AN environmental study into the effects of HS2 is to start this month - but campaigners say the work should have been done months ago.
Those who have campaigned against the controversial high speed rail project say the environmental impact assessment should have played a key role in deciding on the route of the line.
They have been angered by the fact no assessment has so far taken place, and they feel yesterday's announcement it will start this month is too little, too late.
Shirley Judges of the Stop HS2 group said: "It should have been done before the consultation so people could take account of it in responding to the consultation. Clearly this is something they should already have been doing.
"The Government has claimed it will be the greenest ever project - if that were the case it would have already been looking at the environmental impact and they would have already turned it down."
Rail engineering expert Hilary Wharf, from Great Missenden, said: "The environmental impact assessment is something we've been going on an one about. During the consultation thousands of people were saying they didn't have enough information to answer the questions properly. They should have done this at the start, not the other way round."
And Amersham Mayor Mimi Harker said: "How can they have made a decision to go ahead without having that environmental study as part of that decision making process?
"It proves none of this has been thought through properly and the consequences haven't been taken into account. It just goes to show what a load of nonsense this whole decision making process has been. It's being done on a whim."
HS2 Ltd, the company now in charge of the project, said it was contacting landowners living along the route of the proposed line between London and Birmingham to collect data for the environmental report.
The company says it will initially identify plants, animals and habitats before carrying out more detailed research if it is deemed necessary.
Alison Munro, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd said: “I’m very pleased that we are able to get going with the next key stage of our work assessing, in much greater detail than we have been able to do up till now, the potential impact of the HS2 proposals on local sites.
"We hope to develop close working partnerships with those affected by the new line and this licensing arrangement is an important step in that direction.”
HS2 Ltd said work is expected to start in February.
