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February 2012 Update
Urgent Appeal - Judicial Review can still stop HS2
We need to act now. Money is needed urgently to fund this legal action.
The planned Judicial Review, funded by action groups opposed to HS2, will challenge the government on the grounds that HS2 is in breach of the law regarding the environment and habitat and also on the grounds of the flawed consultation process. This is separate from the legal action being pursued by the County and District Councils.
Together with other action groups, Wendover HS2 is committed to raising the required funds.
Please give generously for this critical legal fight. Donations and pledges are needed by 29th February.
You can donate in the following ways:
Cheque payable to 'Wendover HS2 Legal' and sent to HS2 Treasurer, Boddington East, Hale Lane, Wendover HP22 6NQ
Direct to Lloyds Bank plc (account no: 38524660; sort code: 30-90-38; account name: Wendover HS2 Legal)
Online with credit or debit card via www.wendoverhs2.org (there is a 2% charge to Wendover HS2 for this method of payment)
Don’t forget…Judicial Review stopped the 3rd runway at Heathrow at the 11th hour.
Judicial Review can still stop HS2.
Thank you.
Marion Clayton, Chairman, Wendover HS2.
March 2012 update
The campaign against HS2 is stepping up a gear, following the announcement by Bucks County Council and the other members of the ‘51m’ group of county and district councils that they will be seeking a judicial review of the Government’s decision to proceed.
Anti-HS2 community groups along the line of the route have come together to seek separate judicial reviews of environmental aspects of HS2 and the Government’s decision to offer only a limited compensation scheme. This twin-track approach, with the councils and action groups making separate challenges, is to ensure that all the key decisions the Government has taken are considered by the courts. The Wendover HS2 Action Group is in favour of this approach and legal advice gives us some confidence that it can succeed. We believe this offers the best chance of getting the Government to reassess HS2 and the chosen route as part of a proper enquiry into the country’s strategic transport needs.
Wendover HS2 is now seeking funds to contribute to the action groups’ legal challenges, and to enable us to continue fighting strongly for a better deal for Wendover and the surrounding villages if HS2 does go ahead. This is a critical point in the campaign and we need to raise a substantial sum of money. By law, if we are to challenge the Government’s decisions about HS2, we have to do so immediately.
Please help if you can, by sending a cheque for whatever you can afford, made out to ‘Wendover HS2 Legal’, to Antony Chapman, Treasurer, Wendover HS2, Boddington East, Hale Lane, Wendover, Bucks HP22 6NQ. This is our last and best chance to halt HS2 in its tracks!
Wendover HS2 would like to thank the Lionel Abel-Smith Trust for its pledge of £5,000, making a total of £11,000 donated by the Trust to fight against HS2.
In parallel with the legal challenge, we must continue to press the Government for a proper bored tunnel right through the Chilterns in the event HS2 does go ahead. The latest plan – with the line in a tunnel as it passes central Wendover – is a huge improvement, but it still leaves residents of London Road and the surrounding hills exposed to an even higher viaduct, and the beautiful Chilterns countryside blighted forever.
Please write today to Justine Greening, Transport Secretary, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or greeningj@parliament.uk urging her to reconsider her decision to reject a bored tunnel right through the Chilterns, which she did on cost grounds.
Finally, we need your help to improve the Government’s proposed compensation scheme. We believe the question about compensation in the HS2 consultation was not fair, and that the Government has rejected the best of the options for compensation.
Please write to the Transport Secretary and to David Lidington MP urging them to provide the high-quality compensation scheme we were promised and that helps everyone affected by HS2, and not just those suffering exceptional hardship.
BBOWT response to HS2
The altered route of HS2 still impacts on dozens of wildlife sites in Buckinghamshire. Read the latest updates on the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust's website www.bbowt.org.uk and download a document listing the wildlife sites affected: http://www.bbowt.org.uk/content.asp?did=26682
February 2012 Update
David Lidington MP’s response to the delayed HS2 decision
As you are likely to be aware the Secretary of State for Transport has delayed her decision on if the Government will be proceeding with HS2 until January 2012. She announced this via a Written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons on 6 December 2011. To view the statement please follow the link below.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/14-Transport-DfTBusinessPlan.pdf
I am aware that several media outlets have commented that the reason for the delay is so an assessment can be made on the feasibility of further tunnelling in the Amersham area. The Secretary of State’s statement makes no reference to this and subsequent enquiries have led me to understand that no decisions have been made about further tunneling and that a variety of options are being looked at. Therefore, until the announcement the issues raised in the recent articles are nothing more than pure media speculation.
However, I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport to ask for clarification and to again urge her to consider mitigation measures for Wendover, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury and Fairford Leys if the scheme goes ahead and a copy of this letter will be available on my website www.davidlidington.com shortly.
Regarding the case for tunneling of the route in the local area, as I indicated in my consultation response I continue to believe that should HS2 go ahead serious consideration needs to be given to further mitigation measures in the local area, including tunneling. I can assure you that I am making the case to the Government that if HS2 goes ahead it should impact the local area as little as possible as well as making every effort to persuade the relevant Ministers and officials that there are viable alternatives to HS2 that should be considered.
Yours sincerely,
David Lidington
Member of Parliament for Aylesbury
Letter from Steve Bowles, Chairman of Aylesbury Conservatives
I was disappointed with the recent statement by the government that HS2 is to go ahead. However the fight against this proposal will continue and now moves into the next phase. Along with the other members of Wendover HS2 I as one of your district councillors will continue to fight these proposals. I believe that the amendments announced which affect Wendover are due to the well reasoned and substantial representations to the public consultation made by various groups in Wendover as well as the campaigning from inside the government by MP David Lidington.
As Chairman of Aylesbury Conservatives I have and continue to work closely with other local chairman, David Lidington and key decision makers within government. I wrote to Justine Greening when she was appointed Transport Secretary pointing out the environmental impact and lack of any economic case for HS2. In her reply she states ‘ I look forward to engaging with you once I have announced my decision’ therefore I will be contacting her directly to request a meeting to discuss why I believe the enormous cost of this project can not be justified and to also push for further mitigation should the proposal proceed.
We have shown that with campaigning both inside the Government with our MP David Lidington and from the local action groups like ‘Wendover HS2’ and ‘The Wendover Society’ we have been able to secure changes to the route for the village of Wendover, which would have been severely impacted by the initial plans. I am committed to fighting HS2 every step of the way and we will support our local councils to persuade the Government to think again.
Steve Bowles
Dear Secretary of State,
Thank you for your letter of 16th December in response to the issues raised in my earlier correspondence.
Whilst I was disappointed that you have decided to proceed with HS2, I was pleased that you announced further mitigation measures for Wendover and Aylesbury and I thank you for listening to the concerns raised by the local action groups, myself and our MP David Lidington. I understand from the recent open day held by HS2 engineers that there are no engineering measurers as to why further mitigation measures cannot be considered for Wendover and Aylesbury.
As a loyal party member I do find it hard to justify this project as I am yet to be convinced by the business case which assumes people do not work on trains, in the age of the Smartphone, laptops, Blackberries and iPads people do. It therefore seems to me that the entire business case is based on ignoring the fact that people work on trains and the time is not therefore wasted.
As you stated in your letter ‘ I look forward to engaging with you further once I have announced my decision’ I would take this opportunity to request a meeting with you and David to discuss the possibility of further mitigation measures for Wendover and Aylesbury.
I hope you able to comply with this request and I look forward to your response
Yours sincerely
Cllr Steve Bowles
Chairman
Aylesbury Constituency Conservative Association
Government to press ahead
As you will know, the Government announced on 10 January that it intends to press ahead with its plan to build the High Speed 2 rail line, at a cost of more than £32 billion. The broad line of route between London and the West Midlands remains unchanged, but there have been amendments to individual sections of the route. One of these does bring some benefit to Wendover. Having examined the route again, the Government now intends to run more of the Wendover section in a tunnel.
The original plan was for trains to enter a very short tunnel below Ellesborough Road, to emerge onto the cricket ground and to continue towards Stoke Mandeville on a five metre high embankment. The plan also involved the permanent diversion of Ellesborough Road.
In the new plan, the tunnel will extend for more than ¾ mile. Trains will enter the tunnel just south of Bacombe Lane, and exit into fields at the Lionel Avenue end of Wendover. The line will then continue onwards towards Stoke Mandeville in a cutting instead of on an embankment, not emerging at ground level until the far side of Nash Lee Road. The lowering of the line means that it will now go under Nash Lee Road, instead of over. It is also proposed to reinstate Ellesborough Road when construction is completed. As well as being lowered, the line will also run 50 metres further west of Wendover.
These changes will provide welcome protection from train noise and visual impacts for the central residential part of Wendover. However, we are very concerned that the Government has not made any improvement to the route as it approaches Wendover from the south. The line would still cross the bypass and Chiltern Railway line on a 500 metre long viaduct. Indeed the viaduct is now slightly higher, in order to angle the line for descent into the tunnel. Where the line passes close to London Road, it remains on a high embankment, and it is still the plan to cross Wendover Dean on a viaduct. (HS2 Ltd say that they looked at a lowered option for Wendover Dean, which would enable the line to be on an embankment instead of a viaduct, but they have rejected it due to cost.)
The Government proposes to construct the Wendover tunnel as a cut-and-cover or
so-called ‘green’ tunnel. Instead of boring the tunnel from within, a large trench would be dug, a concrete box forming the tunnel infrastructure would be inserted, and the top earthed and grassed over. Unfortunately this means that some houses on Ellesborough Road will still need to be demolished, and that major excavation works would be needed in the fields adjoining Wendover. More disruption for Wendover.
The Wendover HS2 Action Group welcomes the decision to lengthen the Wendover tunnel. We remain highly concerned about the impact on Wendover and the surrounding area of the embankment and viaduct, the effects of construction, and the terrible environmental impact on the Chilterns countryside. We and other groups in the area will continue to fight the scheme and to argue that if the Government intends to force a route through the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it must be in a tunnel throughout. There is a long way to go and we are not giving up.
Consultation responses published
The Government has just published a summary of public responses to the consultation. Unsurprisingly these reveal that a large majority of respondents were opposed both to the scheme and the chosen route. Wendover was named more than any other location on the route in the consultation responses. We are grateful to all the residents of Wendover and the surrounding areas who sent in a formal response to the consultation setting out their objections. This strength of feeling no doubt helped persuade the Government that a longer tunnel through Wendover was essential. We urge residents to keep up the pressure by writing to our M.P. David Lidington and to the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, with your concerns. We are also told that the Treasury remains extremely concerned about the financing of the project, so please address letters to George Osborne.
Public meeting on 25 February
There will be another public meeting about HS2 at the Wendover Memorial Hall on Saturday 25 February from 11 am-12.30 pm, to update residents and discuss the next steps in the campaign. Please come along if you can.
High Speed Rail will blast through wildlife sites in Buckinghamshire
Philippa Lyons, Chief Executive of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, responded to the Secretary of State’s decision announced today (Tuesday 10 January) for the first phase of High Speed 2 to go ahead through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
“We are very disappointed with the decision to go ahead with this route for HS2, which was chosen without any proper scrutiny of the impacts on the wildlife that will be affected,” she said.
“It is an utter disgrace that the Government is not facing up to its responsibilities to biodiversity and the natural environment, and continues to dismiss the environmental impacts of this route on vulnerable wildlife habitats. These include Ancient Woodlands and meadows, two of our nature reserves and several Local Wildlife Sites noted for their wildflowers, butterflies and birds.”
More than 2,000 members of the Wildlife Trust responded to the Government’s consultation last year. “They will be horrified that the Government appears to have ignored the passionate and informed comments they submitted,” said Philippa Lyons.
“Extending a tunnel in the Chilterns may save one group of Ancient Woodlands, but does nothing to protect the Bernwood Forest area north of Aylesbury which will be directly impacted. This will affect the highly-protected Bechstein’s bats that are known to use woods on both sides of the proposed route for their habitats.”
The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust will continue to lobby MPs and the Department for Transport to raise the issues of wildlife habitats that will be significantly impacted by the route. The Environmental Impact Assessment process for the route will consider mitigation, and the Trust will work to ensure that wildlife impacts are properly recognised and the best possible mitigation is put in place.
January 2012 Update
HS2 announcement delayed
The new Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, has delayed her announcement about High Speed 2 until January. In a written statement to Parliament, she said:
“Since taking up office in October I have been considering the issues, raised as part of the consultation and additionally have listened to the views of Honourable Members. In order to ensure that my decision is based on a careful consideration of all relevant factors, I have concluded that I should allow myself until early in 2012 to announce my decisions. I am therefore notifying the House that I will not be making a further statement on the subject of high speed rail this year, but I expect to announce my decisions in January.”
David Lidington MP’s response to the delayed HS2 decision
As you are likely to be aware the Secretary of State for Transport has delayed her decision on if the Government will be proceeding with HS2 until January 2012. She announced this via a Written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons on 6 December 2011. To view the statement please follow the link below.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/14-Transport-DfTBusinessPlan.pdf
I am aware that several media outlets have commented that the reason for the delay is so an assessment can be made on the feasibility of further tunnelling in the Amersham area. The Secretary of State’s statement makes no reference to this and subsequent enquiries have led me to understand that no decisions have been made about further tunneling and that a variety of options are being looked at. Therefore, until the announcement the issues raised in the recent articles are nothing more than pure media speculation.
However, I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport to ask for clarification and to again urge her to consider mitigation measures for Wendover, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury and Fairford Leys if the scheme goes ahead and a copy of this letter will be available on my website www.davidlidington.com shortly.
Regarding the case for tunnelling of the route in the local area, as I indicated in my consultation response I continue to believe that should HS2 go ahead serious consideration needs to be given to further mitigation measures in the local area, including tunnelling. I can assure you that I am making the case to the Government that if HS2 goes ahead it should impact the local area as little as possible as well as making every effort to persuade the relevant Ministers and officials that there are viable alternatives to HS2 that should be considered.
David Lidington
Member of Parliament for Aylesbury
December 2011
HS2 announcement expected
The new Transport Secretary, Justine
Greening, is expected to announce this month whether HS2 will go ahead. You can find the latest news at www.wendoverhs2.org or visit the Wendover HS2 Information Centre on Back Street (opposite Borders), open every Saturday from 10.30am to 1pm.
Wendover HS2 welcomes Transport Committee findings
The Transport Select Committee has published its report on the Government’s high speed rail proposals. While supporting the development it highlighted fundamental flaws in the HS2 plan. We share these concerns and welcome the Committee’s position on the environmental impact and their call for the Government to take account of severe damage to the environment in the business case for the scheme.
