23/01/2017 Inside Out London

Hello there. I'm Matthew Wright. You're watching Inside Out London.

Here's what's coming up on tonight's show.

With HS2 about to get the green light from Parliament,

we find out what impact the rail link could have

I'm worried what they're doing to it.

I'm so scared at the destruction of this perfect habitat.

Some are calling it a scandalous waste of public money.

Tonight we ask why the cost of West Ham's new stadium

As far as I can see, there is no end to taxpayers' money

being used to prop up this white elephant.

And we go behind the scenes of a London icon.

You think of the thousands of people that travel over

the bridge every day, and through the bridge,

and none of them are aware of this massive space that exists here.

Plans for HS2, the high-speed railway between Euston

and Birmingham, are due to get the green light

If things go to plan and then work on the ?56 billion project is due

The trouble is, High Speed Rail may have an environmental cost and,

the construction work could prove very damaging indeed.

Naturalist and broadcaster Mike Dilger

has been to Ruislip to find out more.

I am at Broadwater Lake and I am in wildfowl heaven.

Just looking out there I can see tufted duck,

pochard, shoveller, mallard, in addition to cormorant,

This is an SSSI - a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

It s a haven for thousands of birds that breed here,

feed here and spend the winter in quiet solitude.

This site is managed by the local wildlife trust.

Tim Hill is the conservation manager.

Tim, on a day like today we re seeing Broadwater Lake at its best.

It s one of the most important places in the Colne Valley

because a lot of birds come to this undisturbed refuge from

way beyond this site from up in Rickmansworth down

towards the Thames because it is so quiet and undisturbed.

Undeniably important for birds. What about other wildlife?

The River Colne just behind us here and the lake itself

are important feeding grounds for Daubenton bats - the water bats.

They come here because of the insect life.

But this tranquil spot will soon be home to a construction site.

HS2 plan to build a 3km serpentine bridge through the Colne Valley.

The cutting edge 250mph trains will link the route

reducing journey times by half an hour.

We certainly don't feel it's progress when there s

going to be such devastation to the local environment.

As we sit, where will it go through Broadwater Lake?

So the viaduct will start just beyond the site here and it

will come through in an arc just clipping the bottom corner of

Broadwater Lake and in the distance there across the River Colne

and then through the woodland at the back and into Buckinghamshire.

The wildlife trust believes the construction phase

of the viaduct alone will lead to the disappearance

There's a six-year construction period. Obviously during that time

there will be huge amounts of noise, dust, disturbance and

Potentially devastating to the birds that seek refuge on Broadwater Lake.

MUSIC: Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven

Visitors like Dougal and Toby, who come here every

How do you feel about the impending development?

Can t put it into words really. I can t imagine what this place

is going to be like with great big trains thundering through here.

I ve got a nice list of wildlife that I have

The other important species is the eels.

They are red list, critically endangered, and they manage to swim

all the way here from the Sargasso Sea.

They live up to 30 years in this habitat down this river.

To take this site away for so long is appalling.

I'm so scared at the destruction of this perfect habitat.

This end of the lake is a really important refuge.

There is sailing at the top of the lake which means the ducks

are squeezed into the bottom end and with the noise of construction

for that length of time we are really concerned that

all those wildfowl will be squeezed from both sides

and they will have to find somewhere else to go.

HS2 believes the birds here will adapt to the changes

and says it's set to deliver the greenest railway in the UK.

Where we touch on the Site of Special Scientific Interest

we have a plan for four hectares of wetland re-creation

There won't be the effects that the Wildlife Trust

What are your thoughts about HS2 taking environmental

We don't really think that HS2 have recognised the true impact

of construction and the ongoing running of the railway.

Just a few yards from the lake is Battlesford Wood,

an ancient woodland, which is hundreds of years old.

I'd say it's 250 to 300 years old and it's bed and breakfast

for a whole host of woodland birds and home to probably hundreds

This is an island nature reserve in its own right.

So, Richard, what s so special about this block of wood?

