High Speed 2: Upset villagers turn fire on under pressure MP (From Bucks Free Press)
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High Speed 2: Upset villagers turn fire on under pressure MP Cheryl Gillan
9:00am Monday 13th February 2012 in News By James Nadal
High Speed 2: Upset villagers turn fire on under pressure MP
CAMPAIGNERS against High Speed 2 from Great Missenden have ratcheted up the pressure on Cheryl Gillan – but the MP says she will not talk any more about giving up her constituency home.
Mrs Gillan came in for fierce criticism after it emerged she had sold her Amersham house – near the HS2 route.
She explained it was due to the unsuitable nature of the property with her husband's moblity problems - not about HS2.
But constituents have since asked why she could not have stayed in the area by moving to a home which was better equipped.
And they are angry she appears to have ignored pleas to meet them face to face at a public meeting.
Great Missenden resident Marilyn Fletcher, who voted for Mrs Gillan at the General Election, said: “I understand her cottage there was unsuitable.
"Her constituents, however, are reasonable in expecting her to purchase another suitable home in the constituency at a time when they are living with the biggest challenge the area has faced since World War 2.”
Great Missenden resident and former Tory councillor Keith Mikes said: “On the major issue of the day for Great Missenden the failure to come and meet the constituents looks like a dereliction of duty by an MP.
“We cannot understand why she has changed from opposition to HS2 to acceptance of the principle and only working for modest changes.”
He also questioned why Mrs Gillan did not take on another constituency home.
Claire Marriott, also from Great Missenden, said: “I am outraged by her recent behaviour.
“It is simply not good enough that she is refusing to comment on key issues.
“As a constituency MP she needs to be available to those who elected her.
“As inconvenient as it may be, her constituency now includes Great Missenden and the people in this village would like a meeting.
“Prior to her election Ms Gillan was happy to come here and make all kinds of public promises. “Now, however, her diary appears to be closed to anything but private meetings with party loyalists.”
The BFP asked Mrs Gillan a series of questions, including why she decided not to take on another constituency property, if she will consider getting another house in the area, and if she will agree to a public meeting.
A statement issued by her office did not directly address the questions, but said: “Mrs Gillan has already publicly explained the reasons for selling her property in the constituency.
“She will not be make any further comment about her domestic or detailed diary arrangements.”
Mrs Gillan did not comment on whether she backed Buckinghamshire County Council's moves to push for a judicial review on HS2.
She also did not confirm where she is currently living.
Mrs Gillan has previously insisted she has being doing everything possible for her constituents and told the BFP she will not resign as Welsh Secretary.
Comments(29)
Cressex Offender
says...
9:44am Mon 13 Feb 12
I am glad that this chap is not given to exaggeration.
geoffW
says...
9:44am Mon 13 Feb 12
piran
says...
10:16am Mon 13 Feb 12
What a complete load of tosh.
Obviously "Great Missenden resident Marilyn Fletcher" is living in a fantsay world of exaggeration. Mind you she probably has a very nice house and a comfortable income so having a national asset to help build the national economy running under you in a tunnel must be like having the Nazis invade! Unemployment, poverty and poor health do not seem to bother her.
tigeran
says...
10:33am Mon 13 Feb 12
sparky49 wrote:Well you cant blame them can you?! By that i assume you mean Lib Dem and by the colour I assume you mean the colour of their belly!!
What a hoot. Tory voters turning on their own because they couldn't get their own way. Mind you they will still vote her back in rather than have a yellow MP.
Lib Dems?!!!! God help us if those idiots had full rein, its bad enough that they are allowed to tag along with a PROPER party than be in complete control!!!
JOHNHEALY
says...
10:42am Mon 13 Feb 12
sparky49
says...
10:49am Mon 13 Feb 12
JOHNHEALY wrote:WOW. "All of us". That would be a very small number of people deciding who sits in the cabinet then. Mind you that is excatcly what happens. It's good to see that the Tory me me me attitude is still alive and well. Go up north and visit places like Hull, M'boro and Sunderland and you will see what your Blue chums have done to other parts of the country.
It is time to get tough now and call for Cheryl Gillan to resign so we can have a better MP to represent us. While we are talking resignations I think all of us who are affected by HS2 should also call on Justine Greening to resign too.