The Transport Committee concluded that slightly slower, less environmentally-damaging routes, for instance alongside a motorway, were ruled out prematurely and that the Government should look again at re-routing the line via Heathrow. The Labour Party, which recently published its own critical assessment of the Government’s HS2 plans, is likewise in favour of a route via Heathrow and alongside existing motorways. Marion Clayton, said: “We have argued consistently that HS2 as currently proposed will have a devastating impact on the environment, and will do nothing to help reduce the UK’s carbon emissions. The Committee was quite clear that HS2 should not be promoted by Government as a carbon reduction scheme, and that designing the line for 250mph trains will have a substantial impact on the countryside and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
“We support the Committee’s call for the Government to reassess the seriously flawed business case and provide proof of why the Government regards this proposed HS2 scheme as better than the cost-effective alternatives. The Government is about to commit the country to this £32 billion scheme, which will destroy the natural environment we hold in trust for future generations.”
Wendover HS2 would like to thank all those who allowed us to site a noise meter in their gardens. The resulting acoustic survey will enable us to generate a verifiable baseline of ambient noise levels around the village, regarding predictions of high speed train noise should the government indicate their wish to proceed. We would also like to thank all the volunteers who took time to babysit the equipment on Church Lane and Coombe Hill during the survey.
HS2 colouring competition
Colouring Competition
Age Groups: 4-6 / 7-9 /10-12
A4 pictures can be collected from the HS2 Shop, Back Street 14A on Saturdays between 10am and 1pm or downloaded from here.
The completed picture must be handed in to the HS2 Shop by the 17th December. Please remember to write your name, age and contact number on the back. The winner of each age group will receive a prize and their picture will be used as a poster.
November Update
HS2 petition
As we write, plans are in hand for the petition against HS2 to be delivered to Downing Street. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, and to those who helped by displaying it in their premises or by collecting signatures at events. More than 100,000 signatures were collected, and as a result HS2 is the subject of a debate in Parliament. We will report on this in our next update. Tell your friends about the ‘Write to your MP' website. More than 1000 people have written to their MP to oppose HS2 in the past couple of weeks using our website at www.highspeedrail.org.uk It is really important that people from all across the UK contact their MP before the Government makes its decision about HS2 in December. Please ask your friends and family to visit the website and send a quick email to their MP saying they are opposed to the plan.
Secretary of State for Transport kept in the dark about possible ‘showstopper’ for HS2 – says Wildlife Trust
The Government’s controversial HS2 (high speed rail) proposal could be stopped in its tracks by a significant colony of rare and highly protected Bechstein’s bats, and it seems nobody has told the Secretary of State for Transport.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust has obtained copies of emails between Natural England (the Government’s wildlife advisors), and HS2 Ltd about the colony of Bechstein’s bats in Bernwood Forest, Buckinghamshire.
These reveal that on 7 June, Natural England advised HS2 Ltd: ‘There is potential for Bechstein’s to be a showstopper, but it could be that it won’t be a problem or that it might require redesign of the scheme...but we simply don’t know with the survey information which is currently available. Therefore we urge HS2 to undertake surveys (ASAP) in order to understand the likelihood of impacts.’
Seven weeks after HS2 Ltd was advised to get the bat survey work done as soon as possible, David Lidington MP wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport asking what action the Department had taken ‘to assess the effect that HS2 would have on this rare wildlife species.’
The Secretary of State’s reply on 30 August states: ‘No assessments have yet been undertaken on the effects of the HS2 proposal on Bechstein’s bats in the Bernwood Forest, as this issue is very much at a local level.’
Matt Jackson, Head of Conservation Policy at Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, who initiated the Freedom of Information request, comments: “It seems that nobody has told the Secretary of State for Transport that the presence of these bats has the potential to be a showstopper.
“The Secretary of State’s reply to David Lidington shows that advice from Natural England to HS2 Ltd is not being passed to him.” says Matt Jackson.
The Wildlife Trust took legal advice about the bat colony and sent it to the Department of Transport through the formal HS2 consultation process in July.
Matt Jackson points out: “The legal advice highlights the need for the Secretary of State to be certain that the HS2 development will not have a significant effect on the bats before he is able to make a decision whether or not to proceed with HS2.
“We are very worried because it looks as though vital information about the Bechstein’s bat colony is simply not getting through to the Secretary of State – who is ultimately deciding whether or not HS2 goes ahead.
“At a time when the Department for Transport is actively encouraging railway companies to compete for HS2 contracts – even though a decision has not yet been made – it seems that the Secretary of State is being kept in the dark about the significance of the Bechstein’s bat colony.”
Bechstein’s bats are a European Protected Species and UK Biodiversity Action Plan species. They have the highest possible level of statutory wildlife protection in the UK.
The North Bucks Bat Group, which is taking part in a four-year survey of Bechstein’s, observed at least 65 bats emerging at dusk from their roost inside a tree in woodland west of the HS2 route. Tiny radio tracking devices on female Bechstein’s enabled the bat detectors to record them crossing the proposed HS2 route into woodland which the route will go through.
Bechstein’s bats are known to occur in 10 woods within the Bernwood Forest area of Buckinghamshire, including the Wildlife Trust’s Finemere Wood nature reserve. This colony could be the most significant population in England, and better than many of the existing Special Areas of Conservation where Bechstein’s bats are known to breed.
October Update
High Speed 2: We need your help!
The formal Consultation on the HS2 proposals ended on 29 July. The Government has said that it will announce its decision by the end of the year on whether or not to go ahead with HS2, and if so, what the route will be. This means that we have just three months in which to make the Government change its mind. How do we do this? We believe we have the answer.
We have been advised by David Lidington MP that the most important thing is for MPs over the whole of the UK to receive so many messages from their own constituents that they realise that almost the whole country is strongly against HS2.
Do you remember the very successful forests campaign? We have built a website which could do the same for us. It is at www.highspeedrail.org.uk
The most important aspect is the need to get it to people away from the route. We would like everyone in Wendover to send details of this website to their friends and family living away from the route, and to ask them to forward it their friends too. Everyone will be affected by this £32 billion scheme - through their taxes, reductions to existing rail services that will occur if HS2 goes ahead, and opportunities lost if money is diverted from other worthwhile projects.
Crucially, we need financial help to enable us to promote this new website round the whole of the United Kingdom. Please consider very seriously if you can help us with a donation. Donations may be made by cheque, which should be made out to Wendover HS2 and sent to the Treasurer, at Boddington East, Hale Lane, Wendover HP22 6NQ; or online with a credit or debit card, at www.wendoverhs2.org Click on make a donation, then on online donations page. Thank you.
The Wendover HS2 Campaign Team
Wendover HS2 Day
Sat 22 October, 10am-4pm, Manor Waste
The Wendover HS2 campaign team will be holding a public event on 22 October to highlight where we are in the campaign against HS2 and what the next steps will be. There will be information stalls, a technical demonstration, and, from 11.30am, some short speeches to update everyone on the latest on HS2. Speakers will include David Lidington MP. Please come along to find out more and to show your support for the campaign.
September Update
New website launched to fight HS2
A new website to help people email their MP quickly and easily about HS2 has just been launched at www.highspeedrail.org.uk As well as using this to send a message to Mr Lidington, please ask your friends and family across the country to use it to send a quick message to their MP. All MPs will eventually have to vote on HS2 and it is crucial that they start receiving emails and letters about it from their own constituents.
Stop HS2 Information Centre
The Stop HS2 Information Centre has moved to new premises in Back Street, opposite Borders / Aces High. It will be open 10.30am to 1pm each Saturday. There will be ongoing fund raising events. The first will be a White Elephant Stall and petition signing opportunity at the Local Produce Market on Saturday 17 September.
The Wendover Society
Response to HS2 consultation
The Wendover Society has submitted a robust and detailed response to the public consultation on HS2. The Society concentrated on drawing full attention to the damaging effects on Wendover if the Government approves the proposed route. A wide range of issues is covered, from the effects of noise on our community life style and health to the likely losses in property values. The Society has described the serious effects on local businesses arising from the major reduction in tourism that would be caused by the current proposal.
The submission also highlights the impracticality and high costs of the proposed closure of the Ellesborough Road and the proposed new diversion road that would take traffic out towards the bypass roundabout and then back into Wendover along South Street. Emphasis is placed on the disruption that this proposal would cause to the village and to neighbouring areas. Reference is also made to a variety of other negative effects on communal life such as the visual impact of the line on our landscape and the need to relocate the Wendover Cricket Club's main ground.
The Society's response states that if the proposed route is approved the best way to protect Wendover, and at the same time avoid significant construction and social costs, would be to implement the bored tunnel that was included in the HS2 Ltd line mitigation report of November 2010 but not approved by the Government. The Society's submission includes a detailed account of major cost savings that would result from constructing the tunnel and thus dramatically reduce its incremental cost. The Wendover Society is grateful to a number of qualified professionals who have, without charge, provided written expert evidence in support of the case for mitigation.
Whilst the Government considers the various responses to the Consultation the Wendover Society will endeavour to ensure that its views are understood and incorporated within the Government’s decision on HS2, expected to be announced before the end of this year.
Mike Beard
HS2? - Not in my Chilterns-
Proud to be a 'nimChi'
There is nothing wrong with fighting to preserve our local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty -we owe it to future generations of Chiltern dwellers and visitors to make our case against the current preferred HS2 route.
We should not rely too much on rubbishing the business case. Of course this examination is valid and has exposed the many flaws in their case.
But U.K history is littered with examples of infrastructure developments with weak business cases that were ultimately supported by parliament in the name of progress, the channel tunnel/HS1 is one example.
Realistically, the case for an HS2, as such, will probably get majority support in parliament sooner or later and it is not enough to get the project pushed onto the back burner, only to return when the economy improves.
The proposed route of the HS2 is what we are fighting against, the route should go round or under the Chilterns - we nimChies simply want to preserve what we have.
Now that the government has commissioned the work to include Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool/East Midlands/SouthYorks the optimum orientation of the route has changed and will need to take into account serving an additional total population of over 6million the centre of which on a straight line to London is orientated further east than the 2mil. of Birmingham. In the light of this HS2 need to look again at alternative routes, when all this kind of work was done for our motorway network several decades ago the solution started with the M1 and perhaps that is the corridor they should be looking at. Surely it makes sense to orientate the network to 75% of potential users.
In Wendover we not only have the prospect of a completely spoilt local AONB but also face a considerable increase in noise level. The consultation noise modelling only takes into account the increase in Railway noise (ref, Appraisal of Sustainability Appendix 5 doc. 5.3.3). If the considerable road by-pass noise is added into the equation, (even with the improvements below), the entire village will be well above the W.H.O recommendation level of 50 dbALeq maximum for total noise exposure at peak times.
(of course it is time to do something about the by-pass noise anyway, the next resurfacing should be with a modern asphalt rather that the current noisy aggregate surface, this combined with a speed reduction from 60 to 50 mph would reduce noise to less than one quarter of the current level.-ref. UKNA)
Finally ,if there really needs to be an HS2 and it really needs to come next to Wendover it must go through a tunnel ,this would increase the total budgeted cost by less than 1%.
But the key message to the Consultation is still ‘not in my Chilterns’ ,
- be a nimChi.-
Colin Bryant
August Update
HS2 White Elephant Day
A big thank you to all those who turned up last Sunday. It appeared that everybody had some fun and at least the weather kept at bay for us. For those who asked, had we done two £33bn banners, we would have beaten the world record for table cloth, however we did use 2.6km of sellotape !
We had 750 people turn up and managed a reasonable amount of BBC and Meridian press coverage. We hope everybody is now spreading the word to sign the petition at www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/stop-hs2/sign.html#se and fill in the Dft consultation.
One other big thank you, is that there was absolutely no litter left. Quite amazing; we simply could not find rubbish, when we cleared up !
For those detractors who complained about our ruining the countryside perhaps you might concentrate on fighting HS2, not us. As for those who persisted in removing the signs around the village for the event, do you support HS2 or stand to benefit from it ? In which case, why not air your views openly ?
Andrew Band
HS2 White Elephant Walk Co-ordinator
VIEW THE HS2 WHITE ELEPHANT DAY GALLERY FROM HERE
Speak up for wildlife on HS2 route before it’s too late!
Please tell the Government why the proposed high speed rail route through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire must be halted, and a proper environmental assessment done.
Thousands of members of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust have already completed the Government’s consultation questionnaire, and there’s little time for more people to ‘speak up for wildlife’ before the consultation ends on 29 July.
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“This week we’re sending more than 2,000 completed forms to the Government, and many people told us they used the online form,” said Philippa Lyons, chief executive of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (pictured above with a wheelbarrow of forms).
“We are hugely grateful to our members who responded to the consultation,” said Philippa Lyons, chief executive of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust.
The consultation deadline is 29 July, so people can go on to the Wildlife Trust’s website bbowt.org.uk, read about the beautiful woodlands and wildflower meadows the route is likely to devastate, and follow the link to the online form to let the Government know their views.
“The Government in its recently published Natural Environment White Paper recognises the need to remove barriers to the movement of wildlife, but HS2 will be just that – a 75metre wide sterile corridor with a core of concrete, steel and gravel,” says Philippa Lyons.
“High Speed 2 is on track to break up dozens of valuable wildlife sites like important chalk streams and ancient woods.”
A significant population of rare Bechstein’s bats, one of the UK’s rarest mammals, is located in woods close to the proposed HS2 route. Radio tracking shows some of the bats move between the woods, which mean they would be affected by HS2.
“This is just one example of the wildlife threatened by the railway,” says Philippa Lyons. “There are also water voles on the River Misbourne, and black hairstreak butterflies in north Bucks.”
The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust and 35 other wildlife trusts in the UK wrote to the Prime Minister in June, asking him to withdraw the proposal for phase one of HS2 and carry out a strategic consideration of the role of High Speed Rail.
Bechstein’s Bats
A significant population of rare Bechstein’s bats has been discovered in Buckinghamshire - in ancient woodland either side of the proposed HS2 route and adjacent to the proposed site of a waste incinerator. Until 2010, only a single Bechstein’s bat had been found in Bucks - in the far south of the county, at Cliveden.
In one woodland alone, (Grendon & Doddershall Woods) an amazing count of 65 Bechstein’s bats were observed emerging at dusk from their roost inside a tree. Several tree roosts have been found and Bechstein’s bats are now known to occur in 10 woods within the Bernwood Forest area of Buckinghamshire.
Bechstein’s bats are one of the rarest mammals in the UK and they, their roosts and their breeding sites are strictly protected under UK and European law.
The discoveries have been made by volunteers undertaking the Bernwood Forest Bechstein’s Project. The Project was set up in 2011 to expand on work undertaken by the North Bucks Bat Group and the Bat Conservation Trust in 2010. Bechstein's bats were discovered in three North Bucks woodlands in 2010, with a further incidental discovery in 2011 at Finemere Wood, a Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust nature reserve.
Chris Damant, who has been co-ordinating the Bernwood study says “The discoveries in 2010 were very exciting, but we realised we knew very little about how the bats were using the woodlands and which other woods they might also be in. Three of us who had been involved in the 2010 surveys, decided to find out more and we designed and sought funding for an independent research project. Local landowners have been very supportive and allowed us access for the study.”
Toby Thorne, another bat expert on the Project continues, “We never expected to find Bechstein’s bats in North Bucks last year; let alone the significant breeding population we’ve identified this year. It just goes to show you don’t need to go abroad to discover rare wildlife – we’ve done it at home!”
