Downton Abbey star takes to local waterways to oppose HS2

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Re: Downton Abbey star takes to local waterways to oppose HS2

Postby rebbonk » Wed Feb 12, 2020 3:15 pm

It's nothing more than a vanity project. It's being pushed so hard because a select few stand to make a lot of money out of it.

Meanwhile, essential services and support for the less fortunate or well off will continue to be cut to balance the books on this folly.
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
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Re: Downton Abbey star takes to local waterways to oppose HS2

Postby dutchman » Wed Feb 12, 2020 4:16 pm

Melisandre wrote:If I recall rightly as a kid picking blue bells in Crackley woods their was a old disused railway line going through the woods why haven't they used that.

It was ripped up a long time ago I'm afraid Melisandre and for no good reason. It meant that heavy frieght trains now have to trundle through Coventry Station, holding up passenger services on the main line.
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Re: Downton Abbey star takes to local waterways to oppose HS2

Postby dutchman » Wed Apr 27, 2022 6:01 pm

New HS2 plan set to shave nine months off railway build near Leamington

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HS2 contractors hope to cut as much as nine months off the build of a section of track near Leamington thanks to new 'environmentally-friendly' plans. New designs for the controversial high-speed track, where it runs through South Cubbington Wood, will see builders dig a shallower valley for the track, resulting in far less spoil.

Replacing concrete retaining walls in the original designs, this section of the railway will now run in a V-shaped open cutting with grass slopes on the embankments and with green bridges for both wildlife and the local community, HS2 said.

In addition, HS2 contractors Balfour Beatty Vinci and their environmental partners are planting about 12 hectares (equivalent to just over 10 football pitches) of woodland near SCW and a further 18 hectares of trees across the wider Cubbington area.

HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson said: "From the beginning, our vision for HS2 has always been to leave the environment surrounding the route in the same condition, if not better, than we found it and build a cleaner and greener transport future. This project embodies that vision, reducing carbon equivalent of taking 8,500 HGVs off local roads, moulding our designs to ensure wildlife thrives alongside the new tracks and ensuring residents can continue to enjoy the rich nature forestry surrounding their village."

The new designs raise the high-speed rail line through the SCW section by around two metres, avoiding the need to excavate 150,000 cubic metres of soil - equivalent to 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools. HS2 said the new design would result in 60,000 cubic metres less concrete and steel needed for construction, 'cutting the project's carbon footprint'

The two green overbridges that feature in the new plans will connect existing footpaths for people to access local woodland areas. Native grassland and hedgerows will be planted on the bridges, creating wildlife crossings and habitats for invertebrates, bats, birds, and reptiles. It's not yet clear exactly how long this section of the track, and associated works, will take to build under the new greener proposals.

The first phase of HS2, linking London Euston with Birmingham, is due for completion between 2029 and 2033. Phase 2a, connecting Birmingham with Crewe, has the same completion target, while Phase 2b, linking Crewe and Manchester, is due to finish anywhere between 2040 and 2045.

A drop-in session about the new designs for Cubbington, featuring a presentation and Q&A, will be held at Cubbington Village Hall from 5pm to 7.30pm tomorrow (April 28). More information about that event can be found here.

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Re: Downton Abbey star takes to local waterways to oppose HS2

Postby rebbonk » Wed Apr 27, 2022 7:05 pm

The great vanity project continues. :fuming: :fuming: :fuming:
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
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Re: Downton Abbey star takes to local waterways to oppose HS2

Postby dutchman » Thu May 05, 2022 8:11 pm

HS2 noise pollution fears grow louder amid new designs for rail line

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Villagers fear their peace will be forever shattered after new plans for HS2 in Warwickshire were submitted. People living in and around Cubbington, near Leamington, are concerned that new plans to raise the track two metres will make the trains far noisier when they begin to run.

They also think the impact of proposed design changes for the 900m South Cubbington Wood section will contravene what was set out in HS2's environmental statement published in 2015. Around 60 people attended a presentation and Q&A session about the proposals, which will reportedly cut construction time locally by up to nine months, at Cubbington Village Hall last week.

Peter Delow, chair of the Cubbington Action Group Against HS2, went to the meeting and said the answers from representatives of contractors Balfour Beatty Vinci were not as "knowledgeable and intelligent" as the questions from local residents and businessmen. He said the issue of increased noise, as a result of the track being higher and more exposed, was a "worry" for many people in the area.

"BBV say they will keep to the noise levels set out in the environmental statement, but they (HS2) are not very good at keeping promises," Mr Delow said. "They have to provide an application to the local authority, which in this case is Warwick District Council, which will give recalculations.

"But we've not been told when we can expect that application. Last year they started work on digging it out so they must have known about the changes for a while, but only now have we been told. There's two elements to this.

"The first is the track going up and the train noise. Second, is the roads that cross the line are also going up so the bridges will be higher. The bridge over Rugby Road, near to where I live, is one of the main concerns.

"The answers (at the Q&A) were not as full as one would have hoped. And in some cases, BBV had to defer because they only have responsibility for certain parts of the project."

HS2 say raising the track will speed up the build and reduce the environmental disruption. "The reason they've changed the design is twofold," Mr Delow added.

"To reduce cost, because the project is under huge cost pressures. And to reduce the environmental impact, in particular the carbon impact. The big question for me is that what they have taken out is more than what they said they would."

The fight to stop the project from going ahead was lost many years ago, but people who live and work close to the route of the track are no less dismayed by the continued disruption. Mr Delow added: "The countryside around here is, or was, pretty nice.

"It's rather been destroyed in areas where they are working and people are upset."

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