits has been published. ‘An Economic Appraisal of Crossrail: a Summary’, is a more concise version of the full report ‘The economic appraisal of Crossrail’ which outlines how the increased capacity for travel to central London, provided by Crossrail, delivers wider economic benefits in addition to the conventional transport economic appraisal.
Both documents can be found in the ‘about us’ section of the Crossrail website at www.crossrail.co.uk.
Ends
Issued 17 November 2005
For further information please contact: the 24 hour seven day a week helpline on 0845 602 3813, or e-mail helpdesk@crossrail.co.uk
