Warwickshire Council Chief: HS2 future "already decided"

[dutchman]

A top Warwickshire councillor thinks the government’s already made its mind up on a High Speed Rail line through the county before a consultation started today.



Ministers want to spend £17 billion on a fast service between London and Birmingham which would cut journey times between the two cities to around 50 minutes.

The proposed track would slice through a large part of the Warwickshire countryside, especially around Kenilworth and Stoneleigh.

The route for the line was recently amended over worries it would be too visible, so it is now set to run further away from Stoneleigh village and there would be no viaduct at Ladbrooke.

It’s claimed the project would bring business and jobs to the region, including Coventry and Warwickshire – with nearly 70 of the UK’s top businesspeople last week coming out in support of the scheme.

Several local MPs and every council in Coventry and Warwickshire have already come out in opposition to the scheme, and Warwick District Council is spending £100,000 fighting it, claiming it would harm the environment around areas like Stoneleigh with no actual benefits to the local community.

Leader of the council there, Michael Doody today asked Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond what benefits the line would bring to Warwickshire, he answered:

“We’re going to stand or fall together, and if we spend our time saying we can’t do this or we can’t do that because it doesn’t benefit this area or that area we will stand no chance at all of remaining in the Premier League of world economies.

Mr Doody wasn’t impressed with the response and said: “Most of the people here are from Birmingham – if you lived in Birmingham of course you would want HS2, if you lived in rural Warwickshire there is absolutely nothing here for us.”

He also said the launch today implied the project had already been given the greenlight: ”He almost told us this morning that it is going through, it is pre-conceived on the outcome of this consultation. Purdah is half way through this period and purdah stops councillors making their views known.”

Other train operators are also attempting to add extra services that could rival HS2′s travelling times.

A campaign group – Stop HS2 – will tonight light beacons along the length of the route in protest – the man behind the group here, Joe Rukin says he has plenty of questions he wants to ask during the consultation:

“Why at a time when major businesses are all saying ‘use video conferencing, don’t travel’ are another 101 thousand people going to decide to travel in 15 years: none of it stacks up.

“There is no money to pay for it at a time when the country’s making massive cuts. This is one train-line and it’s going to cost 3% of national debt, it’s going to benefit very few people so why are we doing it?”

Click here to take part in the consultation.

[rebbonk]

I would guess that Mr Doody is quite correct. This will literally be bulldozed through and to hell with objectors.

[rebbonk]

Just how noisy will it be? I'd want answers to this question first!

The government is yet to indicate the volume level...

[dutchman]

I don't think noise will be a problem? Modern passenger trains are incredibly quiet. Standing next to the Birmingham line in Earlsdon it was almost impossible to hear a Voyager or Pendolino train passing through.

[dutchman]

I suspect that house prices in Coventry would plummet, no longer being within easy reach of London?

Likewise in Rugby and Nuneaton which have previously always been major stopping points on the rail network.

[rebbonk]