The team has also undertaken radio-tracking studies of individual bats. Tiny radio transmitters were attached to 4 female Bechstein’s bats, which were then followed for up to 11 days and nights. Two bats stayed close to their tree roost in one woodland, whilst the other two were found to move up to 3km between woodlands in the area, including crossing the proposed route of HS2. Jo Hodgkins, ecologist on the Project team says, “The bats appear to be using a network of woodlands in the area and some are moving between woods. It’s really important that we understand how they are using the landscape, before major infrastructure projects change it. If we don’t, how can the impact of such developments be assessed? The radio-tracking work is in its early days and we plan to follow more bats in the coming months. We’ve still got more woods to survey as well – we’re only a quarter of the way through our initial research - who knows what else we’ll discover!”
And it’s not just Bechstein’s bats being found; the Project team has so far recorded a total of 10 species of bat in these woodlands, with some species such as the protected Brown Long-eared bat being recorded in large numbers. The Bernwood Forest area appears to be an important ‘hotspot’ for bats!
Bernwood Forest Bechstein's Project
Click here to go to the YouTube video clip about Bechstein’s bat as featured last month
White Elephant Walk
More than 500 people walked from Wendover to the top of Coombe Hill to show their opposition to HS2. Large white elephants were present at the start and end of the walk, and the figures ‘£33bn?’ were unfurled on the hill in huge letters, right above the Prime Minister’s residence at Chequers. The story featured on several news channels and in the press.
Wendover HS2
Sunday 10 July
To all who turned out for the White Elephant Walk on Sunday 10 July a very big thank you. It was an opportunity to see who cares about HS2, the destruction that will be wrought upon the Chilterns and above all the financial cost to every household in the country for very little gain. We managed television coverage on both BBC Oxford and Meridian on ITV and have also been well supported by coverage in the Bucks Free Press. To those of you who were too lazy or apathetic, I wonder if you will be among the first to complain when the library closes; you have a long wait in A&E; to see your GP; your bins are emptied once every two weeks; or no police officer turns up to address your complaint? Lastly, to the sneak who toured Wendover vandalizing or removing our signs and posters, stand up and be counted. If you are in favour of HS2 start your own Wendover group and show your face. Once again a big thank you to the organizers, those who can do, those who can’t just wait for somebody else to do it!
Peter Littlewood
Wendover HS2 Information Centre
The information centre closed at the end of July. We are grateful to the owner for allowing Wendover HS2 to use the premises on favourable terms for the duration of the consultation period, and to all the volunteers who staffed it so ably. We are now seeking an alternative base for the campaign.
Wendover HS2
HS2 next steps
With the end of the consultation, the national campaign against HS2 is now taking on a different focus: MPs whose constituencies lie away from the route. Most of the MPs who will eventually have to vote on HS2 have little interest, one way or the other, in the project. The goal, over the next few months, is to raise awareness among these MPs, and this can only be done effectively through their own constituents. So we urge everyone in Wendover to contact their friends living away from the route and ask them to write to their MP telling them they do not wish the Government to spend £30+ billion on this project, which will be of benefit to so few, and that the Government should focus instead on improving existing services for everyone. The Wendover HS2 team is developing a new website to help on this front, which will shortly be available at www.highspeedrail.org.uk.
July Update
HS2 Consultation
Final Reminder
The consultation on the Government’s high-speed rail proposals ends on 29 July.
This is your chance to influence the Government’s decisions on HS2, so please ensure that you send in a response, however brief.
You can pick up a response form at the Wendover HS2 Information Centre on Back Street (open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), where volunteers can advise you on completing it, or else have your say online at http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk
Even if you attended the HS2 Roadshow in May, it is important to answer the seven consultation questions in writing or online.
Please mention the tunnel!
We have learnt that the HS2 engineers considered putting the railway line in an extended tunnel past Wendover, from the London Road to Nash Lee Road, but that this was rejected as being too expensive. Given the cost of whole project is likely to be well over £30 billion, and Wendover is the worst affected town of its size along the route, this seems short-sighted. Officials at the HS2 Roadshow said that if enough people in Wendover press for a tunnel, this may be reconsidered. You may wish to say in answering Question 5 of the consultation (on the proposed route) that, if the Government does push HS2 through despite the opposition to the plans, a tunnel through the whole Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - and at the very least through Wendover and the surrounding area - is absolutely essential to protect communities from noise and visual impacts. There is no reason why making such a point should compromise any opposition to HS2 in principle that you may express in answering the other questions.
Transport Select Committee Inquiry and Labour transport review
The Transport Select Committee is undertaking a new inquiry into the Government’s high-speed rail strategy. Wendover HS2 Action Group has submitted a paper on the poor business case of the HS2 proposals, which the committee has formally accepted as evidence. The Labour party is also reviewing its transport policies, including high-speed rail. Wendover HS2 is preparing a report for the review, and encourages residents to have their say too at http://www.britainbetterconnected.org.uk A change of heart in the Labour party may ensure HS2 becomes an issue at the next general election.
White Elephant Walk
Sun 10 July, 10am Meet on Manor Waste
Come and join us on our ‘White Elephant Walk’ to bring everyone’s attention to the completion of the HS2 Consultation and raise awareness of this expensive White Elephant and the damage it will do. Press and MPs have also been invited to walk up Coombe Hill or meet us up there at 11am.
Tell all your friends and family, bring a picnic, a banner or even an elephant mask and make your voice heard!
Rare wildlife threatened by HS2
Bechstein’s bats, one of Britain’s rarest mammals, are living in ancient woods either side of the proposed HS2 (high speed rail) route in north Buckinghamshire.
“If the HS2 route rips through this area of Bernwood it will destroy another important wildlife site,” says Philippa Lyons, Chief Executive of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust. The Government hasn’t considered the route’s devastating impact on wildlife at all, which is astounding when you consider the scale of the HS2 development. If HS2 Ltd had done a proper environmental assessment, they would be aware of all the wildlife that will be affected.”
Bechstein’s bats, and their roosting and maternity sites, are protected under EU and UK wildlife laws. As a European Protected Species and UK Biodiversity Action Plan species, they have the highest possible level of statutory wildlife protection in the UK.
“This means that it’s against the law to damage, destroy or obstruct their habitats and roosts,” said Philippa Lyons. “The proposed HS2 route could have a severe impact on the ability of the bats to breed, and might even lead to the extinction of this local population. HS2 must be halted and a proper Strategic Environmental Assessment carried out before any decisions on the route are made. We are not convinced that the Government is taking its responsibilities for the environment and wildlife seriously.
Volunteers from the North Bucks Bat Group are taking part in a four-year national project to survey Bechstein’s bats. During May several female Bechstein’s bats were found in woodlands including Finemere Wood, a BBOWT nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The Bat Group believes that these bats are likely to be part of a large breeding group. A further group of adult female Bechstein’s bats with their young were found last year in one wood, and a group of adult males were found in another wood on the other side of the proposed HS2 route. Taken together with the recent discovery of female Bechstein’s bats at Finemere Wood, this creates a Bechstein’s bat ‘hotspot’.
Matt Dodds of the North Bucks Bat Group says: “Until last year’s find, Bechstein’s bats had never been recorded this far north-east in England, and their discovery was a big surprise. “We don’t yet know how far this population is distributed, but local landowners are really supportive and keen for us to investigate this further. The ancient woodland and habitat links between them in the Bernwood Biodiversity Opportunity Area must be protected for the Bechstein’s bats to survive.”
June 2011 Update
No HS2 across the Chilterns now on YouTube
Keith Hoffmeister, a member of the Chiltern Society
Don’t forget to have your say
Please take part in the Government’s formal consultation about HS2. You can answer the seven consultation questions online at http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/ or by obtaining a form from the HS2 order line, 0300 321 1010.
Copies of the questions are also held at Wendover’s HS2 Information Centre, at 2 Icknield Court, Back Street, Wendover. The Information Centre is open from 10:00 to 16:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; or by arrangement on 07922 532598 or by emailing wendoverhs2@btinternet.com.
Wendover HS2’s volunteers can advise you on completing the consultation questions, and further advice is also available online at http://www.wendoverhs2.org/hs2-consultation
This is your chance to make your feelings known about the proposals. The consultation will close on 29 July.
Letter to The Times from Andrew Walker
Proposed HS2 Link through the Chilterns
My wife and I relocated to Wendover 10 years ago. 45 years in the construction industry have led me through many of its diverse occupations in both the public and private sector, including design, planning and field work in the UK and overseas. I have experienced “both sides of the coin” in the construction arena, and witnessed first hand the high emotion that is engendered by proposals such as the HSL.
I wish to ad my views and observations.
I do not want this in our back yard, and I am equally opposed to it going through anybody else’s. I was disappointed to read David Whitaker’s comment (Wendover News April 2010) “all parties are convinced that a high speed route is necessary”. Why? Quoting from the Lib Dem’s flyer through my door, Norman Baker MP – “High speed rail is hugely important, but it is only part of the 21st century rail network Britain needs. Our plans will re-open thousands of miles of track and make our railways great again”. In a lesser part this may be the case, but I just cannot see the logistics of the greater part stacking up in practical terms.
“Re-open” intimates that these will run down the old axed Beeching routes of the 60’s. Consider the enormous infrastructure connotations that involves, (and the cost!). Re-establishment of level crossings and associated structures at every twist and turn of the old lines. This would severely compromise the efficiency of thousands of roads as they exist today. (Heaven help us if he wishes to get over this problem by factoring in the cost of tunnels and bridges to alleviate any reduction in convenience).
Lord Adonis spoke to Andrew Marr on BBC television on Sunday several weeks ago. “The rest of Europe has a high speed network, and we need to upgrade to suit”. Why? France and Spain have vast regions over which high speed rail travel is common sense, and the time saving advantageous for haulage of major commodities. Yes, we have the CTRL now running to London, but why extend the link further in the UK? Lord Adonis then went on to say the “the HSL will take more traditional routes” through Scotland. A low speed link? So the definitions “Site of Special Scientific Interest” and “Area of Extreme Natural Beauty” take on their proper weighting when we get to the Scottish border, and should not be tinkered with?
In the Times, Tuesday 15 March 2011 he harps on (and on), about the need for a high speed link to Birmingham and beyond to Manchester and Leeds. (Residents of those areas – prepare yourselves!) He flogs to death the reduced journey times that would ensue.
The article bears a footnote: “Andrew Adonis is Director of the Institute for Government. This is an extract from his lecture today to the Lunar Society, Birmingham”.
Wishing to learn more I discovered that the Institute is “An independent charity with cross-party and Whitehall governance working to increase government effectiveness”. It seems his views to those property owners’ lives he will ruin if the HSL were to become reality offer not charity whatsoever. Lunar Men, (origins in the 18th Century), “gathered together for lively dinner conversations, the journey from Birmingham meeting place lit by the full moon”. I will swiftly move on.
We cannot make our island bigger. We can make it better though. To this end I am strongly in favour of re-allocating some of this £34 billion budget to upgrade the present public transport infrastructure. Rail is essential for commodity movements on our tiny island as our roads constantly groan under the strain. Do the following and the customers will appear:
*Upgrade the existing main line rail network, including present branches, and old branch lines where feasible
*Upgrade passenger rolling stock
*Increase frequency of passenger trains
*Rejuvenate the whole system maintenance strategy
*Improve the present links between rail and road public transport
*Attract numbers with lower prices.
Choosing infrastructure upgrade, and dumping the HSL philosophy, we can spread new construction job opportunities throughout the whole of the country, further afield than the HS2 ever could.
I hear the cynics now, saying that my upgrade suggestions would cost hundreds of millions, and I have not thought through a cost plan. My home town of Hull suffers an ongoing debt from the construction of the Humber Bridge funded by Government loads. Nicknamed “a bridge to nowhere”. Opened in 1981, the original £98 million cost when factoring in interest charges turned into a debt which was pegged at £435 million between 1992 and 1998. (Quote Riverhumber.co.uk). How novel it is that 30 years later Transport Minister Paul Clark has been reported as saying he will not pay off the bridge’s present £350 million debt because “There were more pressing demands, such as train and bus fares and subsidies”.
I proffer that the financial repercussions which are bound to happen in the wake of the £34 billion HSL will pour us all into a financial abyss dwarfing the Humber Bridge debacle.
High Speed communication in commerce and industry alike is already with us, electronic mail, conference calls and so on.
The “High Speed” Link is already dead in the water before the first turf has been dug.
Andrew R. Walker
Letter to The Daily Telegraph from Graham Jefford
Yesterday I attended the HS2 "Road show" which visited our town. This is an attempt by the DfT and HS2 to win over public support for its projected high speed rail route. That the organisers recognised just how contentious this issue is was born out by the presence of bouncers; clearly a vital component in today's democratic process.
The road show was clearly designed to overload the public with details intended to divert attention from the real debate, which we are being denied by a Government which knows it could not carry the day in a properly conducted public enquiry. The consultation questionnaire which we are being offered is full of heavily loaded questions designed to steer respondents towards agreeing with both the need for HS2 and with the proposed route. Furthermore we are being asked to believe that the results of the consultation, which apparently are to be collated and analysed by an independent company on behalf of the DfT and HS2 before being submitted to the Minister for Transport, will be openly and fairly addressed. We can all rest assured there then.
What is happening is a flagrant contravention of democratic principles and is to be abhorred. Whatever one's views on HS2 these events should be ringing alarm bells among all the electorate, not just those directly affected by HS2.
May 2011 Update
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.
April 2011 Update
Wendover HS2 has been made aware that a leaflet is being distributed in the Wendover area asking for details of property values associated with HS2 Ltd's proposals. The leaflet is not endorsed by or associated in any way with the Wendover HS2 action group, nor are we aware of the purpose of the request for information; it is not an official HS2 Ltd survey. We would advise those who receive the leaflet to consider carefully before responding.
Government launches public consultation on HS2
The Government consultation on HS2, the proposed high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, is now underway and will run until the end of July.
The proposed route still runs through Wendover on a 10-metre-high viaduct. The latest maps http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/sites/highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/files/HS2-ARP-00-DR-RW-04209_3.pdf also reveal that the link between Ellesborough Road and the village would be permanently severed: instead of running over the existing railway and road bridge to join Pound Street, Ellesborough Road would be diverted just above the first row of cottages (some of which would be demolished) to run across fields to join Bacombe Lane and beyond it the lane to Dunsmore.
Wendover HS2 Action Group is taking time to study the latest documents in detail before taking part in the consultation. We urge everyone to take part, but suggest you do not rush your response either.
There will be a public meeting for residents in Wendover Memorial Hall on Friday 15 April at 7.30pm, hosted by the Action Group. Speakers will include David Lidington M.P., and advice will be available on completing the consultation response form.
Then, on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 May, HS2 Ltd, the company behind the Government’s plans, will be staging an exhibition in the Memorial Hall. This will be an opportunity to question HS2 Ltd about the proposed route and its impact on Wendover.