Nick1042
says...
10:52am Mon 13 Feb 12
piran wrote:Although I feel Marilyn Fletcher's statement is a tad over the top, you know nothing about her personal circumstances so please stop stereotyping, something you seem to do over and over in your posts. Not everybody in Bucks have fantastic salaries and big houses.
".... When they are living with the biggest challenge the area has faced since World War 2.”
What a complete load of tosh.
Obviously "Great Missenden resident Marilyn Fletcher" is living in a fantsay world of exaggeration. Mind you she probably has a very nice house and a comfortable income so having a national asset to help build the national economy running under you in a tunnel must be like having the Nazis invade! Unemployment, poverty and poor health do not seem to bother her.
tigeran
says...
11:48am Mon 13 Feb 12
sparky49 wrote:So who do you suggest could lead us into 'euphoria' then? Labour? Just look at what they did to this country over the last 12 - 13 years. Lib Dems? I doubt it as they dont seem to know what they are doing and have no experience at all, so who then?
JOHNHEALY wrote:WOW. "All of us". That would be a very small number of people deciding who sits in the cabinet then. Mind you that is excatcly what happens. It's good to see that the Tory me me me attitude is still alive and well. Go up north and visit places like Hull, M'boro and Sunderland and you will see what your Blue chums have done to other parts of the country.
It is time to get tough now and call for Cheryl Gillan to resign so we can have a better MP to represent us. While we are talking resignations I think all of us who are affected by HS2 should also call on Justine Greening to resign too.
JOHNHEALY
says...
12:02pm Mon 13 Feb 12
moonshot
says...
12:40pm Mon 13 Feb 12
kingsnewclothes
says...
12:54pm Mon 13 Feb 12
... In answer to Moonshot's question if we are to build a line there should be some effort to at least partly follow a transport corridor ( the M1 and M6 or the M40 being the obvious candidates ). Incremental blight and impact on the rural landscape would be much less. Speeds wouldn't be 250 mph but that would use less electricity and so what if it takes 95 mins to get to Manchester instead of 75 mins. Some tunelling needed under populated areas but there is tunelling under the current plans. I've not seen any evidence yet that this would cost more I suspect because the government and HS2 Ltd haven't bothered doing the work.
padav
says...
1:10pm Mon 13 Feb 12
padav
says...
1:20pm Mon 13 Feb 12
padav
says...
1:31pm Mon 13 Feb 12
kingsnewclothes
says...
4:34pm Mon 13 Feb 12
Of course the govt isn't spending £ 36 Billion now but it will be at something like £ 1 Billion before ground is broken. Then it will be £ 2 - £ 3 Billion per year for lots of year but more importantly the £ 36 Billion commitment will have been made to go on top of the £ 1 Trillion of government debt which is just not going down desperate the savage cuts everywhere else. It isn't a case of Transport being a special case it is a case of Transport being the ONLY special case.
padav
says...
6:45pm Mon 13 Feb 12
Chiltonian
says...
10:37pm Mon 13 Feb 12
"Her constituents, however, are reasonable in expecting her to purchase another suitable home in the constituency at a time when they are living with the biggest challenge the area has faced since World War 2.”
Marilyn you are clearly on a different planet. Planet fantasy!
Marilyn, read the HS2 consultation response report on page 108.
It states that, out of the whole of the UK, that only 215 people (YES, JUST 215 PEOPLE!) could be even bothered to mention Great Missenden.
I'll repeat this in the hope you will get it if I repeat it again: JUST 215 PEOPLE could be even bothered to mention Great Missenden.
Hardly the biggest thing since WW2 is it???????????
Chiltonian
says...
10:41pm Mon 13 Feb 12
What ever made you use the title: "Upset villagers turn fire on under pressure MP Cheryl Gillan".
Upset villagers = Marilyn Fletcher?
Chiltonian
says...
10:50pm Mon 13 Feb 12
It cant be surely?
No, that Marilyn Fletcher was the key person demanding that too much spoil was being created in the Chilterns by HS2.
What that Marilyn demanded was much less spoil - through less tunnelling and less cuttings. No wonder she hates Gillan as it was Gillan got the local area more tunnelling (and more spoil).
