MPs explain opposition to high speed train plan (From Bucks Free Press)

MPs explain opposition to high speed train plan

10:01am Friday 19th March 2010 in

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THE MPs whose constituencies face a having a new high speed train line driven through them today urge Bucks Free Press readers to fight the plan.

Aylesbury MP David Lidington and Chesham and Amersham MP Cheryl Gillan spoke after the controversial route was announced last week.

It would tunnel under the Chalfonts and Amersham and run overground by the Missendens.

The Government says an alternative is to run a line under Gerrards Cross and Hazlemere and overground at Hughenden.

Click the link at the bottom of this story for our stories on the plans.

Aylesbury MP David Lidington:

Plans for a high-speed rail line through South Bucks and the Misbourne Valley have come as an appalling shock to local residents. Some people find that their homes are marked for demolition. Many more have houses which are now blighted and unsaleable. I share their outrage at a scheme that would scar the Chilterns landscape that successive governments have designated as of outstanding national importance.

I am getting to grips with the mass of detail, putting down questions to ministers and talking to as many local organisations and individual constituents as I can. I have also spoken to the other Bucks MPs whose constituents are affected – Cheryl Gillan, Dominic Grieve and John Bercow – to make sure we coordinate our work.

Final decisions about the scheme won’t be made till after the public consultation that starts in the autumn. That gives us some months to get our arguments together.

The idea in principle of high-speed rail has strong public, business and political support. It could bring national economic benefits and, by getting passengers off flights and motorways, environmental gains too.

Simply saying “no” isn’t enough. We need to put together the strongest case possible for an alternative, less environmentally damaging route. For example, why was the government so quick to rule out an M1 corridor avoiding the Chilterns AONB altogether?

At the same time, we need to prepare our Plan B. If the worst came to the worst, what do we want from government to make things slightly more bearable for local people? Could more of the line be put into tunnels? What about additional works to suppress noise and limit visual intrusion? Is more generous compensation part of the answer?

To win these arguments, we have to base our case on detailed evidence and meticulous argument.

Chesham and Amersham MP Cheryl Gillan:

I am challenging the routing of HS2 through Chesham and Amersham because of the impact that this choice of route will have not only on residents but also on the precious environment of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

There are certainly economic and environmental benefits to be had for the UK from a High Speed Rail network, but the pursuance of this grand design should not lead us to ride roughshod over our landscapes, our heritage and our communities.

Having raised my initial concerns about the route when it was announced to the House of Commons, I have now tackled Lord Adonis, the Secretary of State, in a face-to-face meeting and challenged him to come and face the people of Chesham and Amersham at a public meeting in the constituency. He is “considering the invitation” and is due to come back to me the day this article is published. Lord Adonis is fully aware of the pain that this project will cause but, in his drive to see it through, I fear he is indifferent as to where the blows will land. The Liberal Democrats, too, have praised the route.

What is worse, for people in Chesham and Amersham, this Labour Government has made it clear that for them, HS2 is not an alternative to the third runway at Heathrow – it is in addition to it. This leaves us here with the worst of all worlds.

As well as the environmental impact, for me there are questions about the commercial and financial viability of the scheme as currently proposed and that is why I am pleased to say that, whilst supporting the principle of high speed rail, Conservatives have not accepted the route as it stands.

Already there are cases of hardship caused by this announcement and, though I understand there will be compensation packages, without a change of heart by the Government there will be many more.

My constituents can be assured that I will do everything in my power to reverse this decision which is causing such distress to thousands across Chesham and Amersham.

I invite constituents to let me know their views on the dedicated email address: gillanhs2chilterns@cheshamandamershamconservatives.co.uk. Updates from me will be posted on www.cherylgillan.co.uk.