The HS2 route to Euston through South Kilburn
With HS2 now tunnelling to Euston under the South Kilburn estate and surrounding neighbourhood, they have rather belatedly asked residents to register property details 'in order to share the information with organisations working on behalf of HS2 Ltd's 'to minimise the risk of injury, health impacts and wider environmental concerns.'
This sounded rather ominous to residents.
Much of the property is ultimately owned by Brent Council so one would expect them to be able to fill in the detail if they have recently completed condition surveys.
South Kilburn residents have had to put up with regeneration disruption including noise and dust for years now, so any impact will be an additional nuisance. The vent shaft (marked HS2 on the map) is in place at Canterbury Works, next to a primary school, after Brent Council negotiated its siting there, rather than the original site in the car park adjacent to Queen's Park station. The route is also close to Wilberforce Primary School on Kilburn Lane, in Westminster.
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When HS2 held public meetings back at the start of their plans to run under South Kilburn, they were asked if there would be an issue with the stability of the housing, since the Bakerloo line already runs under the area. We were assured that there was no issue. 10 (?) years on, they decide to check.
During the building of the vent shaft, HS2 regularly wrote to local residents, informing them of things like "our work will be noisier than usual" and "we will need to work 24 hours a day for the next week". There letters always contained a statement along the lines of having okayed this with brent Council. Attempts by residents to find who at Brent Council liaised with HS2 got nowhere. So, having persuaded HS2 that building their vent shaft in the middle of an estate was a good idea, Brent provided zero support to locals.
That vent is a few hundred yards from Granville Plus Nursery school too.
I remember a meeting with HS2 officials at a CON-sultation in South Kilburn, just at the moment the Covid pandemic was kicking off.
That was all about HS2 mitigation for its giant vent shaft, (bottom left on Matin's map). Talk then was around investing in South Kilburn's 2ha Park, a footbridge (estate to Kilburn north) over the electrified railway lines at the vent and of estate residents using the tunnel as an emergency air raid shelter in missile attacks. Nothing happened to progress any this, so I guess Developer Domination Decided (DDD). Elsewhere on its route there are remarkable mitigations and compensations made to neighbourhoods for HS2 negative impacts. Wonder what makes one community worthy/ another total excluded from compensation along the HS2 route?
Overall, the tunnelling lobby capturing public £ billions has won. This tunnel is an incredible waste of public funds/ near all the public transport spend on something not needed. An HS2 terminus at Old Oak Harlesden would have been great for Brent and the already existing rail route to Euston should have been used instead. Thereby freeing up finds for projects like the Harlesden to Wormwood Park (600 metre, 6 stops) cable car or the two over canal footbridges needed at Kensal Canalside, if it is to include Brent Kensal residents in its opportunity.
South Kilburn Regeneration Year 25, buy some ear plugs. Damage to the old Victorian houses which have no foundations?? I guess again HS2 is selective and discriminatory on which communities it compensates for damages done. Councillor total disengagement from South Kilburn is no help either.
If you look at the neighbourhood scale mid-rise SK 'Masterplan Review' SPD of 2017 (pre-dating Brent Local Plan SK Tall Building Zone No Plan being adopted instead by Brent in 2022 as new policy), there are several 'sites' ( now towers?) pending above this massive tunnel. No doubt now waiting for the current estates HS2 damage before the tower lords of developer domination press GO.
Kilburn Wall, a shameless greed-led experiment in urban de-regulation zoned. Did this community-led regeneration partnership starting in 2001 deserve better safeguarding and protection during re-development process? The verdict in 2026, still seems to be NO from a 170 majority Labour government.
HS2 could fund replacement of the three children's playgrounds in SK that Brent Master Developer has removed from three open spaces.
North above mainline railway into Euston on the map is the Kilburn Neighbourhood Plan Area with regular open to all meetings with planners and decision makers. How cosy, how reassuring, how democratic, how civil, how respectful of safeguarding rights- when compared to Kilburn Tower Wall ( South Kilburn) south of the mainline railway on this map.
Segregated and zoned Brent, protected Brent and Brent precarious. From 'Forward Together' Brent to 'Forward and Backwards' Brents.
The SK HS2 vent already built sets the actual depth of this train tunnel, so distance to Alpha and Gorefield Houses can be calculated. It looks very close. The two tunnelling machines will meet at the SK vent.
Top right on map is the giant crumbling brick C19 culvert (like a tube train tunnel) carrying the always at overcapacity River Westbourne, now also a combined sewer. This structure has the potential to fail and collapse and that would be an emergency sewage flood event, a repeat of 2021 or much worse.
No wonder developer dominance in this tall building zone no longer engages with or supports local people zoned-in here. Another Brent 'nothing to see here story', until it isn't.
Gorefield tunnel near point (along with new blocks), has foundations but does not have a basement level? Has brick walls, so bricks are likely to vibrate sideways out of alignment possibly to the point of structural failure risk. I guess HS2 holds information on damage already done to similar build types by its tunnelling machines and know what 'safe' distances are.
We don't need another Granville New Homes. HS2 have certainly not been looking for any community mitigations buy-in/goodwill from South Kilburn neighbourhood. So here we go.
Thames Water ahead of the curve on the 'lost' (in 1855 culverted) River Westbourne rediscovered by South Kilburn locals in the 2021 sewage floods? This 171 year old giant brick culvert under the tall building zone, will it stay standing?
Should read HS2 surveys some South Kilburn residents.
The experience, hard facts and safeguarding measures and mitigations required are all knowns of HS2 and Thames Water. Imagine if there was a curious councillor or MP representing SK.
No wonder councillors will not engage. Will all be a massive surprise.
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