In the meantime, Wendover HS2 continues to work with AGAHST, the federation of action groups, and plays its part in supporting the work being done nationally to raise awareness of HS2 and canvass support against the proposals.
Wendover HS2 Action Group has opened a new HS2 Information Centre in the heart of the village, where you can view the consultation documents, obtain maps, posters, car stickers and other merchandise, and find out about the effects of HS2 on Wendover and the surrounding areas. The Information Centre, at 2 Icknield Court, Back Street, Wendover is open from 10:00 to 16:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; or by arrangement on 07922 532598 or by emailing wendoverhs2@btinternet.com. The consultation documents and questions can also be seen at http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/. Paper copies and DVDs can be obtained from HS2 Ltd on 020 7944 4908.
We are looking for additional volunteers who could help in the Information Centre for an hour or so a week. We are also planning to spend time on Coombe Hill over the Easter period, informing walkers about HS2. If you could help with either of these activities, please contact Marion Clayton on 01296 622862 or email wendoverhs2@btinternet.com. If you would like to receive updates about HS2 by email, you can register at www.wendoverhs2.org.
The Vale of Aylesbury
Sir Arthur Bryant CH, CBE, President of the Society, historian, journalist and farmer, had hoped for many years that a protection society could be formed for the Vale of Aylesbury to bring before the entire nation the treasures contained in this unassuming but beautiful, historic and distinctive stretch of English countryside.
This hope has now been realised . . . Later, the Society intends to publish a complete guide book and anthology recording all the places of interest in the Vale of Aylesbury, its history and folklore, its people and the quality of life in this bountiful area. The following descriptions of the Vale, written by Sir Arthur before the formation of the Society, bring to the fore its vividness and its importance to the nation as a whole.
"No comparable area in southern England-certainly none within fifty miles of London contains a greater; extent of unspoilt scenic beauty and rural peace. From Thame in Oxfordshire to Woburn in Bedfordshire, a galaxy of lovely villages unsurpassed anywhere between the industrial Midlands and the Channel coast-the - three Brickhills, Stoke Hammond, Soulbury, Aston Abbotts, Cublington: and tiny secluded Dunton, Stewkley, Hardwick, Weedon, Hoggesden, Whitchurch, Oving, Pitchcott, Quainton, Dinton, Cuddington, the two Winchendons, Grendon Underwood, Chearsley, Long Crendon. Ashendon and the hill town of Brill. Of Quainton, by no means the most outstanding of the Vale's villages, with its exquisite Winwood almshouses, windmill, grey church, tower, mellowed red brick houses beneath its sheltering hill, I wrote during the War: 'In this place with its still unbroken peace of centuries, the past is very near to the, present. All English history-its strength, its sleeping fires, its patient consistency-are contained in its speaking silence.' An organic part of the permanent heritage of England, as near to perfection as anything of its kind at present existing, which has taken centuries to evolve and has bred successive generations of good Englishmen and today supports a highly efficient and up-to-date industry producing the most essential of man's needs-food.
"If one stands on the summit of Muswell Hill-one of the noblest viewpoints in Southern England -and looks eastwards up the Vale of Aylesbury, it is hard to define the beauty of the Vale, for it is compounded of ever-changing light, but whether seen from the Chiltern escarpment or from the hills which rise like islands in the midst of its undulating plain, that checkered landscape of soft greens and browns, reflected clouds and far blue horizons is unsurpassed anywhere in southern England. It is the landscape which Rex Whistler painted and the deep-rooted countryside which A G Macdonell in his England Their England described with such affection and understanding: 'the loveliest of English names, the Vale of Aylesbury. Pasture and hedge, mile after mile after mile, grey-green and brown and russet and silver where little rivers tangle themselves among reeds and trodden watering-pools.' With the country's southern part now given over to suburbia, industrial Slough and the western approaches of Heathrow, and much of the north to be swallowed up in the projected new town of Milton Keynes-cum-Bletchley-cum-Wolverton, the survival of the Buckinghamshire landscape for future generations depends on the preservation of the Vale of Aylesbury.
It should not be forgotten that of the ever-growing number of American and foreign travellers who come to England to see its historic sights, landscape and antiquities, a large proportion visit and pass through Buckinghamshire, and that rich agricultural vale below the Chiltern escarpment, with its buttercup meadows, hedgerow elms and red-brick and half-cast 17th century cottages and soft blue horizons is often the first and unforgettable impression they receive of the English countryside.
"The Vale is as rich in history as in beauty. It lies at the heart of the famous political shire which was the home of Hampden and Burke, of Disraeli and Rosebery, of the Grenville cousinhood which governed England through its most brilliant member, Chatham, at-the apex of Britain's 18th century glory, and, more recently, at Chequers, with its close associations with Cromwell, the country retreat of Britain's two great War Ministers, Lloyd George and Churchill. ‘All this part of England’, wrote Disraeli, who loved it and delivered many of his speeches to gatherings of his farming constituents in Aylesbury, ‘is history’.
"Among the historic houses-in addition to countless humbler homes no less comely and ancient are Chequers and Hampden, Hartwell and the wonderful 14th century Doddershall- one of the oldest of England's habited houses. Oving Ascott and Mentmore, Dinton, Tythrop, Dorton, Chilton and Wotton and the great National Trust properties of Claydon-- and Waddesdon with all their treasures."
"The villages vary in character and purpose but there can be no doubt that they provide a satisfactory way of life for their inhabitants-the families of many have lived there for generations. The villages represent a piece of man-made environment - the like of which we plan to achieve but seldom do. . . ."
F B Pooley, CBE, Bucks County Architect and Planning Officer, 'Evidence laid before Commission on the Third London Airport', 1969.
BUCKS LIFE AND CHILTERN LIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE, August 1970
My "OWN" piece of RAILWAY
Regretfully, I cannot write my story direct, as on 6 April 1999, I departed for another place. "Heaven". My name was John, & I was for many years up to my retirement in the late 1970s, a British Rail track worker, a "Platelayer" a position that did not require any formal education certificates, but required sense & good health., maintaining the mainline from Yorkshire to the Settle - Carlisle at Shipley, Bradford.
Track workers were graded from the lowest position of plate layer (labourer) to ganger, who was in charge of a number of plate layers, & they collectively they maintained a section of track, mainline, secondary lines, points & sidings. During FOG, we sat by each signal, armed with detonators, warning the train driver of the signal setting, & kept warm with a fire in a brazier, with coal supplied by the grateful train crew.
Our tools were only basic, a Spade, a Pick, a Pinch bar, a Sledgehammer & a Track gauge, yet sufficed. Each platelayer was allocated a short LENGTH of mainline as "HIS" & each year, competition awards were given to the platelayer, who kept the BEST LENGTH, which made him feel a "KING" over all he surveyed. .Just imagine, being one of the lowest paid workers in the country, a platelayer could NOT afford to own a house, nor a car, BUT in effect OWNED a section of railway track, which made him very proud with a status in local society. The Platelayer had to walk his section of track daily, inspecting the rails for wear, checking the rails were secure in the sleeper chairs, ensuring the rail cant (angle of lean) was maintained on curves, grease & double check all points, clearing weeds, ensuring the track ballast was clean to assist draining away of heavy rain deposits, & clearing away undergrowth & tree leaves, to allow the locomotive wheels to maintain adhesion to climb gradients, & brake quickly to stop at RED signals. A vital safety requirement.
Looking down from my "lofty" position, I find that due to privatisation, & track maintenance being now the responsibility of Contractors, who themselves sub-contract to others, the day to day inspection of mainline tracks is NOT done as in my day, which with the present fiasco by Railtrack PIc is today's subject in passengers mind.
It is quite obvious, that the SAME person MUST inspect the track daily, noting the above conditions, otherwise, any deterioration in track quality MIGHT NOT be noticed, & reported to "Higher Authority" for quick action. Trains CANNOT proceed as SAFELY as they did when track maintenance was a personal responsibility The recent "Hatfield" crash was due to a broken rail, & subsequent investigations throughout the United Kingdom rail network, found many miles of BADLY worn track, which in my day would NOT have occurred, for as the "cant" on the Hatfield curve appears to have been less than required for lOOmph plus expresses, the wear on the outer rail was more than the lower rail, causing stress fractures & a broken rail resulting in death & injuries to many.'
My "BOSS" is quite concerned, that many people are presenting themselves at the "pearly gates" before their due time, causing severe accommodation shortages up here, so PLEASE ask Railtrack Pic to reinstate the "OLD" method of track safety inspections, if, not, my "BOSS" win be very angry, & win await the negligent parties arrival up here.
GOD BLESS. TRAVEL SAFELY
Drafted by John's friend, Ken Hobson(, 71yrs)
38 Nethertield Road
GuiseleyL, S209 HJ,
Tel 0194 3879354.
March 2011 Update
Wendover HS2 Action Group stepping up campaign
The Wendover HS2 Action Group is stepping up its campaign against the proposed route for the high speed railway by opening an Information Centre in the heart of the village.
Wendover, population around 8,000, would probably be the worst affected community if the proposed route were to go ahead. The community faces the prospect of up to 36 trains an hour passing within a few hundred yards of the village centre and adjacent housing areas at 250 mph for 19 hours a day and generating high noise levels.
The Information Centre will be manned by volunteers and will provide detailed information about the likely effects of HS2 on the Wendover area and the destructive impact on the protected Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Visitors will be advised on the actions they can take to support the campaign. They will also be given information on how to respond to the government consultation on the proposed route, due to be launched on 28 February.
The Wendover Group is not against higher speed rail investment in the UK but is opposed to any route that causes unacceptable damage to the Chilterns AONB. Apart from the environmental damage it has demonstrated that there is no credible business case for the proposed route. It also claims that there are serious technology risks in the current proposal due to the selection of unproven technology and, most significantly, that there are much lower cost options for achieving similar results.
The Wendover Information Centre will be opened at 1100 on Saturday 26 February at 2 Icknield Court, Back Street, Wendover.
Thank you from the campaign team
The Wendover HS2 campaign team would like to thank everyone who donated to the anti-HS2 fighting fund as a result of the appeal in the January edition of Wendover News and our recent leafletting campaign. We will be using these funds in support of the national campaign against the HS2 high-speed rail plans and to take the fight to Westminster.
Consultation about HS2
The Government is expected to launch its consultation about the proposed high-speed rail line at the end of February. The consultation will last for five months, and will give everyone a chance to have their say about HS2.
Full details were not available as Wendover News went to press, but we expect the consultation to ask for people’s views on the route chosen through the Chilterns; on the Government’s overall high-speed rail plans; and compensation for those most badly affected.
Dates for your diary: 13&14 May
HS2 Ltd, the company advising Government on the railway line, will be holding a two-day exhibition about HS2 in the Wendover Memorial Hall on 13 and 14 May. This will be an opportunity to raise your concerns about the proposals and to register your views. We urge all residents to visit the Memorial Hall on 13 or 14 May and to take a full part in the consultation. If HS2 were to be approved, it would affect everyone in Wendover and change the village for ever.
Keeping you informed
Once we have had a chance to digest the consultation documents, we will publish our initial reaction and offer some guidance on how to respond.
- We will keep residents informed with leaflets, a public meeting in the Memorial Hall (date to be confirmed), via Wendover News and our Wendover HS2 mailing list.
- If you would like to register for email updates, go to www.wendoverhs2.org.
- If you can help the campaign team in any way during the consultation, please contact Marion Clayton on 622862 or email wendoverhs2@btinternet.com
An individual opinion
As a resident of Wendover for over 15 years I too feel the concerns of many about the impact that HS2 will have on our local community but I can’t help thinking that our protests are taking on an all too familiar and potentially ineffective route.
The two primary considerations are a) no business case and b) damage to the environment.
Taking each in turn, the National Audit Office (NAO) reviews of large Government Projects for years have argued that business cases don’t ‘stack up’ and questioned the value of spending of the public purse but it hasn’t stopped projects, merely confirmed the same old reasons of what went wrong. Whatever the business case the Government will argue the strategic value of HS2 to its vision of a modern integrated transport system for the UK which is long overdue and has been starved of investment for years? Very difficult to argue against this.
On the second point, the environment, again the risk and damage to the environment features strongly on any and every large infrastructure initiative but if the environment took precedence then we wouldn’t have the existing motorway, roads, bridges and railways systems that we have today. Again meeting the Government’s long term strategic vision for transport, in my humble opinion, trumps again.
What government (in fact all governments) dislike is publicity and accountability. The HS2 link will drive through many sitting MP constituency boundaries and yet all I hear from at least our more local ones is tacit disapproval to the government’s plans. If these MPs wish to be re-elected they need to be more accountable to their constituents and however uncomfortable for them to start supporting the objection lobbies overtly and challenge government policy.
HS2 may be receiving lots of publicity in local newspapers but hardly gets a mention in the national press, nor will it if protesting is confined to the leafy shires. Taking the argument, physically to Westminster in peaceful protest in large numbers may, only may, find its way onto Cabinet agendas!!
Richard Allman
February 2011 Update
JOIN THE FIGHT TO SAVE WENDOVER AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES FROM HS2
The Coalition Government has announced that the high-speed rail (HS2) route through the Wendover area is still its preferred choice. There will now be a consultation based on this route.
All three shortlisted routes would cause irreparable damage to the Chilterns, whilst bringing no benefit whatsoever to our area or to our nation as a whole. The ‘preferred’ route through the Wendover area would devastate our beautiful countryside and villages and bring at least seven years of building chaos, road diversions, noise, dust, heavy construction traffic and caravans for hundreds of construction workers.
On completion of the line, trains would rush non-stop through Wendover on a 10-metre high viaduct every few minutes between 5am and midnight. Government papers show that engineers considered burying the line in a 2-mile-long tunnel at Wendover. But they rejected this as a tunnel would have added £370 million to the cost (estimated at £34 billion for the London to Birmingham section of the line).
Trains capable of travelling at 250mph have not yet been designed, so it is impossible to know how loud they would be. The HS2 Action Alliance has been organising ‘noise demos’ to give an idea of the sound of a high-speed train, including one in Wendover in December. But the recordings cannot be played at full volume for Health and Safety reasons and the real sound of HS2 would reverberate far further with the train elevated on a viaduct.
The impact of HS2 on the countryside would be terrible. Ancient woodlands, nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest are at risk, as are more than 50 rare species of wildlife living near to the route through Bucks. Tunnelling through the chalk hills of the Chilterns presents a major risk of pollution, and could lead to long-term damage to water supplies.
PLEASE TAKE PART IN THE CONSULTATION IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT YOUR VILLAGE AND COUNTRYSIDE
We urge every resident in Wendover and the surrounding areas to take part in the consultation, which is due to start later in February, and to voice their opposition to these devastating plans. We will provide information on how to take part as soon as it becomes available.
