The fight goes on
You will probably be aware by now that the House of Commons Select Committee has published its final report on HS2. Despite the compelling evidence presented by numbers of local petitioners, our plea for a bored tunnel through the Chilterns AONB, including Wendover, has been rejected. The only concessions offered are a short southerly extension of the green tunnel and 6 metre high concrete noise barriers. The Select Committee acknowledge the visual intrusion of these monstrous structures, but then ignore it as an acceptable trade-off between visual and noise intrusion.
We strongly disagree.
Despite working for the past six years to protect Wendover from the damage that HS2 will inflict, we are adamant that we need to continue to fight for better mitigation in the form of a bored tunnel. Petitions may need to be submitted by 5.00pm on Monday 18 April 2016. We are determined to present a powerful case for the bored tunnel. We need your help in two ways to continue the fight to save Wendover.
First, please consider whether you are able to petition the House of Lords, a lessformal procedure than before, and with no need to appear in person before theCommittee.We need to present a united case to make it clear that only a tunnel would protect Wendover and the Chilterns.If you would like to petition the House of Lords, please click here.
Second, please support our joint fundraising campaign – all four organisations in Wendover working together to fight for the bored tunnel – and contribute whatever you can to help us fund an effective approach to the House of Lords.
From the limited information we have so far, it is likely that the House of Lords Select Committee will visit the Chilterns some time in May or June this year. It is vital that we are able to demonstrate to the Lords Select Committee the level of public anger at the environmental and economic damage that will be inflicted on our community.
On Saturday 9 April, we erected a mock-up of a 6 metre high noise barrier on the ManorWaste using a cherry picker crane to indicate the height of the viaducts and embankments south of Wendover.
We will also need legal and other expert advice to enable us to challenge the well-funded professionals who present HS2 Ltd’s case. Of course, this will all incur costs, and all four main organisations involved in the HS2 fight in Wendover (Wendover PC, Halton PC, Wendover Society and Wendover HS2) will be working together to raise money to fund an effective demonstration of the impact on Wendover.
Over the past six years, we have been very grateful for contributions from so many people, from money dropped into the collecting boxes to significant generous donations, and have put this money to the most effective use both locally and in supporting Wendover and the wider Chilterns campaign. We believe we need to raise around £10,000 to enable us to put a strong, co-ordinated, well-evidenced case as a final attempt to protect our community from the irreparable damage that will be inflicted on us by HS2. We are asking you to contribute as much as you feel able to our fighting fund.
Please support us as generously as you can. Your contribution will be used to cover the costs of professional advice and to fund the means of demonstrating to the Lords Select Committee just how devastating the current proposals will be.
to read the coverage in the Wendover News April print edition, go to pages 23-25 after clicking here.
See also this article about Petitioning the House of Lords.
For a downloadable PDF copy of the petition click here
See also the simpler “tick box” version shown in the photograph here.
More information from the local website.