The Chelsea Society was advised by London Underground of its ideas for upgrading the station, and the Chairman of the Society’s Planning Committee, Michael Stephen, had a meeting there with their representative.
He then wrote to Gareth Powell, Director of Service Development of London Underground Ltd. to say that “whilst the Society would welcome an improvement in the appearance of the station and the removal of clutter which has accumulated over the years, the priority for the limited funds available is step-free access to the platforms for the many people using the station who are elderly, disabled or carrying heavy luggage.
The station is urgently in need of a lift from street level down to each of the two platforms. This is a drop of only 20ft or so, and new elevator technology could make it feasible on this particular site without waiting for comprehensive redevelopment many years from now.
With regard to the visual appearance of the station, the Society feels strongly that the distinctive green and white “garden trellis” tiling should be retained, or replaced by new tiles in the same colours and pattern.”
Our comments have been ignored.
On 14th June 2016 we heard from TfL as follows: “I am writing to let you know that our planned August-November 2016 refurbishment of the ticket hall area of the station has been deferred until spring 2017 (with completion prior to the Chelsea Flower Show next year). Having conducted a thorough review, the project team have shown that under this new timeframe they can achieve significant efficiencies whilst being able to deliver a greater proportion of the internal and external works.
The station will therefore remain open as usual until early 2017 (we will confirm dates closer to the time). During the work, customers will be asked to use the entrance/exit in Holbein Place as the unpaid ticket hall area will be closed. When we have finished, customers should expect to see:
A new station canopy & façade
More ticket gates
New floor and wall tiling
Removal of the old ticket hall suite to be replaced with an information point.”