If you can help deliver information about the consultation to your neighbours or would like to help in any other way, please contact Marion Clayton on 622862 or email wendoverhs2@btinternet.com
January 2011 Update
Ramblers Association 75th Anniversary & HS2 Protest Walk
On Saturday 13th November members of the Bucks, Milton Keynes and W. Middlesex Area Ramblers Association together with local HS2 protest groups gathered at Wendover Railway Station for a figure of eight walk to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Ramblers Association. The RA was born of the common mans struggle to have unhindered access for pleasure and recreation to the best of Britain’s beautiful landscapes. The Ramblers have always been a campaigning organisation fighting to preserve and make available to all our most priceless heritage the Rights of Way Network of which there are 3300km in this county.
The walk, whilst marking the founding of the Ramblers Association, was also designed to highlight the threat to Footpaths, Bridleways that the proposed construction of a High Speed Rail link to Birmingham would bring about.
HS2 will severe or destroy seventy nine paths in Buckinghamshire alone and blight, if not make untenable a further four hundred and forty nine as a consequence of unbearable noise.
There were both morning and the afternoon circular walks commencing at Wendover’s Railway Station offering participants the option of either a half day or a full day walk. Each of the routes was 8km long and encompassed paths that would either be obliterated, severed or made intolerable by the new track bed. Along each route walkers were shown just were the railway would lie and how it would impact on the local environment, destroying access from the town to surrounding countryside, property as well as damaging the visual landscape and its tranquillity.
At least 250 walkers of all ages took part. On arrival at the Station, participants were allocated a place in one of the 10 led groups which functioned throughout the day.
Before the commencement of the group walks John Esslemont, Chairman of the RA’s Area Organisation spoke of the many proud achievements of the Ramblers over the last seventy five years and their on going work to protect and preserve countryside access for the benefit of the public. He was followed by Sir John Johnson retiring Chairman of the Chilterns Conservation Board. Sir John described the damage that these rail proposals would cause to the Chilterns AONB which is such an important recreational area for residents of North West London and other local conurbations.
Thanks to everyone who took part, hopefully an enjoyable and illustrative experience and certainly a statement of the deep opposition from Wendover people to this “vanity” project.
Oliver Statham
Could anything much worse happen?
HELP TO SAVE THE WENDOVER WE KNOW
Seven years of building chaos, road closures, diversions, construction traffic and noise
Our beautiful countryside and villages devastated by a 75 metre (almost 250 ft) wide swathe and long viaducts as high as 10 metres (almost 33ft) and topped by 10 metres high electric gantries
A flawed business plan costing £36,000,000,000 for a non-stopping railway bringing not a single benefit to our area
Unproven technology for 250 mph trains to save around ten minutes between London and Birmingham, when there are many better low cost options that will serve the UK rather than the Eurocrat dreams of integrated infrastructure
Up to 36 trains every hour for 19 hours a day generating at least 95 decibels of noise to be heard for an untested distance around the Wendover area
IF THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT FOR WENDOVER THERE IS STILL TIME TO ACT
- Sign the petition at www.wendoverhs2.org and in Wendover Clocktower or Florence Nightingale Hospice Shop
- Write to The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
- Put pressure on the political party you support
- Make a donation, small or large, to help to fund our fight in Wendover against HS2
- Add any specialist expertise you have to our technical case
- Register on www.wendoverhs2.org
December Update
Statement by Wendover Parish Council
Wendover Parish Council is opposed to any HS2 route which would be detrimental to the community of Wendover Fiona Lippmann, Clerk to Wendover Parish Council, 1 November 2010
No2 supports HS2
From Monday 22nd November and then every Monday until Christmas No2 will be doing our bit to raise funds for the HS2 campaign. Every coffee we sell will raise money for HS2. Here’s the deal, we will provide the coffee, but we don't charge you – instead you make a donation to the HS2 campaign and sign the petition.
Christmas cards will be on sale shortly in No2 to raise funds for HS2 and Chiltern MS Centre, please support your local community
Wendover HS2
The Government has confirmed it intends to press ahead with plans for a new high-speed rail line, despite making major cuts to other public services. By the time you read this, the Transport Secretary may have announced which of the shortlisted routes will be the subject of the consultation next year. If, as expected, it is the ‘preferred’ route through the Chilterns, Wendover and the surrounding villages will face their biggest challenge in modern times.
This line, if chosen, will not pass unnoticed on ground level, or in a cutting. Raised 10 metres (32 feet) above ground on a viaduct, with overhead gantries several further metres above the viaduct, it will tower over Wendover. But unlike the existing line of pylons, through which it will run, it will not be a silent presence. When the sound of a high-speed train travelling at 250mph was demonstrated at an outdoor event in Great Missenden , the recording couldn’t be played at full volume for health and safety reasons.
We hope to have more information on the consultation in time for January’s Wendover News. In the meantime, please ask your friends and family across the UK to write to their MPs about HS2. It’s important that MPs representing constituencies not along the route receive letters about HS2, so they know it is of concern to people across the UK. The cost (up to £34 billion just for the London-Birmingham stretch) makes it questionable on financial grounds alone, especially when other services face drastic cuts and rail fares will have to rise steeply to help pay for it. £750 million will be spent this Parliament alone on design and consultancy work.
Groups work together to fight HS2
More than 50 local action groups along the proposed route are now fighting HS2, alongside other groups such as the Chiltern Society, Chiltern Countryside Group and County and District councils. It is clear that the groups need to work together if we are to succeed: Wendover HS2 participated in several joint events in October and November, including a cross-Chilterns meeting organised by the HS2 Action Alliance, a summit on the environmental impact of HS2 organised by the Bucks councils, a rally in Great Missenden and a high-speed rail lobby day at Westminster.
The chairmen of all the local groups also meet together regularly. At the Lobby Day at Westminster, experts put the case against high-speed rail to MPs and ministers. Local participants were astonished when the Transport Secretary, talking about using ‘existing transport corridors’ for the route, likened the A413 to the M40! At the environment summit, Sir Brian Briscoe, Chairman of HS2 Ltd, admitted that the line would wreak enormous environmental damage on Buckinghamshire but would bring no benefits to the county.
Fundraising
Wendover HS2 is continuing its campaign to raise funds to fight HS2. We are now able to take credit and debit card payments at www.wendoverhs2.org. Alternatively, you can send a cheque to ‘Wendover HS2’ to: Carol Clark, Treasurer, Wendover HS2, 36 Ellesborough Road, Wendover, Bucks HP22 6EL, or, if you would like to make a direct bank payment, please email Carol on CCBaz4957@aol.com. It is clear that this is going to be a long, expensive fight.
Wendover HS2 market stalls
The Wendover HS2 team will be present at the late-night shopping event on Wed 1 Dec and will be manning market stalls on Manor Waste on Sat 4 Dec and Thu 16 Dec. Come along and hear the latest about HS2.
Possible letter to Prime Minister et al
This letter has been circulating the emails and may serve as a model if you wish to write to the Prime Minister:
The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
18th November 2010
Proper Public Consultation on whether HS2 is right for the UK
Dear Prime Minister,
Like you, I share your belief in trusting people and local democracy. Local people should be given the chance to have a real, open debate on the major issues that matter to them and their communities.
High speed rail is no different. We need to have a full debate about this project – not just about the route, but about whether we need it in principle and whether there are better alternatives, especially in these times of financial hardship.
The previous Labour government had a reputation for putting the “con” into consultation, and all too often ignoring the wishes of local people. The people of Wendover are watching closely to see whether you are, as you promised, different, or whether this is just more of the same old “Whitehall knows best”. We hope you will see sense and keep to your word.
I am copying this letter to your own as my local MP and Patrick McLoughlin as the Conservative Party Chief Whip.
I look forward to receiving your collective assurances that a proper, full and open debate about HS2 will happen rather than a consultation to merely comply with legal process that has a foregone conclusion.
Yours Sincerely
Your name
CC: Patrick McLoughlin, MP
CC: Your own, MP
| Jerusalem by William Blake | Ode to HS2 by Ruth Holroyd |
And did those feet in ancient time. |
And did those trains in modern time |
November Update
Transport Secretary makes High Speed Rail announcement
On Monday 4 October the Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, gave a speech at the Conservative Party Conference reaffirming the Government’s commitment to building a new high-speed rail line (HS2), the first leg of which would run between London and Birmingham. He also outlined plans for the second phase, which would see the line divide north of Birmingham, with one branch going to Manchester, and the other to Leeds. Mr. Hammond said that the Government would announce the detailed route for the London to Birmingham stretch in the autumn and consult the public in the New Year both on its overall high-speed rail strategy and on the proposed route from London to Birmingham. As many readers will know, this route cuts through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and will have a devastating impact on Wendover.
MPs and councillors meet Transport Secretary
The Transport Secretary attended a meeting about HS2 in Aylesbury on 30 September with MPs, councillors and other local representatives. Councillor Marion Clayton attended the meeting. She said: “This was a very frustrating meeting. Mr Hammond is adamant that the High Speed Rail network will go ahead as it is in the national interest. He seems to accept that the project is not “commercial”, and that it will make a loss, but that will be outweighed by the benefits it will bring to the economy of the midlands and the north. He also said that the spending review will focus on retaining those major projects which show the greatest benefit to the economy; although we have seen no evidence of those benefits, one of the projects to be retained is HS2. As a result of that meeting, Wendover HS2 is re-thinking its strategy, but please rest assured that we will continue to fight the proposals, along with many other groups in areas adversely affected by the proposals. Your support in that fight will be invaluable.”
Fundraising
Wendover HS2 is continuing its drive to raise money to support its work in opposing the HS2 proposals. The campaign needs to move into another phase, which could well include professional advice to support a potential legal challenge. Clearly this will be an expensive business and we need immediate funds for our continuing work, and also pledges of contributions towards potential professional fees. Please consider making a donation now, and/or a pledge of future funds should they be needed to support the campaign. To make an immediate donation, please either send a cheque to ‘Wendover HS2’ to: Carol Clark, Treasurer, Wendover HS2, 36 Ellesborough Road, Wendover, Bucks HP22 6EL, or, if you would like to make a direct bank payment, please email Carol on CCBaz4957@aol.com. Alternatively, you can donate online by credit or debit card at www.wendoverhs2.org. If you are able to pledge future funding, please contact Carol by email.
Business case report published
The Wendover HS2 business group has undertaken a detailed analysis of the HS2 Ltd business plan, which has been sent to David Lidington MP, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Transport and other senior ministers. The analysis raises critical questions about the viability of the proposed high speed rail link. Using statistics provided by HS2 Ltd, it indicates that the proposal simply will not achieve what HS2 Ltd says it will, and that the London-Birmingham leg alone could cost £34 billion (twice the Government’s estimate). The document and letter are available on the Wendover HS2 website: www.wendoverhs2.org.
Petition and market stall
Wendover HS2’s petition against HS2 now contains over 1000 signatures. We recently spent three weeks taking it door-to-door, but if we missed you and you would like to sign it, please contact Marion Clayton on 622862. The petition will also be available on the next Wendover HS2 market stall, on Manor Waste on 18 November. Once we feel we have as many signatures as possible, we will try to arrange to deliver the petition to Downing Street on your behalf.
October Update
Impact of the high-speed rail line
As many will know, the ‘preferred’ route for the Government’s proposed new high-speed rail line to Birmingham, known as HS2, cuts through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and runs right along the edge of Wendover. For many people, the extent of the noise and disruption that would be caused during the construction work is only now beginning to sink in, along with the prospect of up to 36 noisy trains per hour speeding non-stop past Wendover at 225-250mph once the line has been completed, in around 2025. Although there are still many unanswered questions, the following points come from official reports prepared by HS2 Ltd., and Freedom of Information requests.
The new line would run from The Lee on an embankment behind the Jet garage on the London Road, crossing over the A413 and the Chiltern Line on a 600-metre-long viaduct, with the trains running at a height of 10 metres above the road. It may be necessary to divert or lower the roads, or raise the HS2 embankment on London Road even higher, to provide enough clearance for the viaduct above the road. Raising the embankment would increase the noise and visual disturbance further on London Road, while lowering or diverting the roads would cause major disruption to local traffic.
The proposed rail route runs right through the line of pylons and power cables to the south of Wendover and alongside the A413. These may therefore need to be relocated, but the route engineers admit that there are no obvious places to relocate them to, and that they have not considered the impact of this on the electricity distribution network.
Some residential properties on Ellesborough Road would be demolished, and Ellesborough Road itself raised. A ‘cut and cover’ tunnel under Ellesborough Road has been proposed, to help reduce noise impacts on adjacent properties, but this might not be feasible if the line has to be raised slightly, as the ‘cover’ is very shallow at that point.
Alongside the A413, the rail line would run on a five-metre-high embankment. Trains would initially pass Wendover non-stop at 225mph, but could eventually run at 250mph. HS2 Ltd have been unable to provide noise statistics for trains travelling at 250mph. At 217mph, a level of 95dB would be expected 25 metres from the centre of the track. Wheel noise and aerodynamic noise are likely to be greater at the higher speed, however, and when the rail line is elevated, as it would be at Wendover. HS2 Ltd. has conceded that ‘Noise impacts from HS2 would affect many people living along the route, with about 350 dwellings predicted to experience high noise levels and a much larger number experiencing some increase, were no mitigation put in place.’
HS2 Ltd. anticipates passenger services running from 5am to midnight, Mondays to Saturdays, and 8am to midnight on Sundays. If freight were to travel on the line, it would have to be at night or very early in the morning, as it would not be possible to mix fast passenger trains and slower freight trains. Track maintenance work would be carried out at night. There are maps and a birds-eye picture of Wendover, showing the line of the route, on www.wendoverhs2.org.
Consultation
In a speech on 10 September, the Transport Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed that detailed plans for the Government’s High-Speed Rail programme would be announced ‘very soon’, and that there would be a public consultation in the New Year. The speech came days after the closure of the Government’s Spending Challenge website, which asked the public for money-saving ideas. More than 500 people wrote suggesting that HS2 be scrapped, and many hundreds more rated the ideas for scrapping HS2 very highly. Wendover HS2 Action Group’s aim is to provide the local community with enough information to enable all residents to participate fully in the consultation in the New Year. We will continue to communicate through Wendover News and local market stalls. Please visit www.wendoverhs2.org, join our mailing list.
Exceptional Hardship Scheme
The Exceptional Hardship Scheme, which is designed to help people who are having difficulty selling their property because of HS2 and who can demonstrate that they have an urgent need to sell before a final decision has been reached about the route, is now in operation. Full details of the application process are available from HS2 Ltd.’s website, at www.hs2.org.uk. Reference copies of the forms have been placed in Wendover Library and the Clocktower.
Fundraising
Wendover HS2 has launched a fundraising campaign to raise money locally to fight the proposals for the new high-speed line. Funds will be used for publicity materials and to take the fight to Parliament. Could you make a donation to support the campaign? You can do so by writing a cheque to ‘Wendover HS2’ and sending it to: Carol Clark, Treasurer, Wendover HS2, 36 Ellesborough Road, Wendover, HP22 6EL. If you would like to make a direct bank payment, please call Carol Clark on 01296 696886. Alternatively, you can donate online by credit or debit card at www.wendoverhs2.org. Any money remaining at the end of the campaign will be given to an organisation with similar objects, or to a charity. Members of Wendover HS2 will also be coming door-to-door with the local petition against HS2 and a collecting tin.
