24 July (Part 2) - Stagnation v Coordination
The
fortnightly comparisons between progress on the Lesnes Abbey regeneration and
Crossrail activities around Abbey
Wood station are in danger of becoming pointless. Nothing much has happened at Lesnes since
the landscape contractor
went broke whilst Crossrail construction powers on.
Bexley Council cannot be held responsible for the company liquidation but the
general neglect is more difficult to explain. Why has the area around the
Mulberry tree which used to be bark covered been allowed to become a weed bed? The cuts presumably.
There is to be a park event next Saturday, a Family Fun Day (Click to enlarge Photo 1) aimed at
parents and young children. Please be aware that there are no public toilets; well there is a
Men only facility a quarter of a mile away (across the borough boundary) by the Abbey Wood Post
Office but I wouldn’t recommend anyone goes there. Not without wearing Wellington boots anyway.
As you might expect, the Crossrail project marches on relentlessly. The asphalt is going down
on the new Platform 2, the canopy is done and the lighting, CCTV and public
address system is going in.
Over this weekend the Harrow Manorway flyover wall has been torn down to allow
access to the station podium which has been extended with more concrete beams
and slabs and provided with a working platform to facilitate installation of the main station
roof. At the other end of the platform the lump of concrete dumped there several months ago is growing
into a support for the second footbridge. By August 20th everything should be ready for the first
North Kent train and the real Crossrail work will commence.
Let’s hope that Network Rail remembers that the North Kent platform could do
with a few seats. None there at all at the moment.
