HS2 controversy trundles on

Residents in Camden are relieved to be spared, but an extra 43 proposed miles are now mooted between Birmingham and Crewe

GMxRtkFpEFBzkqe4znyGFK.jpg
HS2
(Image credit: (c) Scanrail | Dreamstime.com)

The residents of Camden in London NW3 have earned a reprieve from HS2-Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin will remove from the Hybrid Bill the link to HS1 that would have destroyed Camden Market and hundreds of fine streets (Town & Country, March 12)- but other organisations are less impressed with the latest news, especially that an extra 43 miles of railway, from Birmingham to Crewe, could be fast-tracked. The NFU says it's worried by ‘the distinct lack of engagement with the farming community'.

The CLA says it's even more imperative that HS2 looks at introducing a Property Bond scheme to compensate affected property owners. CLA president Henry Robinson says: ‘This would go some way to alleviating the blight that many on the route have felt for nearly four years, with some left unable to sell their properties and others unable to make the investments needed to keep them going.'

Last week, the Environmental Audit Committee of MPs held its first evidence hearing on HS2 with representatives of such organisations as Stop HS2, the CPRE , the Woodland Trust and the CLA.

* Subscribe to Country Life and save

* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.