Market stall date
The next Wendover HS2 market stalls will be held on Manor Waste on Thursdays 14 October and 18 November.
Ways to get involved
Please write to the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Transport Secretary with your views on HS2. At almost £18 billion, just to build the section from London to Birmingham, can the country really afford it? Do you think the Government should have other priorities at this time?
If you are concerned about the environmental impact of HS2, please take part in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’s survey, at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nature-of-england. DEFRA is looking at how to protect England’s natural environment in the future, and is keen to hear people’s views. The survey asks what people value about the natural environment and what can be done to help protect it.
Join
- our mailing list, at http://www.wendoverhs2.org, so we can keep you informed about HS2.
- the Facebook group, Save the Chilterns: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=367587726768
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/High_Speed_Rail
Display a ‘Stop HS2’ poster as prominently as you can. Posters can be obtained from the market stalls, or by emailing posters@wendoverhs2.org with your address.
Sign the petition that will be delivered to Westminster. If you can’t get to the market stall, and we miss you when we call door to door with the petition, please contact Marion Clayton on 622862.
Six myths about HS2
'The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie - deliberate, contrived and dishonest - but the myth - persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic' JFK 1962
Myth 1: HS2 is ‘green’ – it’s part of the low carbon economy
Untrue: even HS2 Ltd say it doesn’t reduce CO2 emissions, but is ‘broadly neutral’. But their figures do not take account of the carbon emitted during construction and their sums flatter HS2. 360km/h trains use more than twice the power of 200km/h trains. HS2 causes new journeys (27% of total) which together with those switching from conventional rail (57%) will indisputably create more emissions.
A showcase transport investment should contribute to our target to reduce emissions by 80%. A government committed to tackling climate change should be promoting a Travel Reduction strategy.
Myth 2: Only HS2, ie a new railway, can solve the rail capacity problem
Untrue: can get 65% extra capacity with just extra rolling stock on WCML and there is massive potential on the Chiltern Line. These improvements come without disruption. Also DfT’s own alternative to HS2 (Rail Package 2) de-bottlenecks WCML, delivering capacity by running more and longer trains (for just £2bn) and gives a better (3.63) NBR than HS2. Everything can be done incrementally as it’s needed – not relying on long-term forecasts.
We do not need to build a fourth rail route from London to Birmingham.
Myth 3: HS2 is a sound investment – over £2 benefit for £1 cost (NBR = 2.7)
Untrue: commercially it loses money: it has £25.5bn of extra costs, but only £15bn of extra fares. The Net Benefit Ratio (NBR) depends on time-saving benefits that are greatly overestimated eg all time on trains is assumed to be wasted. The case is driven by huge (267%) projected increases in demand. HS2 Ltd say if demand drops more than 20% below forecast, the NBR will not reach 2 (the minimum acceptable NBR). The cost of damaging the environment and property blight on the route is excluded.
Myth 4: HS2 will deliver wider economic regional benefits
Untrue: DfT/HS2 Ltd say there are benefits (worth £3.6bn) but this is mainly from additional local transport using freed-up existing capacity not faster connectivity.
The redistributive effects will benefit London (not the regions): London is dominant: it’s seven times bigger than the next biggest city, unlike other major West European capitals that are only twice as big. DfT assumptions imply that trips to London will grow at 3 times the rate of those from London to the regions – so money will move from the regions to London.
Myth 5: HS2 will eliminate domestic air
Untrue: people don’t fly between London and Birmingham. To get enough modal shift from air travel from London to the north and Scotland (8% of HS2 journeys) HS2 Ltd assume a 178% increase in domestic air travel by 2033. They ignore the fact that domestic air traffic for London is declining, including flights to NW and Scottish Lowlands. Opportunities to displace air by HS2 have been reducing, not increasing. Experts agree that for rail journeys longer than 3hrs, air is preferred. HS2 Ltd say that rail wins some air market at 4hrs.
Myth 6: UK lacks a fast national railway network
Untrue: UK – unlike Europe – has had one for a long time.
As Eddington said, the UK has extensive fast inter-city services. We have routes capable of 200km/h (125mph) – with quicker rail journey times between the capital and the five largest cities than in other major West European countries (averaging 145 mins in UK, 151 mins Spain, 184 mins Italy, 221mins France, and 244 mins Germany).
High Speed Rail 2 and the Ramblers Association
Would you like to see just where the proposed HS2 railway line will be cut through our countryside?
Would you like to protest at the devastating effect the line will have on our ancient market town of Wendover and it’s surroundings?
Then put Saturday 13th November 2010 in your diary. The Ramblers Association, long time campaigners for the priceless footpath and bridleway heritage of this country, are celebrating their 75th Anniversary this year. Buckinghamshire Ramblers have chosen to mark the occasion by highlighting the threat to the Rights of Way network posed by the new rail line – over 100 paths will be obliterated or severed in this county alone.
A special figure of eight walk, led or self guided – free annotated map available, is open to everyone who would like to take part. It will follow local paths in the Chilterns and the Vale which will be affected by HS2. Choose you distance either 5 miles in the morning, 4.6 miles in the afternoon or a 9.6 mile all day from Wendover Railway Station commencing at 10.15 and 2.00. Come and celebrate the Ramblers many achievements and protest against the threatened despoliation of our beautiful countryside and homes.
September Update
High-speed rail update
Since the Wendover HS2 August email newsletter was dispatched, there have been new developments on two of the items covered.
1) Exceptional Hardship Scheme
This scheme has now been launched. Guidance notes and some Frequently Asked Questions are available on HS2 Ltd.'s website, at http://www.hs2.org.uk/exceptional-hardship-scheme?pageid=1
2) Government's Spending Challenge Website
After being temporarily closed, the site has been relaunched, at http://spendingchallenge.hm-treasury.gov.uk/
The Treasury is now inviting people to register and rate the ideas that have been put forward for saving money. Many of the transport ideas relate to HS2. You can view these and rate them by following the link at the bottom of the page to Transport ideas, or by searching the site for "high speed rail". It appears the site will be closing again at the end of August so there are not many days in which to do this.
Exceptional Hardship Scheme
Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, has announced the introduction of an Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) to help people who are having difficulty selling their property because of HS2 and who can demonstrate that they have an urgent need to sell before a final decision has been reached about the route. The scheme, launched on 20 August, is open to residential owner-occupiers and owner-occupiers of agricultural units and business premises with an annual rateable value not exceeding £34,800 in the vicinity of the ‘preferred’ route (this is the route that runs along the edge of Wendover). It is limited to those who have a pressing need to sell and who would otherwise experience exceptional hardship, and will allow those people to apply for their properties to be bought by the Secretary of State for Transport.
Full details of the application process were unavailable as Wendover News went to press but will be published by the Government on 20 August and made available to residents via www.wendoverhs2.org and in information packs at Wendover Library and in the Clocktower. The announcement follows a consultation on the proposed EHS, which received 4520 responses (at least 870 from people in Aylesbury Vale district). Following the consultation, the scope of the EHS has been extended to include agricultural and some commercial units, properties recently inherited following a bereavement, and those over tunnelled areas when the property is close to the proposed tunnel entrance or exit.
The following as some useful links for further information relating to the topic.
Philip Hammond’s written statement can be found at the following address: http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/hammond20100726
Department for Transport’s Frequently Asked Questions about the EHS:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/exceptionalhardshipscheme/faqs/
Analysis of responses to the consultation:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/exceptionalhardshipscheme/analysisofresponses/
Councillors visit High Speed 1 in Kent
Buckinghamshire councillors went on a fact-finding visit to Kent on 30 July to see how HS1, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, has affected the surrounding area. The visit started at Ebbsfleet Station, and included a look at a maintenance depot, tunnel portals and a view of the line as it runs through AONB, where it runs alongside the M20. Councillor Marion Clayton said: “The visit really brought home the devastating impact that HS2 would have on the Buckinghamshire countryside. Trains were travelling at considerably slower speeds than those proposed on HS2, so anticipated noise levels were difficult to assess, particularly with the constant motorway noise alongside, but the visual intrusion was only too evident. It simply confirmed our determination to change the thinking on the preferred route.”
Market stalls
Wendover HS2 will be manning market stalls on Manor Waste on 19 August and 16 September. Information about the Exceptional Hardship Scheme will be available, along with maps, car stickers and posters.
How to get involved
Please continue to write to the Prime Minister and to Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA with your views and concerns about HS2. On a local level, please pick up and display a car sticker and poster from our market stall. You can also download posters at www.wendoverhs2.org.
AONB
As the AVDC nominee on the Chilterns Conservation Board, I feel it is my primary duty to protect and enhance the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. At the present time, the AONB is facing a concentrated threat by politicians of all parties (luckily with some exceptions) with regard to the high Speed 2 proposals. The AONB landscape which has national protection will be damaged beyond recognition and be a disaster for our beautiful countryside. Areas which were once relatively quiet and peaceful will suffer visual and noise intrusion. This will change our perception and that of visitors resulting in a fall in tourist numbers and hence economic damage. Due to compulsory purchase, farm viability will be threatened with the loss of farmland and woodland, which will create long term damage for future generations. The list of disadvantages is endless and the threat to our well-being is real and imminent. For instance, Three Valleys District Council draws 70% of its domestic water supply from the Chilterns and the proposed tunneling will create a massive drain which will pollute the water supply. Politicians and the bureaucrats behind them will only begin to comprehend the scale of our opposition if they are badgered constantly. If you have already written, write again. Pester and hassle until they have to listen to us.
Councillor Chris Richards
High-speed rail access to Heathrow: Mawhinney report
On 21 July the Department for Transport published an independent report by Lord Mawhinney making recommendations about rail access to Heathrow Airport and about the location of a high-speed rail station to serve Heathrow. In his report, which was commissioned by the previous government, Lord Mawhinney concluded that there is currently no compelling case for a direct high-speed rail link to Heathrow, and suggested that Old Oak Common, in north-west London, could be used as the interchange for Heathrow, and potentially as the terminus for HS2, instead of Euston. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond appeared to reject the former suggestion when he appeared before the Transport Committee on 26 July, stating: ‘There has to be a connection which feels right to airline travelers . . . “
Mr. Hammond has asked HS2 Ltd to look at options for a Heathrow connection and to report back to him at the end of August. It is not clear, at this stage, whether routing HS2 via Heathrow would affect HS2 Ltd’s ‘preferred’ route through the Chilterns.
Uncorrected transcript of Philip Hammond’s evidence to the Transport Committee http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmtran/uc359/uc35901.htm
Secretary of State’s visit
It is hoped that Philip Hammond will be paying a visit to areas on the proposed route during the summer recess. He will reportedly spend three days visiting different sections of the route, viewing areas affected by the proposals. Local councillors are pressing for Wendover to be included in the visit.
Business and environmental case
Wendover HS2’s Business Working Group is continuing its work behind the scenes on the business case. Meanwhile the Chilterns Conservation Board has distributed a leaflet to all MPs setting out the case against HS2 on economic and environmental grounds.
AUGUST UPDATE
High-speed rail route to be reviewed
Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, has confirmed that he intends to review in detail the recommended route of HS2, the proposed high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, before a public consultation takes place. The consultation, originally planned for autumn 2010, is now likely to take place in early 2011. Mr. Hammond has asked HS2 Ltd., the company charged with considering the case and route options for high-speed rail, to develop options for a direct high-speed link to Heathrow and to assess the options for linking HS2 to HS1, the Channel Tunnel rail link. In a separate development, the Chancellor, George Osborne, has ordered the Treasury to review all capital spending projects, including proposed transport programmes, with the intention that only those demonstrating a significant economic return to the country should be taken forward.
Rail summit
Wendover HS2 participated in a summit on the economic arguments for and against high-speed rail in Aylesbury on 18 June. Campaigners and county and district councillors opposed to the current plans came together with rail and business experts to discuss the business case put forward by HS2 Ltd. for a high-speed line. A paper setting out alternatives to the current proposals was presented by the HS2 Action Alliance. John Savin from Wendover HS2’s Business Working Group gave a presentation on 'Heathrow and the West London Connection', which you can download here (PDF file, 563KB). Wendover HS2’s working groups are continuing to analyse the business case for the high-speed rail network, alternative routes and the environmental impact of the plans, and to work closely with other action groups in preparation for the formal consultation. We are seeking additional experts who can help us analyse the data. If you can help, please contact John Savin on 07774 831 967 or info@wendover-hs2.org.uk
Drop-in day
Wendover HS2 held a drop-in day at Wendover Library on 5 June for residents to see how HS2 would affect Wendover and the surrounding area. Members of the Strategic Committee, including local Councillors and Wendover Society members, were on hand to answer questions, and detailed maps of the route were on display. Maps and other material will be displayed in a case outside Wendover Library from mid-July.
Petition
Wendover HS2 plans to take its petition against the high-speed rail plans door-to-door over the coming weeks, to enable people who have not yet signed it to do so. It will then be presented at 10 Downing Street. If you could offer a few hours of your time to help collect signatures, please email Murray Cooke at wendoverHS2@btinternet.com.
EHS Consultation
The Government’s consultation on a proposed Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) closed on 17 June. The Scheme proposes to protect the interests of residential owner-occupiers who may be affected by the preferred route and who can demonstrate that they have an urgent need to sell their property before the route is decided upon. Wendover HS2’s response to the consultation can be seen here.
Fundraising
We will shortly be launching a fundraising campaign to create a ‘fighting fund’ to oppose the current HS2 proposals. More details will be announced soon.
Market stall
Members of the Community Working Group will be manning a stall in the market in Wendover on Thursday 22 July to answer residents’ questions about the HS2 proposals.
How you can help
If you feel strongly about plans to run the high-speed rail line through the Chilterns, please write to the Prime Minister and to Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA with your views. You may wish to ask them if they want to be remembered as the Government that destroyed the Chilterns for future generations, how we can afford to build the line, and what the implications are for other regions’ transport plans if all the money gets diverted into HS2, or perhaps you would like to ask them for a full public inquiry into a project of this magnitude.
JULY UPDATE
High-speed rail route to be reviewed
Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, has confirmed that he intends to review in detail the recommended route of HS2, the proposed high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, before a public consultation takes place. The consultation, originally planned for autumn 2010, is now likely to take place in early 2011. Mr. Hammond has asked HS2 Ltd., the company charged with considering the case and route options for high-speed rail, to develop options for a direct high-speed link to Heathrow and to assess the options for linking HS2 to HS1, the Channel Tunnel rail link. In a separate development, the Chancellor, George Osborne, has ordered the Treasury to review all capital spending projects, including proposed transport programmes, with the intention that only those demonstrating a significant economic return to the country should be taken forward.
