8:00am Sunday 15th August 2010
By Andy Carswell
CAMPAIGNERS are going full steam ahead with a protest walk against a planned high speed rail route through the Buckinghamshire countryside next month.
Walkers will travel eight miles along the length of the planned High Speed 2 rail line after putting on their hiking boots at Amersham station at 10am on Saturday September 11.
Organised by the Chiltern Society, it is being held to highlight the impact the planned line would have on the Misbourne Valley if it is built.
If given the go-ahead, the line would cut through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in a series of cuttings and tunnel underneath Amersham and the Chalfonts.
Organiser Jim Rodda said: “Only by walking the route can you truly appreciate the utter devastation HS2 would bring, and realise not only the horrendous visual impact it will have but how the noise from these enormous trains would carry over the valley.”
Most of the walk is on public rights of way, but Mr Rodda has obtained permission from private landowners where the route crosses private land.
Walkers are being asked to be sponsored to raise money for the Chiltern Society’s fighting fund against HS2. Sponsor forms are available in newsagents in the Amersham and Great Missenden area and can be downloaded from the Chiltern Society website, www.chilternsociety.org.uk.
Anyone interested in taking part in the walk can contact Mr Rodda on jrodda@ukf.net.
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