HS2 Update for May 2011

HS2: Now Have Your Say

On 13 and 14 May, the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd will stage an exhibition about the HS2 high-speed rail proposals at Wendover Memorial Hall. You are strongly urged to go along and ask questions of the team behind the proposals, find out about the ‘preferred’ route and its likely impact on Wendover and the surrounding villages, and make your feelings known about plans. Opening times: Friday 13 May, 8.00am-8.00pm; Saturday 14 May, 9.00am-5.00pm.

Please note that any verbal feedback you give the organisers is not, however, part of the formal consultation process. It is therefore vitally important that you also take part in the formal written consultation by answering seven consultation questions about HS2. The consultation questions will be available to take away from the exhibition, and can also be obtained from HS2 Ltd on 020 7944 4908. Copies are also held at Wendover’s HS2 Information Centre, at 2 Icknield Court, Back Street, Wendover. The Information Centre is open from 10:00am to 4.00pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; or by arrangement on 07922 532598 or by emailing wendoverhs2@btinternet.com. Alternatively, you can answer the seven questions online at http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/

We would ask every adult in Wendover to answer the seven questions. Please ask your family and friends who do not live along the route to do so too. The more responses the Government has from people living away from the route the better. You could remind your friends that the line would cost us, and them, at least £33 billion when we can least afford it, and would cause untold damage to the environment and to the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas.

Wildlife Trust challenges Government to get High Speed Rail on the ‘right lines’

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is one of nine groups challenging the Government’s proposals for the high speed rail which threatens 160 wildlife sites between London and Birmingham.

Philippa Lyons, chief executive of BBOWT, says: “As it stands, HS2 is on track to deliver a damaged natural environment. We need efficient and sustainable transport systems but they must not be achieved at the expense of the environment. The proposed HS2 route will fragment the landscape, threaten important wildlife sites and undermine action to support nature’s recovery. Breaking up habitats is one of the biggest causes of wildlife loss. You would expect a project of this magnitude to have a comprehensive Strategic Environmental Assessment, looking at all aspects of the project, but the Government has not done this.”

The proposed route threatens irreparable damage to several important wildlife sites in Buckinghamshire including Calvert Jubilee Nature Reserve, the Colne Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest and 10 ancient woodlands. “We are responding in the strongest terms to the HS2 proposal, and urge everyone who cares for local wildlife to complete the HS2 questionnaire and write to their MP. It doesn’t matter where people live, their opinions still count. The website bbowt.org.uk has useful information,” says Philippa.

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is one of seven Wildlife Trusts affected by the High Speed Rail route between London and Birmingham.