West Hampstead tube station [© David P Howard cc-by-sa/2.0]

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A 20-year-long failure to make West Hampstead tube station accessible to disabled people could continue for years to come, campaigners fear.

A £10million payment towards the step-free access project has been agreed with the O2 Centre redeveloper Landsec.

But the company has been told it does not have to pay £3.5million until the second phase of its regeneration scheme has been approved.

West Hampstead Amenity and Transport group says that delays to O2 Centre construction will set back the project to finally bring the station into the 21st century.

WHAT chief John Saynor said: “WHAT is worried that the project may grind to a halt because some of the promised money from the Landsec O2 scheme is not due to be paid over until a much later stage of the O2 project. This means that there could be yet more delay before we get our lift.”

Sadiq Khan announced in February last year a list of stations where design work for “step-free access” was being prioritised by City Hall, including West Hampstead.

Closer inspection of the announcement showed that this would be for conceptual designs, and that “detailed design” work relying on extra funding would come from either central government or private developers in planning pay-offs.

When the O2 Centre first phase was approved by the council’s planning committee in March last year, the main community pay-off was considered to be that the station would get updated.

Mr Saynor said it was very positive to learn from West Hampstead Councillor Shiva Tiwari that the concept design work has recommended enlarging the station but that he hoped community chiefs would not be edged out of the process.

Cllr Tiwari said he had spoken to TfL project managers and council officers before Christmas and, in a message to WHAT, dived right in to the heart of the matter.

He said: “I will continue to stay close to developments as we move from concept designs to detailed designs over the coming period. The current aspiration is that West Hampstead tube updates will go far beyond step-free access and include a larger and more attractive frontage.”

It was not clear if Cllr Tiwari thought the overhaul could pay a penalty for delays to the construction process.

A spokesperson from Landsec said: “TfL is responsible for delivering step-free access for West Hampstead tube station. However, we’re delighted that our work to build much needed homes over time allows us to make a significant financial contribution to the total cost of the work.

“In addition to our Section106 contributions, we will also be contributing over £40 million in community infrastructure levy (CIL) payments, some of which could be used to improve local infrastructure.

“Overall, the O2 Centre Masterplan represents a £1 billion investment in the local economy, jobs and new social infrastructure.”