Scarletto
says...
11:02am Tue 14 Feb 12
She let them seriously down and acted shabbily. A promise seriously broken and then she acted badly. Court action is now starting against this rail scheme.
Ms Gillan has refused to comment fully on her actions and the outcome.
If another MP acted in this way Ms Gillan would be one of the first to condemn them for their awful conduct. Let her Conservative association deselect her soon. She may be defeated at the next election otherwise.
Many of her party members have campainged hard against the rail route don't forget. She betrayed us.
padav
says...
1:24pm Tue 14 Feb 12
..................an
d here we see a prime example of how reality quickly departs from the scene when it comes to discussions of this vexed topic - @Scarletto assures us that Ms Gillan "may be defeated" at the next election - here are the actual Chesham & Amersham constituency results for the last general election Conservative 31,658 - 60.4% Lib Dem 14,948 - 28.5% Labour 2,942 5.6% UKIP 2,129 4.1%
Green 767 1.5%
Given that Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative parties all endorse High Speed Rail as official policy, whilst UKIP and Greens oppose it - @Scarletto is boldly claiming that somehow more than 90% (diff. between combined totals of pro-HS2 party candidates and anti-HS2 party candidate gaining most votes in last election) of the local electorate will switch allegiance to an anti-HS2 candidate and defeat the incumbent, eg. Ms Gillan - in the bubble of unreality anti-HS2 campaigners inhabit this might be possible - for the other 99.9% living in the real world, this delusional approach is merely a source of endless amusement?
kingsnewclothes
says...
1:30pm Tue 14 Feb 12
.......... As for Luton, I used to live their so would be happy to take my chances. If there was a Thameslink connection there at least the local people who were effected would be able to use the line.
miccles
says...
1:58pm Tue 14 Feb 12
kingsnewclothes wrote:And you are??????
So padav things that building close to an existing transport route is a recipe for cost overruns and massive delays. Total rubbish ! Why do you start getting so hysterical when anybody criticises the existing deeply flawed scheme ? I remember you once saying that if motorways had been built with a large gap down the middle then the line could be built there ! Also I think we could say that much of HS1 is along a transport corridor . .................... .......... As for Luton, I used to live their so would be happy to take my chances. If there was a Thameslink connection there at least the local people who were effected would be able to use the line.
apart from another newbie who will disappear when this article dies down i presume.
"criticises the existing deeply flawed scheme"
Its only flawed because people like you who are against it are trying to get your own way on the arguement. its usually called "nit picking".
I can't really see something as important as this being flawed.
If people like you who "claimed" to know all the details of this project, right down to who was wearing what, and what they had to drink before the details were released, what are you doing posting comments on a newspaper website? surely it would be a bit low for you.
Scarletto
says...
5:09pm Tue 14 Feb 12
padav
says...
11:09pm Tue 14 Feb 12
read my words again and consider their importance - here they are again "Building close to an exsiting transport corridor that has not had the necessary pathways pre-engineered into it, is a recipe for cost overrun and massive delay" - what do you think I meant by "pre- engineered pathway" actually means in this context - go on work it out for yourself!
Chiltonian
says...
11:19pm Tue 14 Feb 12
I think padav has answered the question over and over.
padav
says...
11:24pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Chiltonian
says...
10:39pm Thu 16 Feb 12
Nick1042 wrote:Yes, unlike the HS2 route - Marilyn is certainly a tad over the top (surface) in the Chilterns.
piran wrote:Although I feel Marilyn Fletcher's statement is a tad over the top, you know nothing about her personal circumstances so please stop stereotyping, something you seem to do over and over in your posts. Not everybody in Bucks have fantastic salaries and big houses.
".... When they are living with the biggest challenge the area has faced since World War 2.”
What a complete load of tosh.
Obviously "Great Missenden resident Marilyn Fletcher" is living in a fantsay world of exaggeration. Mind you she probably has a very nice house and a comfortable income so having a national asset to help build the national economy running under you in a tunnel must be like having the Nazis invade! Unemployment, poverty and poor health do not seem to bother her.
She spent her whole time arguing about construction spoil now she is complaining over less spoil.
Its a topsy turvy Marilyn World
sparky49 says...
9:43am Mon 13 Feb 12