Rail Summit
Wendover HS2 participated in a summit on the economic arguments for and against high-speed rail in Aylesbury on 18 June. Campaigners and county and district councillors opposed to the current plans came together with rail and business experts to discuss the business case put forward by HS2 Ltd. for a high-speed line. A paper setting out alternatives to the current proposals was presented by the HS2 Action Alliance. John Savin from Wendover HS2’s Business Working Group gave a presentation on 'Heathrow and the West London Connection', which you can download here (PDF file, 563KB). Wendover HS2’s working groups are continuing to analyse the business case for the high-speed rail network, alternative routes and the environmental impact of the plans, and to work closely with other action groups in preparation for the formal consultation. We are seeking additional experts who can help us analyse the data. If you can help, please contact John Savin on 07774 831 967 or info@wendover-hs2.org.uk
Drop-in day
Wendover HS2 held a drop-in day at Wendover Library on 5 June for residents to see how HS2 would affect Wendover and the surrounding area. Members of the Strategic Committee, including local Councillors and Wendover Society members, were on hand to answer questions, and detailed maps of the route were on display. Maps and other material will be displayed in a case outside Wendover Library from mid-July.
Petition
?Wendover HS2 plans to take its petition against the high-speed rail plans door-to-door over the coming weeks, to enable people who have not yet signed it to do so. It will then be presented at 10 Downing Street. If you could offer a few hours of your time to help collect signatures, please email Murray Cooke at wendoverHS2@btinternet.com.
EHS Consultation
The Government’s consultation on a proposed Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) closed on 17 June. The Scheme proposes to protect the interests of residential owner-occupiers who may be affected by the preferred route and who can demonstrate that they have an urgent need to sell their property before the route is decided upon. Wendover HS2’s response to the consultation can be seen here. Fundraising
We will shortly be launching a fundraising campaign to create a ‘fighting fund’ to oppose the current HS2 proposals. More details will be announced soon.
Market stall
Members of the Community Working Group will be manning a stall in the market in Wendover on Thursday 22 July to answer residents’ questions about the HS2 proposals.
How you can help
If you feel strongly about plans to run the high-speed rail line through the Chilterns, please write to the Prime Minister and to Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA with your views. You may wish to ask them if they want to be remembered as the Government that destroyed the Chilterns for future generations, how we can afford to build the line, and what the implications are for other regions’ transport plans if all the money gets diverted into HS2, or perhaps you would like to ask them for a full public inquiry into a project of this magnitude.
County Council stands strongly against high speed rail route
County councillors took a strong stand against the proposal to route Britain's second high speed rail line through Buckinghamshire and the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Find out more by following this link
Wendover HS2 (formerly WenSTAG) held a drop-in day at Wendover Library on 5 June to show how proposals for a new high-speed rail line through the Chilterns would affect us. Local Councillors, the Strategic Committee and Wendover Society members, were on hand to answer questions, and detailed route maps were on display. The event was very well attended: many residents were horrified to learn that the trains – up to 18 an hour in each direction – would pass non-stop along the edge of Wendover on a high embankment, and almost 400 people signed Wendover HS2’s petition against the plans. For those unable to sign yet, Wendover HS2 will be taking the petition door-to-door over the coming weeks, before presenting it at 10 Downing Street. Wendover HS2 has also launched a website, where all the latest HS2 information can be found. Meanwhile, the technical work of analysing the business case for high-speed rail, alternative routes and the environmental impact of the proposals continues in preparation for the formal consultation, planned for the autumn.
Help Attack HS2 Now
Wendover HS2, chaired by Marion Clayton, attacks the High Speed 2 proposals by assembling strong factual evidence and arguments to undermine the carefully crafted PR spin of the HS2 case. This is Wendover’s first line of defence. Local activities are great, but will not get this grandiose scheme reappraised. Wendover needs a strong voice and must influence the national political debate about HS2, widely misunderstood as a “good thing”, well before the consultation whitewash starts.
Our White Paper review shows that in 2007 the government rejected high speed as too costly, too unpredictable and too inflexible. So what changed? From freedom of information requests, we have the detailed HS2 calculations which claim to justify the project. These massive demand estimates are ultimately based on travel diaries that a few people kept back in 2006 plus an assumption of constant 2.75% economic growth for the next 23 years. A particular focus is coming to be the case for a Heathrow connection and the west London station. Even HS2 does not want to go to Heathrow as the demand is too low and it reduces the viability of its business case. If the line does not go to Heathrow, need it come through Wendover?
We need people willing to source, read, digest and analyse material on many topics, not just financial. Also to co-ordinate this major activity as we work closely with other groups. To defend Wendover now, contact 07774 831967 or info@wendoverhs2.org.uk.
John Savin
JUNE UPDATE
New Deadline for EHS Responses
The Department of Transport has extended the deadline for responses to the Emergency Hardship Scheme (EHS) for properties affected by the proposed High Speed 2 rail link to Birmingham. The deadline is now 17th June 2010.
It just takes 30 seconds to help improve the very limited scheme at the HS2 Action Action Alliance website:- www.hs2actionalliance.org/index.php
Wendover Parish Council Responds
Wendover Parish Council has responded strongly to the Government’s proposals for a High Speed Train (HS2) with a preferred route that runs close to Wendover. The council in April viewed the maps and the available reports and voted to oppose the HS2 proposals and to work with local groups for the benefit of the community. Chairman, Cllr Sue Toft-Hunt has commented these proposals as they stand, have the potential to substantially change our vibrant community and the local economy.
A further concern is the Proposed Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS). This is an interim scheme and will last just until the route is confirmed, after which the compensation scheme is unknown.>
The EHS is intended to help people by providing compensation for those with a pressing need to sell their properties, but who are unable to do so, at a realistic market value, due to the HS2 proposals. The property market and values in a wide area have already been adversely affected by the HS2 proposals.
While the Parish Council recognised the importance of introducing such a scheme as soon as possible, the proposed scheme is too restrictive and imposes hardship on the local community.
The Parish Council, at its meeting on 4 May, decided to submit alternative proposals that would support the property market at un-blighted levels and include all properties affected by the proposed HS2 route. All that should be required is reasonable evidence that, due to HS2, a property cannot be sold at a realistic market price.
The Parish Council also strongly supported efforts by local groups to communicate the issues locally and urged all residents to respond.
Wendover HS2 Takes Action
Wendover HS2, previously known as WenSTAG, is continuing its campaign to protect Wendover, threatened by the Government’s preferred route for the proposed new High Speed Rail (HS2).
Over 300 local residents attended a meeting organised by Wendover HS2 (previously WenSTAG), at The Memorial Hall in April. County Councillor Marion Clayton was delighted by the high attendance. This shows the strength of feeling among local residents about the proposed HS2 preferred route. We are really thrilled by this support and hope everyone will get involved in fighting these damaging proposals.
So local people can see how the route may affect them and the value of their property, Wendover HS2 (previously WenSTAG) is holding an Open Day at the local Library on Saturday, 5th June 2010 between 10am – 4pm.
Members of Wendover HS2, including local Councillors and Wendover Society members, will be on hand to answer questions on all aspects of HS2. Come along and share your ideas for protecting Wendover and The Chilterns from such appalling devastation.
Wendover HS2 Committee members :
Bucks CC & AVDC Councillors
Wendover Parish Council observers
Local businessmen (no women yet!)
Writeup in the Bucks Herald
High Speed Rail: Secret plans for a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham have recently been announced by the government. I say secret because no one knew anything about them until comprehensive plans appeared in our local papers a few weeks ago. The plan is to carve up huge areas of outstanding natural beauty with a new express rail line on which a high speed train blasts through quiet villages and farms every 4 minutes, stopping at nowhere in between London and Birmingham. Every day it will dump a third of a million passengers in Birmingham and return them to London.
Had there been some consultation, the government might have discovered that there are not a third of a million people who want to be rocketed to Birmingham and back each day. Had there been some consultation, the people who live and work in the path of the new line might have said we are very happy with the existing trains to and from Birmingham, they are clean, comfortable and not always full up. Had there been some consultation, even the pro-high-speed railers might have said, why not follow the paths of the existing motorways for minimal disruption, but they were not consulted. The predicted cost will be in excess of £28 billion, so it would be fair to say in these times of restraint that we should not even think about it until the UK as a whole can afford it, and then let us have a lot of public discussion rather than planning behind closed doors.
One question still needs answering; Has anyone worked out how to get 1,400 men and women of assorted ages, sizes, agility and physical ability, carrying with them their; brief cases, suit cases, ruck-sacks, handbags, prams, push-chairs, children and babies, along with their laptops, MP3 players, mobile phones, gadgets, books, newspapers, journals, coffees, bottles of water and sandwiches, onto a platform measuring .25 mile in length and then onto one of these new trains, (also measuring .25 of a mile), settled, with their luggage safely stowed, advised about emergency procedures, strapped down and ready for take-off in under 4 minutes? And repeat the exercise every 4 minutes throughout the day? Probably not. Never mind, someone will come up with the answer, let us move on.
High Speed Rail and Motorways Upon reflection, my immediate response could have been a tad more positive and lacked a detailed proposed solution. So for those interested in positive detail, read on...
First do we need this? Compare the gain plus the ultimate higher speeds, with the pain, the cost (financial and human) and the (adequate or not?) train speeds that we already have. If it is collectively felt that we do need it (and if a UK referendum confirms that we do), then I suggest we do the following:
- Plan a completely new UK system using Magnetic Levitation Trains or Maglev technology which is quieter, faster, smoother and less unsightly as there are no overhead cables. “Maglev, or magnetic levitation, is a system of transportation that suspends guides and propels vehicles, predominantly trains, using magnetic levitation from a very large number of magnets for lift and propulsion.
- Plan Phase 1 of our new UK high speed rail initially, as an up-side-down “Y” with Birmingham as the central hub at the centre of the “fork” and Heathrow as a secondary hub on the lower right fork of the “fork”.
Phase 1 would see the build of three major high speed rail routes following motorway corridors as follows; from Birmingham, one route would follow the motorway corridor northwards using the M6 and M74 to Carlisle, then bifurcating, would end either in Glasgow or Edinburgh. There will be a small Liverpool/Manchester hub on the M62 (Junction 21A near Warrington), to take commuters west to Liverpool and north east to Manchester.
From Birmingham to the south east of England, the M40 corridor should be used, then the train would go under the M25 (at or near Junction 14 on the M25), to a new vast underground Heathrow Hub, and then continue under the south west segment of London contained within the M25 to meet up with the M20 and thence to Folkstone. From Birmingham to the south west, the M4 and M5 corridors to Bristol and Exeter would be the obvious choice. - Plan Phase 2 which would extend the rail lines horizontally; to the west from Bristol to Swansea (following the M4) and south westerly from Exeter to Plymouth using the A38 corridor. Likewise the Heathrow Hub could branch down (south) to Southampton and Portsmouth via the M3 and M27.
Then using the Birmingham Hub to the east (M6 and A14), take the line to Rugby, Kettering and Cambridge and then south (M11 to M25) in the direction of Folkstone. At this point the new high speed rail could either follow the M25 anti-clockwise to the new Heathrow Hub to link up with trains to Folkstone, OR, could tunnel under the northeast segment of M25 taking it to the M20 junction then take the M20 corridor down to link up with the Folkstone line. In Scotland the lines from Glasgow and Edinburgh could be extended north to Fort William (and beyond) and to Aberdeen (and beyond). - Plan more stops to make this entire system better value for money for the tax payer and to provide more links to major cities, seats of learning, tourist attractions and UK holidays.
- Plan costs and how we pay for this; The new train links build must recoup the initial investment over a 10-year period and must obviously pay its way but should also make a small profit for the owners. I would suggest that the UK government owns 60% of the new build. That UK citizens are encouraged to purchase 16% of it. The remaining 24% could be split 3-ways and be offered equally to Germany who already have experience of developing Maglev trains, and China and the Emirates who both plan to expand their airlines into European airports. Thus Germany, China and The Emirates will be offered an 8% share each in return for their initial (10- year) interest-free funding, sponsorship and expertise.
Who knows what we will decide to do with high speed travel in 5, 10 or 15 year’s time? We might all own our Individual-Fast-Flight-Systems (IFFSs) by then. However, whatever happens, the reality is that the subject needs open debate and we should wait for a time when we can collectively afford to pay for it. If, after due consideration we decide to go ahead, then the job should be done well.
Sue Thornton
MAY UPDATE
Exceptional Hardship Scheme Consultation Response
Respond before 20 May 2010
Wendover HS2 Takes Action
Wendover HS2, previously known as WenSTAG, is continuing its campaign to protect Wendover, threatened by the Government’s preferred route for the proposed new High Speed Rail (HS2).
Over 300 local residents attended a meeting organised by Wendover HS2 (previously WenSTAG), in Wendover Memorial Hall on 21 April. County Councillor Marion Clayton was delighted by the high attendance. “This shows the strength of feeling among local residents about the proposed HS2 preferred route. We are really thrilled by this support and hope everyone will get involved in fighting these damaging proposals”.
So local people can see how the route may affect them and the value of their property, Wendover HS2 (previously WenSTAG) is holding an Open Day at the local Library on Saturday, 5th June 2010 between 10am – 4pm.
Members of Wendover HS2, including local Councillors and Wendover Society members, will be on hand to answer questions on all aspects of HS2. Come along and share your ideas for protecting Wendover and The Chilterns from such appalling devastation.
Note:- The Wendover HS2 Committee members :-
Buckinghamshire County Council |
Marion Clayton |
Aylesbury Vale District Council |
Chris Richard |
Wendover Parish Council (observers) |
Steve Worth |
Wendover Society |
Carol Clark |
Local businessmen |
Jeff Addison |
HS2 – Act now to protect the value of your house
At a packed meeting in Wendover Memorial Hall 100’s of people heard from Bucks County Council, The Chilterns Conservation Board, and The Chiltern Society about the Government’s plans for the High Speed 2 railway that is proposed to carve its way through the Chilterns. This includes a 75 metre wide path across the Wendover Cricket Club pitch and the demolition of some houses in Ellesborough Road. The line is also proposed to run on a 5m high embankment along the side of the Bypass to Nash Lee Road, and a massive 500m long Viaduct over the existing Chiltern line tracks and A413 London Road as the new line heads towards Wendover Dean and Great Missenden.
The impact of this line, and the associated noise from up to 18 trains in each direction every hour, is likely to reduce the market value of your house in Wendover. Realising this, the government has proposed an “Exceptional Hardship Scheme” to compensate home owners who have a pressing need to sell their house and can prove that no offer has been received within 15% of the market price. The Scheme also has several other “Qualification Criteria” proposed which could dramatically reduce the number of people able to get any compensation. The scheme proposed is very similar to the one adopted for the HS1 Line in Kent, and is being rushed through a “Consultation” by the Department of Transport before the 20th of May.
Wendover and Brackley are the two most affected towns along the proposed route of HS2. WenSTAG, the new local Action Group set up by The Wendover Society, the Parish Council, Aylesbury Vale and Buckinghamshire County Councillors to defend Wendover against the threat of HS2, thinks that it is imperative that the voice of Wendover property owners is heard loud and clear by the Government. If we don’t resist this Scheme now, they could think that they can get away with this sort of unfair approach. For example if you don’t want to sell your house - just get some of the Equity out of it, or if you own commercial property, you are not covered by the proposed Scheme.
