CAMPAIGNERS say a compensation scheme for people who could be affected by a planned high speed rail route is “irrational and unfair”.

Members of the HS2 Action Alliance – set up earlier this year when the planned High Speed 2 rail link between London and Birmingham was announced – said changes made to the compensation package after a public consultation were “not sufficient” to remedy its “inadequacies”.

More than 4,500 people responded to the consultation on the planned compensation package, leading the Department for Transport to announce this week residents affected by any future building work would be reimbursed (see link to previous story, below).

Thousands of Buckinghamshire residents could be affected by the High Speed 2 project as the preferred route – known as Option 3 – would cut through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and tunnel underneath Amersham and the Chalfonts.

More people will be eligible for compensation following feedback from the public consultation.

But Hilary Wharf, director of the HS2 Action Alliance, said: “While we welcome these changes, they are not sufficient to remedy the scheme’s inadequacies.

“HS2AA believe that the Exceptional Hardship Scheme remains irrational and unfair. It seems still to accept some reasons for wanting to move but not others, and seeks to contain qualifying properties to a tight geographical area around route Option 3.

“HS2AA will continue to seek a guarantee to protect property values on whatever route is chosen, as this can actually eliminate the cause of property blight.

“While we recognise the climate of austerity, the Government should appreciate that if HS2 cannot pay for the damage it does, including the cost of fair compensation, then HS2 cannot be in the national interest.”

The Alliance, which is based in Amersham, put forward an alternative compensation scheme as part of the consultation.

But Mrs Wharf said: “With over 4,500 responses, and 85 per cent of individuals and 60 per cent of Local Authorities and Other Interested Bodies supporting our alternative compensation solution, we are naturally disappointed that the Government persists with a lightly modified version of their original proposal.

“This outcome appears to have both ignored our findings and the overwhelming concerns of those consulted.”

A report is due to be made to Parliament by Philip Hammond MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, in October, with a full consultation on the whole High Speed 2 project due to take place early next year.

Mrs Wharf said: “This leaves open the possibility of the Secretary of State announcing a more satisfactory scheme along the lines that we have proposed, but there is no commitment.”