OPEN letter to Rt Hon Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transportation. Re: HS2 Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS).
IT was disappointing to learn last week that the EHS was to be rolled out without the inclusion of all routes. This decision means that thousands of residents with properties along routes 4 and 2.5 find themselves in a position of ‘blight’ without redress to any scheme that could help.
This cannot be right. Either there are alternative routes or there are not. If there are alternatives currently being considered then surely it is the duty of the Coalition Government to provide a scheme that is fair to all. If these alternatives are not to be pursued then why are they not simply removed so allowing them to be freed from HS2 blight? The current situation is unacceptable and means that either somebody does not understand the problem or that it is being deliberately ignored. The announcement has done nothing to change the Aylesbury Conservative Constituency Association position that the business case for HS2 is fundamentally flawed and as such is unsupportable.
Paul Rogerson, Chairman ACCA, Member for Lacey Green, Speen & the Hampdens, Icknield & Bledlow
