It is not correct that ‘no plant life would be allowed within 100 metres of the (HS2) track’ as stated in your article ‘HS2 campaigners gather at Amersham’s white elephant day (May 15).

The design of the line for HS2 would be specific to each area, but its width would be no more than 22 metres, about one third the width of a motorway.

We would have to control the risk of trees falling onto the line and the problems caused by leaves on the line from some types of broad-leaf trees, just as existing railways do.

We would therefore seek to manage woody vegetation on the land up to 25 metres on either side of the line.

We would try to affect as little existing woodland, arable land and pasture along the edge of the route as possible.

In addition, we would look to plant a mix of grasses, shrubs and smaller tree varieties that are typical of the local landscape to blend in to the surroundings and encourage insect and other natural life.

And we would encourage landowners with land adjacent to the line to adopt similar approaches and to avoid planting large deciduous trees.

Your readers can find out more information in our fact sheets ‘HS2 Railway Cross-section and ‘Wildlife and Habitats’ available on our consultation website http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/ library/factsheets

Alison Munro, Chief Executive HS2