Members of Spelthorne Borough Council's Executive have agreed a draft Planning Brief for public consultation on the important Airtrack proposals.
The plans, originally proposed by BAA and Railtrack, aim to provide rail access to Heathrow from areas to the west and south. Connection to the existing rail network would be achieved by constructing a new link from the airport to the London Waterloo lines at Staines.
A new section of track is proposed to run alongside South Street connecting the Reading and Windsor lines known as the Staines Chord. North west of the junction with the Windsor line a new station is planned to the north of the High Street close to the Iron Bridge.
The brief agreed by Councillors gives guidance on issues affecting Spelthorne that need to be addressed in its development and set out the planning and environmental issues that should be examined. The whole of the new stretch of track, apart from the section below ground north of the M25 junction 14, is in Spelthorne and there are concerns over the environmental impact of the new line and its construction on the Borough.
By drawing up the brief at this early stage Spelthorne hopes to confirm the authority's role as the lead organisation in handling the response to Airtrack; set the agenda for identifying and developing Airtrack studies rather than being limited to a reactive role; strengthen its negotiating position for the potential mitigation and compensation measures if approval is given and enable Airtrack to be related to other proposals in the areas such as those in Staines town centre and the proposals for Hithermoor Pit and Staines Moor.
Councillor Edwin Searancke, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Planning, says:
"The Airtrack proposal is included in the Strategic Rail Authority's new strategy document for the period after 2010 but the approval for T5 could easily accelerate the process.
"It is the right way forward for the Borough Council to be out there setting the agenda on Airtrack and not waiting to respond. That is in the best interests of the Borough."
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