Fears rail project could lose man his dream home (From Bucks Free Press)

Fears High Speed 2 project could lose Great Missenden man his dream home

8:39am Tuesday 5th October 2010 in News By Andrew Pearce

A PARALYSED Great Missenden man is living in fear of losing his dream home because of the proposed High Speed 2 rail project.

Alex Thomas, 46 – who has spent more than £100,000 on creating a wheel-chair friendly house – is panic-stricken after talks with MP Philip Hammond failed to allay his concerns.

The father-of-one’s home lies just 30 yards away from the planned line – meaning it would be engulfed by construction work.

Despite the Secretary of State for Transport’s intended words of comfort, Mr Thomas was left facing up to the prospect of losing his ten-year labour of love.

“It makes me feel cold inside, I can’t even bear the thought that I will have to leave my home – it fills me with dread,” explained Mr Thomas, who bought his home for £240,000 in 2000.

“It was the cheapest house we could buy but we have put all our efforts into making it comfortable for me.

“We never went on holiday because we couldn’t afford to – it cost us a fortune to install all the disabled access.”

But Mr Hammond’s response to Mr Thomas’ pleas fell a long way short of quashing his angst.

“He told me to write to him and that he would look into it. But it really wouldn’t surprise me if his minds is already made up about the route,” said Mr Thomas, whose spine was damaged after a motorbike crash 30 years ago.

Now, the health of Mr Thomas – who works for Flackwell Heath company Design Matters fitting kitchens for the disabled and elderly – is beginning to suffer.

“My stress levels are going through the roof and I’m not sleeping well,” he said.

And Mr Thomas has refuted any potential accusations of nimbyism, claiming that the entire proposal is inherently flawed.

He added: “We genuinely don’t need this – they have justified the project by saying that the line will support 145,000 commuters every day.

“But at the moment just 44,000 make the journey between London and Birmingham – where are the extra 100,000 going to come from?”

Meanwhile, the company behind the project, HS2 Ltd, has confirmed that affected homeowners can apply for help under the Exceptional Hardship Scheme.