Consultation on the HS2 Draft Environmental Statement

Community, Democracy and Local Affairs, Planning, Rural Issues

This is the information supplied by the Wendover anti-HS2 group to help with your response. It is in the format of a postcard addressed to

FREEPOST RTEC-AJUT-GGHH

Draft Environmental Statement Consultation

PO Box 70178

London WC1A 9HS

This card represents my submission to the consultation on the HS2 Draft Environmental Statement.

  • The Draft Environmental Statement is clearly incomplete and inadequate and does not provide enough information to make appropriate judgements about the impact of HS2 on Wendover and its surrounding countryside (either during the construction phase or during operation of the railway). HS2 Ltd must provide more detailed information to make this consultation a meaningful process.
  • Should construction of HS2 go ahead, a continuous bored tunnel through the Chilterns AONB and surfacing at the AONB boundary north west of Wendover provides the only appropriate level of mitigation for Wendover and the AONB.
  • In addition, the following safeguards must be included, at a minimum, within any HS2 scheme for Wendover:
  1. Noise mitigation must meet World Health Organisation Guidelines on Community Noise. If a bored tunnel is not forthcoming, those guidelines would at a minimum require the lengthening of the Wendover “green tunnel” at both ends, enclosing the viaducts at Wendover Dean and Small Dean and increasing the height and efficiency of sound barriers where necessary
  2. The Bacombe Lane / South Street junction must be retained to provide appropriate access to Bacombe Lane
  3. New cricket facilities must be provided to replace Wendover’s lost cricket ground
  4. All structures, such as viaducts, tunnel portals, ponds and earthworks must be designed (with public involvement) to fit as unobtrusively as possible into the rural landscape and achieve appropriate levels of safety for residents
  5. New habitats must be created for at-risk fauna and new woodland planted using native species
  6. The Weston Turville reservoir Site of Special Scientific Interest must be protected from any potential pollution or water shortage
  7. Wildlife crossings must be created across the route to help mitigate the loss of hedgerows
  8. Utilisation of the Chiltern line rather than HGVs to bring in materials and remove spoil during construction should be fully investigated
  9. There must be independent oversight and monitoring of the Code of Construction and its implementation

    This is my only submission to the consultation on the HS2 Draft Environmental Statement.