‘Living hell’ of life by HS2
BREATHING SCARES AND SHAKING HOMES – WHY RESIDENTS FEAR FOR THEIR SAFETY
Constant shaking from HS2 construction work has East Acton residents describing a “living hell”, with some fearing for the safety of their homes.
One mother living on Wells House Road said the air pollution coming from the Old Oak Common site had seen her 12-year-old son hospitalised with breathing difficulties and put on oxygen, despite not having asthma.
Meanwhile, a 155-metre-long, three-metre-high concrete retaining wall supporting many of the gardens on the road is becoming a serious safety concern, with an engineering report saying it is in poor condition.
Concerns have prompted one local councillor to suggest the road below it, Old Oak Common Lane, should be taken down to one lane to protect motorists.
A letter from HS2 warns some of the cinder-block structures built above the wall appear unsafe, and could collapse onto the pavement.
There are plans to shore up the wall with large concrete slabs, but who is responsible for the wall itself remains unclear, with Ealing Council and HS2 both saying it’s the other’s responsibility.
For many residents it’s the constant noise, vibrations and lack of communication from HS2 that’s creating the biggest stress.
Thomas, who asked only to be identified by his first name, lives 15 metres from the hoardings and 25 metres from demolition rubble, meaning he receives the brunt of the noise.
Since March last year, he said he had endured earthquake-like shaking from 8am that can last hours at a time.
He said he has seen cracks appear in his home, some of his doors now stick, and his relationship and his work have suffered.
He said: “The banging’s what gets into your brain. Whenever they drive around on this rubble that gives us tremors in the house.”
The sound insulation offered – secondary glazing which fits into the interior of windows – does not fit Thomas’s home, but he said no alternative had been offered.
Thomas said many residents had sold up, and the homes picked up by landlords who turn them into cheap multi-occupancy homes, which had encouraged vagrancy and litter in the street.
Thomas said: “When I moved in it was a really nice street to live in – community feel, kids playing in the streets. That’s over now.”
With current demolition work expected to continue to March 2020, and Old Oak Common station scheduled to open in December 2026, there is no immediate end in sight.
On the expected timeframe, Thomas said: “We all know what happened to Crossrail and this is a bigger project.
“We just want what’s right and reasonable, if the retaining wall collapses, our houses and our garden would go with it’
Amanda Souter is the head of the local residents’ association and her garden meets the three-metre-high retaining wall.
An engineering report into the wall states it is more than 100 years old, and notes defects in the concrete,from small cracks to honeycombing, severe weathering and spalling.
Ms Souter said residents had been given a letter of assurances from the House of Commons that the wall would be shored up if found to be dangerous, but this had not happened yet.
If the retaining wall were to collapse, Ms Souter warned “our houses and our gardens would go with it”.
An Ealing Council spokesperson said the council was supporting HS2 in efforts to determine the condition of the retaining wall.
An engineering report dCouncillor Kate Crawford said she would be asking the local authority to look at the buildings on the edge of the retaining wall to determine if they should be brought down.
She said: “The road is very narrow, and anything that falls from the top of that wall could easily, if it’s windy, blow onto the road.”
Mrs Crawford echoed residents’ concerns that communication with HS2 had been difficult.
She said: “If there’s a risk, I obviously have concerns there are tremors in the houses with all the digging, and it is going to get worse.”
This was a concern echoed by Ms Souter, who said Wells House Road got its name from historic wells on the site.
Air quality was also a big concern, Ms Souter said, despite HS2 deploying sprinklers to reduce the amount of particles in the air.
She said the company had given her electric filters to clean the air coming in, but she was afraid to run it too often because of the price for electricity.
She said she is being treated for pneumonia, adding: “I have had a cough, and a throat infection and eye infections all year.”
She accused HS2 of neglecting the residents because they weren’t seen as affluent, and few would have the budget for lawyers or specialists.
Several residents’ children had suffered breathing difficulties, she said, even if their children weren’t asthmatic.
Mary is the mother of one of the affected children. Her 12-year-old son Jack was playing basketball on the street on a Friday a few weeks ago, she said, when he suddenly ran in, “bright red and panicking because he literally couldn’t breath – he was gasping for breath”.
She called emergency services and was told to get her son to an emergency room.
She said: “[I felt] shock and surprise obviously, but also then anger, because I knew deep-down [there] wasn’t anything wrong with him.”
She said doctors couldn’t track the cause, because he didn’t have asthma, but he was given an inhaler to open his airways if it happened again.
“He was worried to go out and play again in case it happened,” she said.
“It coincided with the huge amounts of vibration we’ve had on our street.”
Now Mary says she is concerned her son’s lungs are being damaged while they are still developing.
Jack has since had three more attacks, she said, but never when playing at school, only in the street at home.
What HS2 had to say
An HS2 spokesman said there were “numerous mitigation measures” on the site and air quality was monitored.
He said: “All works undertaken by HS2 Ltd and our contractors are carried out in accordance with our Code of Construction Practice, and we do all we can to minimise the impacts of construction work.
“Our community engagement teams regularly talk and listen to the local residents and businesses. For Mary, she said she just wanted her phone calls and emails answered, and her concerns over her son’s symptoms responded to.
She said: “We hear nothing – nothing.”