WenSTAG needs you to make your feelings known to the Department of Transport consultation, which has three basic questions:
- Do you think that a scheme should be set up before the line is set up? Most people might think so, as the impact on house prices is also expected on the other shortlisted (but currently rejected) routes such as the Hughenden Valley.
- Do you agree with the proposed criteria? If not what alternatives do you propose?
- Do you agree with how the scheme will work? If not what alternatives do you propose?
These are difficult questions for most people to answer, and that might be part of the Government’s strategy to Railroad (pun intended) their scheme into life. WenSTAG has been getting advice from other action groups” up and down the line” about this, and commends to you the advice given on the Website http://hs2action.co.uk/exceptional-hardship . This has been endorsed by both BucksCC and AVDC.
This is the first step in defeating the HS2 proposals that would completely change Wendover for future generations, and WenSTAG is working with the other groups to build a national reasoned response to the complete HS2 line proposal. Over the next few months you will hear more about the project, but in the short term WenSTAG is seeking local support to get things moving. They are especially keen to hear from people with expertise in Railway Noise, but if you would like to volunteer any other support please contact them by email at WendoverHS2@btinternet.com or drop a note into the Parish Council office in the Clock Tower.
If you want to protect the value of your house, read also guidance at http://hs2actionalliance.org and respond before the 20th of May.
Chiltern Countryside Group
'Preserving the peace of the Chilterns'
Website: www.chilterncountrysidegroup.org
e mail: info@chilterncountrysidegroup.org
Re: HS2 Rail Route through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
How can we stop this act of vandalism?
Once again, the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is under serious threat. The Chilterns is an invaluable and irreplaceable asset for the nation, for many thousands of visitors, residents & businesses and for future generations.
A few weeks ago, Lord Adonis announced his proposals for High Speed rail routes to connect London and Birmingham, and eventually, beyond. Three options were presented, all of which traverse the Chilterns AONB bringing consequent visual & aural desecration to the tranquil rural settings which form the character of AONBs nationally. Of course in addition to this permanent & irretrievable loss, there would be total & stressful disruption to the lives & homes of residents and major, possibly permanent, disturbance of the landscape during the many years of construction. We understand that one tunnel alone, for example, would take 5 years to construct.
As we all discovered, the preferred route would go straight through the heart of the Chilterns AONB, alongside the A413 and the existing Chiltern Line. As an environmental campaigning Group, we are not against High Speed rail but we are totally against this route and will do all within our powers to prevent its adoption.
The Chiltern Countryside Group fervently believe that no HS routes should go through any part of the Chilterns, whether it be following the A413, on a viaduct across the Hughenden Valley or alongside the current West Coast Main Line (the other 2 options).
The CCG do not feel it is in anyone’s best interests nationally, let alone locally, for one route to be favoured against another by any party or organisation. We believe this will divide communities & decision-making bodies & weaken the collective voice with the consequent potential to jeopardise the entire campaign. Protection of AONBs should be a mission for all UK residents which transcends County boundaries and political parties to achieve the outcome we all desire – which is to protect every ridge, valley, woodland, and settlement of every part of the Chilterns AONB.
Just under 2 years ago, the AONB was confronted with the prospect of low level flight paths across the peaceful hills, valleys & ancient settlements of the Chilterns. Our campaign against these proposals achieved much – as you all know, NATS are currently reviewing its plans and will consult again later in 2010. The success of this campaign was founded on the united voice of all communities and decision-making bodies saying the same message – if this had been diluted, it is unlikely to have succeeded and low level flights would be crossing the Chilterns AONB right now.
Therefore, the Chiltern Countryside Group urges all local residents, and those who have been elected to represent them, to object to all HS routes which transverse the Chilterns AONB, thus demonstrating the unquantifiable value to the nation held by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in which we are privileged to live & for which we have an individual and collective duty to protect.
Further, by maintaining this policy, you will show commitment to preserving an ancient and unique environment for future generations. Clearly signalling that the whole of the Chilterns AONB is a ‘no-go’ area for HS rail routes will prevent a dangerous precedent being given to those in office who appear intent on destroying some of the UK’s most valuable and irreplaceable resources – its Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Chiltern Countryside Group’s hope is that united we may strive to preserve the peace of the Chilterns, a statement which rings true for us all.
News from Kent
A delegation from the Chilterns Conservation Board, visited the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to see for ourselves whether any lessons could be learned from the experience of HS1 (Eurostar). This was before the specific details of the proposed HS2 route had been released. I especially wanted to see for myself three aspects of HS1. The individual design elements, the impact on the countryside and the changes that have come about since the line first opened.
The group first visited a crossing adjacent to the historic Pilgrims way near Boxley Warren. We saw a bridge that was square, concrete—a brutal modern design and were told that all the bridges en route were of the same uniform appearance. The same square functional approach also applied to the tunnels. Presumably the main factor was cost and speed of erection rather than empathy with the surroundings. Overall the visual impact is of masses of concrete, huge gantries, security fencing and the development of roads, lighting and engineering huts that are used for servicing the tunnels. In two other countryside locations it became obvious that a drastically over-engineered approach had been taken with kerbs, turning bays, signs, white lines—all adding to the dramatic contrast with the surrounding un-improved roads. We also found that HS1 was only a beginning. Despite assurances that construction sites would revert to their original state, a green field site has now become an industrial estate. Local high speed services have been introduced along the HS1 line, freight carrying is now being talked about along with the development of road and rail interchange stations, the result being that line usage is being increased incrementally and arguably way above what was originally proposed.
The proposal for HS2 which has such a significant and detrimental impact on Buckinghamshire and Wendover in particular, would normally have been dealt with by a Public Inquiry. In the case of HS2, this will not happen. Following public consultation, the decision maker will be Parliament itself. Bearing in mind the obvious danger of not having a Public Inquiry, it seems to me that the only way forward is the twin track approach—object vigorously but with alternative proposals (and there are others with quite legitimate advantages) but also seek numerous improvements to the existing proposals. In the worst case scenario, it will be the only chance to insist on any mitigation.
I felt that four points arising from my Kent visit may be of use to those wanting to be involved in the public consultation;
a) the possible incremental increases in line usage;
b) a change in the design approach;
c) an independent problem and complaints body should be set up with a remit covering sites beyond the narrow rail area;
d) address the mitigation measures required, insisting on the maximum.
Copies of my lengthier note to AVDC have been given to both the Parish Council and the Wendover Society. We must bear in mind that the situation is still fluid—the HS2 report was a recommendation only and no decisions have yet been taken. This could run and run, new information will be produced all the time but we should work together to prevent our AONB from being devastated by a high speed line a s has happened in Kent.
Chris Richards AVDC Councillor
Chris Richards' report sent to Wendover Parish Council and the Wendover Society
Following a site visit to the Kent AONB organized by the Chilterns Conservation Board, I include some thoughts about the effects of the HS1 experience and the lessons to be learned.
Section 1 – Benefits
After some discussion with a member of the Kent Downs AONB at the Shorne Wood Countryside Park, we discovered that some benefits arose from the original HS1 proposal. Its arrival acted as a lever to focus minds and attitudes on landscape protection and as a result the concept of managed landscapes was created.
Another positive result was that the funds were available for areas not immediately next to the railway. (The Rail Link Initiative) The criteria for RLI was that if buildings or communities were affected by noise from HS1 or by extra traffic generated by new roads or by-passes then they qualified for funding. HS1 also acted as a catalyst that changed attitudes to parts of the AONB e.g. at the time, the Darnely Mausoleum was a wreck – the impact of HS1 caused a rethink and it is no longer a wreck.
Section 2 – Site visits and Comments
The site visit group stopped at the bridge on the historic Pilgrims Way near Boxley Warren. The bridge in question was square, concrete, brutal modern design and we were told that all the bridges en route were of the same uniform design, presumably on cost and speed of erection grounds. The design code was being set by the route and the cost and not be surroundings or empathetic design. At the Pilgrims Way bridge an attempt had been made to minimize the adverse impact by using wooden cladding on the inner walls and this had helped blend it in with its surroundings. The same square functional approach is also followed in the tunnel design.
When bridges and tunnels are adjacent, the most visible and immediate impact is of masses of concrete, gantries, huge security fences plus smaller fences that define the edge of the buffer zone. In addition there are engineering huts lighting and access roads that are used for servicing the tunnels. Furthermore the main security fence has high-impact brightly coloured yellow security notices at regular intervals as far as I could tell all the way to London.
We stopped over at two other locations, near a farm access road and also near Boxley village. The farm access road was drastically over engineered; tarmac, kerb stones, white lines, parking, turning bay. The contrast with roads leading up to and past the farm was very striking, none having had any of these improvements, therefore they blended better into their surroundings. Boxley is a small Kentish village and here again the engineering impact on local landscape distinctiveness was very detrimental – again kerbs, extra footpaths, signage and white lines. Furthermore road improvements may have led to greater road use / speed and an encouragement for ore traffic to pass through the village.
Section 3 – Issues, lessons and solutions arising from the above
HS1 Overall visual impact on the countryside close to the track is very serious indeed. A distance view from say between quarter and half a mile was arguably less so.
The landscape can be managed and the impact on the communities can be lessened by creating cuttings in sensitive areas as the trains are hidden and the gantry impact is minimized. The use of hi-tech acoustic fences consisting of modern sound deadening materials with exterior wooded cladding which reduces noise and blends them into the landscape. However in my view this amelioration is only effective if these measures are a decent distance from housing.
Section 4 – Short/Longterm possibilities/ consequences
- The HS1 route grew and developed into providing extra local high speed services. The Javelin is capable of speeds approx 90 – 110 plus mph;
- The provision of 2 high speed services has increased the line usage;
- The use of the line to carry freight, possibly at night-time, is being floated around. This would of course increase the impact on communities (However, it is worth noting that though the old design Eurostar creates a loud rolling noise, the new Javelin train is much quieter and more acceptable;
- The fact that in Kent more road/rail interchanges are being looked at, means that the end result could be a trebling of line usage.
In conclusion, four major points arose from my day to assess HS1
- There should be a change in the design approach (led by planning authorities) from purely engineering solutions (i.e. speedy assembly, functionality by use of concrete, reconstitutes stone and aluminium facings) to materials and design statements more in keeping with the landscape;
- Tactical decisions need to be made now – definitive ideas on what is required. Two of the groups heavily involved in HS1 and the Channel Tunnel, the Cobham and National Bank Initiative together with the Rail Link Countryside Initiative Group, now say that in retrospect they could have achieved much more mitigation benefits if at the time they had tried for everything going.
- It is vitally important to have an independent problem and complaints body in existence as work progresses. Kent had an Independent Complaints Commission set up by Government covering areas of potential upset with powers to look beyond the narrow rail area. This encompassed work camps, construction traffic, etc. unfortunately it had to be funded by local authorities.
- Because of the incremental increase in line usage, it seems to me that any authority dealing with HS2 has to take a long term development view covering at least 20 years.
I also attach a briefing note about the activities of both the Kent Association of Local Councils and the Rural Community Council. Once I receive the Chiltern Conservation Board’s briefing note, I will forward a copy of that to you.
WenSTAG Meeting Wednesday 21 April 2010
These notes were given out at the public WenSTAG meeting in Wendover Memorial Hall on Wednesday 21 April.
HIGH SPEED TRAIN (HS2) PROPOSALS
- The Government has published proposals for a second high speed rail line in Britain, running initially from London to Birmingham. The proposals recommend a route which would have a devastating effect on the Chi Items Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Green Belt, as well as damaging other environmentally sensitive areas in Buckinghamshire.
- For Wendover, the line would run through the Misboume Valley to a viaduct across the A413 and the Chiltem Line just east of Wendover and a further viaduct over Bacombe Lane, before entering a "cut and cover" tunnel under Ellesborough Road and then on an embankment across the cricket field and the field beyond.
- The line will carry all high speed rail traffic with an initial capacity of 14 trains per hour in each direction, up to 400 metres long, travelling at 250 mph, non stop between London and Birmingham
- Construction may start in 2019 and the line could open in 2026
- Total infrastructure cost is between £15.8 and £17.4 billion
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED - When will this happen?
20th May |
Exceptional hardship scheme consultation closes (see below) |
Late 2010 |
Government begins a programme of public consultation |
Late 2011 |
Government decides whether to proceed with the proposed high speed line from London to Birmingham |
2011 - 2013 |
Design and further assessment of the preferred route |
2013 |
Further public consultation on detailed proposals |
2014 |
Hybrid Bill laid in House of Commons |
2019 |
Possible start of construction |
2026 |
Possible opening of London to Birmingham section |
What will be in the impact on Wendover?
The route impacts severely on Wendover. Properties in Ellesborough Road are scheduled for demolition to make way for the "cut and cover" tunnel, and farms in its way will be either destroyed or their viability reduced. Many other properties will be affected by noise and the visual impact of viaducts and embankments.
Have alternative routes been explored?
Yes. The Government has looked at a number of routes but HS2 Ltd, which is a Government owned company, concluded that the preferred route best meets their requirements in terms of design, cost and environmental impact.
What about the noise impact?
No information is available at the present time on the noise impact. However, with frequent trains 400 metres long, travelling at up to 250 mph, it will inevitably be horrendous.
How will Wendover respond to the proposals?
Immediately the proposals were announced, your County, District and Parish Councillors, together with the Wendover Society, met to discuss the way forward. They formed an initial Action Group called WenSTAG. The Group is evolving already to include other people with particular expertise. Subject to ratification at the public meeting on 21st April, this group will co-ordinate Wendover's robust rejection of the proposals.
What can I do now?
The first thing is to respond to the consultation on the proposed Exceptional Hardship Scheme. This consultation closes on 20th May 2010, and covers compensation arrangements for those who need to sell their homes before the decision to proceed with HS2 is taken. It is available at www.dft.gov.uk/consuitations/open and all Wendover residents are urged to respond. Paper copies of the response form will also be available at the Clock Tower and at Wendover Library. Second, if you have any expertise that you feel may be helpful in developing the response to the HS2 proposals, please contact David Whitaker at george.whitaker@sky.com.
What expertise is needed?
If you have a background in engineering, noise mitigation, ICT, publicity, fund raising or relevant professional or business experience and are able to offer help, please get in touch with David Whitaker at george.whitaker@sky.com.
How will you let us know what is happening?
We will submit regular updates to Wendover News and publish newsletters at critical points. We also hope to establish our own website in due course.
Where can I get more information?
- Detailed information, including the Command Document setting out the detail of the proposals, is available on the Department for Transport website: www.dft.gov.uk/highspeedrail.
- Copies of the document and maps are available for inspection at Wendover Library.
- WenSTAG will be holding a "drop in day" in Wendover Library on Saturday 5th June from lOam to 4pm. Members of the group will be available during the day to answer your questions and documents and large scale maps will be on display.
High Speed 2 (Buckinghamshire) Debate
David Lidington has also been involved in the issue. Watch the High Speed 2 (Buckinghamshire) Debate with David Liddington by following this link.
High Speed Rail Link - Relative Weblinks
If you would like to see appropriate weblinks click on:
