London mayoral election 2016: Labour candidate Sadiq Khan pledges review of Crossrail 2 station in Chelsea
Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has said he will review plans to build a station for Crossrail 2 in Chelsea after lobbying by local residents.
Transport for London (TfL) has planned for a £1bn Crossrail 2 station in Chelsea, but local group No Crossrail in Chelsea has been actively campaigning against the move, which it says is against the wishes of the vast majority of local people – including a number of celebrities.
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In a letter to the campaign's chairman, Chris Lenon, Khan wrote: "It is absolutely crucial that TfL takes residents’ views into account, as well as ensuring the scheme is value for money for the taxpayer.
"The next mayor will have to listen very carefully to the loud voices coming from local residents opposed to the current plans in Chelsea. If I am elected in May, I will ask TfL to review the plans and what can be done to minimise the impact on the local community.
"In addition, I will ask them to look again at the option of Imperial Wharf as a possible location for a station."
Local MP Greg Hands has also said that Imperial Wharf appears to be the most "feasible and desirable location for a station in Chelsea".
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In March TfL said the station was still part of its plans after suggestions that it could be ditched after the National Infrastructure Commission said that the Chelsea station "does not provide the strategic interchange or crowding relief provided by other stations".
However, despite the protests, a group of organisations including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Imperial College London and Harrods have all backed the station.
A spokesperson for No Crossrail in Chelsea said: "We have written to Zac Goldsmith calling on him to get off the fence and publicly oppose this wasteful plan.”
A local disability campaign group, Action Disability Kensington and Chelsea, has also announced support for the station as it would improve disabled people's access to the King's Road, the group said.