It s got a wide variety of different species, of trees,

different ages of trees, fallen dead wood and fungi

But this area of ancient woodland will soon be lost to the HS2 route.

Although there is less than one hectare here in total

in the 34 woodlands affected there s going to be 30 hectares of ancient

woodland lost-the equivalent of 49 football pitches.

But HS2 believe this loss can be compensated for.

Along the line of the route, yes, we will have 30 hectares that

are affected. We will translocate or move the ancient woodlands soils

from the ancient Woodlands we effect and place that on new ground

perspective we will get to a bigger perspective we will get to a bigger

and better outcome. They are giving the impression that

by translocating soil that will be mimicking ancient woodland

but of course that s not. HS2's response to the loss

of ancient woodland is that they will plant five

hectares for every one lost ? how do We feel it should be at 30 to one

and that would give the appropriate This is setting a precedent

for development in the UK so we feel it should give the ancient woodland

the respect it deserves. As a naturalist, my greatest fear

is what projects like HS2 We already live in one of the most

nature-depleted countries in the world, particularly

in and around London. The State of the Nature report out

recently suggested one in every ten and one of those is

the much-loved hedgehog. Although it may look a bit unkempt,

overgrown, it really The Regent Park is the last park

in Central London to have hedgehogs. We ve probably got 30

or so but 25% of them live I understand the scrubland but the

car park? It does seem slightly odd

but actually it provides a real connectivity between all

the scrublands and we've used GPS But HS2 plan to use this car

park to store lorries making it a danger

zone for hedgehogs. The reason we need to

have the lorries there is to service We will create an access tunnel

that will enable those hedgehogs to continue to thrive and still be

able to use the space. All we are asking them to do

is look for alternatives. If HS2 come here for 20 years

we are saying goodbye I'm back at Broadwater Lake

and dusk is steadily approaching and I'm watching little egrets

coming into roost in those Any day now HS2 will be given

the go-ahead to build what's clearly But along the way there

are definitely going to be some losers - and you know what? I m

looking right at them. We run the bridge as many things, as

a working bridge, tourist attraction, events location, but the

biggest responsibility we have is maintaining the reputation of the

nation's icon. More than four years

on from the 2012 Games, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has

ordered an investigation for West Ham's new home

in the converted Olympic Stadium. The club itself ? which earns

?100 million a year has contributed less

than 1/20th of the refit costs. It was an investigation by BBC

London which first shed light on this situation ? and tonight

Mark Jordan has further revelations about what some are now calling

a scandalous misuse of public money. It's the stadium that made

London proud in 2012. But West Ham's Karren Brady was no

apprentice when she was called She nailed the deal to make it

home for the Hammers. There are skeletons in the closet

for both Labour and Conservative Just painting it Claret

and blue doesn? stop In 2015 we exposed the secrecy,

the stadium's soaring costs. And in this show, it

seems, no-one gets fired! So I'm back to investigate the

soaring price of our Olympic legacy. 17 months ago, campaigners asking

questions about A secret contract made

with taxpayers' money! I think it was collective

embarrassment over We fed off each other's

determination to get some answers. Since our last investigation,

a tribunal finally forced the full We now have those details

AND an even bigger taxpayers' bill. It's led London's mayor

to launch an inquiry. We need to find out how

we got to where we are. We too have questions

for both West Ham and The London Legacy Development Corporation

but both declined an interview. How much do YOU think it cost

to turn this perfect, "used once" Olympic grade stadium

into a football venue? But fans from rival teams have been

tracking the soaring refit bill. We started the campaign,

it was ?170 million. It stayed for a long time at ?272

million as the alleged final bill. But the final bill turns

out to be ?321 million! West Ham paid just ? million

towards that conversion ? less This club earns around ?100 million

a year just in TV rights. Many critics say West Ham got

the deal of the century. Lots of people will be asking

questions about how it's possible for a stadium that cost ?320 million

to transfer from Olympic to football and has cost the football club just

?15 million and an amount of rent Two days after the mayor

announced his inquiry, the stadium's London Legacy

Development Corporation It's a long way from when Boris

Johnson promised taxpayers a profit as he signed off West Ham's 99-year

lease at ?5 million a year rent. This is something that

will now make money - I'm told in excess of ?10

million a year. But those profits are

nowhere to be seen. Boris moved on to become our

Brexiteer Foreign Secretary. Leaked documents currently doing

the rounds at City Hall suggest taxpayers will be picking up

the bill for years to come. As far as I can see there is no end

to taxpayers' money being used They have effectively

been given this stadium The money is mounting

up, the losses. I wouldn't be surprised if we get

rid of a billion on this thing. Team Coe, Jowell and Livingstone

ordered an athletics-only stadium. With that being built,

Boris Johnson then changed the plan to a multi-use stadium,

to include football, You only have to watch a TV home

renovation show to know that the golden rule to staying

on budget is to make a plan, or changing midway that

cost the taxpayer dear? Politicians making

decisions about buildings is an interesting one,

shall we say? There was a clear vision

for what the stadium Once you start messing around

with stuff you may as well knock it It's a big, bold decision

but sometimes, take the pain up front.

Say you got it wrong. It's when you try to justify it

and justify it and the costs In Singapore they did

it oh-so-differently. Designed from day one

for seats to reconfigure London Stadium admits

such tech here is now Your builder will say

thank you very much, that will now cost you double

the whole project. For sports promoter

and former chairman of Leyton Orient Barry Hearn,

the die was cast. A white flag went up from LLDC under

instruction from Mayor Boris Johnson "I don? want this to

be MY white elephant. I've inherited a problem."

Which is true. So Boris got his

multi-purpose stadium. Taxpayers, NOT West Ham,

pay each year to manually install these scaffold-like seats over

the running track. This year's took ten days,

working round the clock. As Boris thought this stadium

will make a profit. Now we find the retractable seats that

were supposed to cost ?300,000 to move

are now going to cost At the London Assembly,

any regrets from those Surely you? look back on that

and think we could have Look, if we knew the seating issue

was going to happen, we would have announced

a bigger figure. But I can apologise

if you like but I don't think But it's an unfortunate

consequence of what's happened. Nor is anyone apologising

that the public are getting the bill for added security,

after clashes like this. This makes it harder to find a brand

willing to part with millions The fact that the stadium

operators pay for security, I think Boris saw light at the end

of the tunnel and unfortunately for him, that light is a train

coming towards him. Back at the London Assembly,

someone is in for a grilling. You don't have to pay

anything for policing? Well, I pay ?5 million a year that

covers all those costs. We got a glimpse of

Karren Brady defending her You can afford to pay ?20.5 million

in a transfer fee and I think police officers come

a bit cheaper than that. No, I have already covered it

in the ?2.5 million that I pay. That covers the cost of policing,

security, maintenance, electricity, I know, you have

asked me three times. I suspect most Londoners would feel

the same way about it. Dr Gillian Evans has tracked

London's Olympic legacy, All balls were in their court

and so they could dictate the terms of the deal because the alternative,

after all that drama and saga, would have been a white elephant -

and that was unthinkable. THE most successful legacy

programme in Olympic history. The stadium IS alive and helping

regenerate the whole area. Come summer, world athletics

and concerts take over. They remain confident the stadium

will one day pay its way. But so far, it's taken over

?300 million of public money. No-one is going to put

hand up in politics Tower Bridge has got to be one

of the most distinctive. Late last year, the Bridge closed

down for three months for essential maintenance

work ? But it did give Inside Out

the opportunity spend time behind the scenes

and find out what goes into running one of the world's most

famous river crossings. Well, from a personal point of view,

it's hard not to be head over heels It's a symbol of the nation,

it's a symbol of London, and it's something that a lot

of people hold very We run the bridge as many things -

as a filming location, as a tourist attraction,

as an events venue, as a working bridge,

but the biggest responsibility we have is maintaining

the reputation of the nation's icon. Over the years we have

been repairing little parts of the bridge,

as they become damaged, but the bridge was starting to look

like a patchwork quilt so it was time to undertake

a substantial project. We closed the bridge on 1st

of October this year at 1201. We shut off the access

North and South. We worked 24/7 at the start

of the project so we had to have We couldn t afford to have a slow

start just on a project like this. If you took this job and put

it in a quiet location in any other place in the UK,

it would be pretty straightforward, but you're very much in the public

eye and then the fact that it is a lifting bridge,

under an Act of Parliament, that makes what is coming

from a pretty straightforward process into quite a complicated,

challenging one, but it makes it a very interesting, unique

project for us to work on. by the work, because the works

was organised around bridge lifts. Even if it was just with 24 hours'

