6:29pm Friday 12th March 2010
By Oliver Evans
A BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MP told the Commons a bid to run a high speed train through the county was a ‘devastating blow’.
Aylesbury MP David Lidington told transport minister Sadiq Khan that the plan would ‘destroy’ countryside.
The Government yesterday announced plans for a new line that would tunnel under the Chalfonts and Amersham and run overground by the Missendens.
Conservative Mr Lidington said: “The Minister will appreciate that for many of my constituents, today's statement will come as a pretty devastating blow.
“What, therefore, in his view, are the environmental benefits of the scheme that will outweigh the environmental costs both of driving a new railway very close to the homes of many hundreds of my constituents in Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville and of destroying countryside that successive Governments, Labour and Conservative, have designated as of outstanding national importance?”
Mr Khan said: “It will be no comfort to those of his constituents who will be affected, but about 50 per cent of the High Speed 2 line will use or be sited next to existing or disused rail lines, or be sited in existing transport corridors.
“We need to minimise the disruption caused to the hon. Gentleman's constituents, and we are carrying out as much consultation as we possibly can to mitigate the damage caused.”
Tory Chesham and Amersham MP Cheryl Gillan said her party has ‘always supported the principle of high speed rail because of the economic benefits it can bring to the United Kingdom’.
Yet she said she was ‘glad’ it has ‘reserved our position on the route’ and said ‘my constituents will be as devastated’ as Mr Lidington’s.
Plans to tunnel under Amersham ‘would cause considerable disruption’ she said.
Mrs Gillan asked: “What assurances can the Minister give me that my constituents, and all the relevant organisations and councils, will be fully engaged and consulted throughout the process?
“Will he arrange for me to meet the Secretary of State to discuss the plans in more detail?”
Mr Khan said he would meet any MP who fears an affect on their constituency to discuss, he said.
He said: “A lot of the tunnelling will be done in order to reduce the devastation that would otherwise arise in areas of outstanding natural beauty.
“One of the reasons why we could not rush in and start the construction within five years is that we need properly to consult.
“We need to go through all the hoops and loops to ensure that everyone is consulted, and we are not committing to a route until that consultation has taken place.”
Read the full debate below.
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