TfL appears to back down on controversial Crossrail 2 plans in Hackney

Shoreditch Park and the Brittania Leisure Centre were under threat (Image: Archant)

Transport for London (TfL) has published its response to the consultation on the £20billion rail route linking Wimbledon and New Southgate with Tottenham Hale.

Proposals to accommodate the new Dalston station by demolishing independent businesses in Bradbury Street were widely condemned, and TfL has reiterated it will look to create the ticket office inside the Kingsland Shopping Centre instead.

But the report also reveals it is backing down on two controversial options for the creation of a ventilation shaft – putting it in the park or on the site of the sports centre.

It states: “In response to issues raised and following further technical analysis we believe we will be able to remove the leisure centre as a possible site.

Traders in Bradbury Street are set to get their wishes (Image: Archant)

“We are also considering how best to minimise any potential loss of green space in response to concerns raised about Shoreditch Park.”

Shoreditch Park will be revisited as an option, while TfL will continue to assess the other two potential sites, both in Eagle Wharf Road.

Hackney’s regeneration boss Cllr Guy Nicholson welcomed the response from TfL, and again expressed the town hall’s support for putting the shaft in Eagle Warf Road.

Meanwhile, a council report is set to be published this month over plans for a secondary school to be built on the site of the Britannia Leisure Centre.

The plan would see new leisure facilities put in place, while the school – to be run by the City of London Corporation – would have housing above it as a way of funding the project.

The project angered parents of children at Whitmore Primary School, which could be brought on site as part of the project.