Many readers will be aware that the City of London Corporation have received a planning application for the proposed redevelopment of London’s Liverpool Street Station. The application actually spans a wider site beyond just Liverpool Street Station, including 50 Liverpool Street, Sun Street Passage, 40 Liverpool Street (in Part), Hope Square, and Bishopsgate Plaza.
As you may know, the Liverpool Street is based within the Bishopsgate Ward, which has 6 elected Councillors. Each of the City’s 25 Wards has nomination rights onto the City’s Planning and Transportation Committee. The size of the Ward dictates how many representatives are appointed. Currently the Committee has 33 Members, of which Bishopsgate has 2 Members: Tom Sleigh and Shravan Joshi. Tom and Shravan also happen to be the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee. Therefore, to protect their independence in considering this matter, they have withdrawn from the work which the remaining 4 Councillors have been discussing with local residents, workers and visitors, to consider what representations the Ward wishes to make in the planning process.
This week, the non-voting Bishopsgate Ward Councillors were pleased to attend a briefing session with Network Rail and their design teams to talk through their proposals and try to assess the impact to the station and the wider area.
Any member of the public is able to see the full plans and comment on the application here: https://www.planning2.cityoflondon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=SUJWJ4FHJYE00
The application is likely to be formally considered around November this year. Until then, I want to assure my constituents in Bishopsgate that my ears as open and I look forward to hearing any views you may have on this matter. I know 2,000 people from around the world have submitted their views to the City Corporation already, which shows the importance of getting this right for the UK’s busiest train station.