notice, we ve always been able Many years ago, back in 1894,

when the bridge was first opened, it was usually just the master

of the vessel, would just give the bridge driver a wave

and the bridge would be opened. Bridge lifts are completely

free of charge. It's through an Act of Parliament

that we have a legal obligation All vessels have to notify us

in writing, 24 hours in advance, and then half an hour before

the bridge lift we will contact the master of the vessel,

making sure everything is on schedule, and then,

once that has been established, we will do a safety check

on the bridge, with the safety crew. And then when the vessel comes

in sight, the bridge driver will commence with the bridge lift,

closing the road gates and pedestrian gates,

then he will unlock the bridge, Well, we are stood at the moment

on the Tower Bridge glass floor. This has been in place now

for around two years. It has been one of the big

success stories of the What we are seeing at the moment

is the work taking place directly beneath our feet

and the bascules being resurfaced. I've been privileged enough to take

some very interesting and exciting people around the bridge,

including Her Majesty the Queen, but one that will always stick

in my mind was taking David Bowie We went down to the bascule

chambers, and showed him the space down there,

and before he left he said to me, "Chris, this is a fantastic space,

it's been so interesting, and I'll be back.

I want to do something down there." And obviously very sadly we'll never

find out what that something was. But what we have been able to do,

last year, we started up bascule chambers concerts so we were able

to have publicly-ticketed concerts and, as you can imagine,

with the space being as atmospheric as it was that really

added to the performance MUSIC: Im Abendrot

by Richard Strauss The bascules are the two leaves

of Tower Bridge which you can lift up to let tall boats go past,

and the bascule chambers is where the massive 450-tonne

counterweights swing - So when the bridge is at ease,

you can fill the chamber You're still attached to London,

you're very much in London, you're in one of the most iconic

buildings of the world, but from And you think of the thousands

of people that travel over the bridge every day,

and through the bridge on the river, and none of them are aware of this

massive space that exists here. So all of the sounds that you hear,

be it passing traffic, passing river boats,

or the sounds of the bridge itself, you can't deny them so you have

to embrace them in your concert. And when you hear new music

performed in a space like this, which is so resonant,

and so special, and so Victorian, it really lifts you and the whole

experience is really magical. MUSIC: Sweet Child of

Mine. which is I am proud to say,

and we put that down to a lot Personally working on this project

is something that I believe will stay with me for life.

It's not often you work on a Grade I-listed

structure like this. Especially just the whereabouts,

the history behind it, MUSIC: Music For

The Royal Fireworks. I used to walk to work every day

and see cyclists, bobbing along through all the different potholes,

and uneven road surface that we had. Well, now, that has been completely

refreshed and hopefully that has made a big difference in terms

of people's day-to-day commute What an uplifting place

for a concert ? right in the dark

bowels of Tower Bridge! Well that's just about

all for tonight s show. let's have a quick look at what's

coming up on next week s programme. With 400 new tower blocks

in the pipeline, we ask ? is London

becoming the new Dubai on Thames? building skyscrapers does not

improve the lot of the average Londoner. The flats are much too

expensive. We reveal the dark secrets buried

on this deserted island And how London s newest museum

is wowing the crowds. It was a first for design. It has

been growing and moving into other areas.

And that s it for this week s Inside Out London.

Don t forget, if you missed any of tonight s programme

and want to catch up on iPlayer, then just head to our website.

Thanks very much for watching. I ll see you again next week.

Hello, I'm Riz Lateef with your 90 second update.

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