HS2 work 'ongoing' despite speculation on second phase
If scrapped, it will no longer go through parts of Staffordshire and Crewe.
Work is currently continuing on the controversial HS2 line through Staffordshire despite speculation on whether or not the project will go ahead north of Birmingham, county councillors have been told.
Questions have been raised in recent days about plans for the high speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester
Earlier this year it was revealed that construction of the section between Birmingham and Crewe was to be delayed by two years, with rising costs being highlighted as an issue. But representatives from HS2 Ltd told members of Staffordshire County Council on Thursday (September 28) that while work in some areas was being paused, in parts of the first phase, which runs up to the south of the county near Lichfield, it was still taking place.
Paul Mullins, a community engagement manager for HS2 Ltd, said: “I think it’s fair to say HS2 is quite topical at the moment and there is lots of speculation about what may or may not happen about the project. But for us in this moment in time, the steer from the Government is it’s very much going to go to Manchester.
“There are a couple of areas that are currently paused; some of those elements are in my area in Phase 1 and Phase 2a. And there are some elements of work that will take place – that work is largely around roadworks and utility works.
“In Drayton Bassett, Swinfen and Packington there are works around the A5 and Watling Street overbridge that will still take place and around the A453 and Drayton Lane. In the Whittington to Armitage area we still have a number of overbridges and our Cappers Lane compound will still remain operational for a lot of staff based there.
“At the A38 we’re about to refresh our communications on that because currently we have one of the sliproads closed. Works on there are still progressing and we hope to open that again in springtime next year.
“Some of the compounds we will temporarily close around the A453, Wood End Lane and Shaw Lane. Those compounds will be secured and we will have security strategies around any areas that are paused
“What we need to remember is in a lot of these areas we’ve probably spent the last couple of years preparing to start work; that’s establishing site boundaries, setting up internal haul roads and establishing some compound locations. In some of those areas where we have done a large amount of earthworks and excavations, we will go along those areas, we will seed it with a mulch and seed mix and that will grow to re-green all those areas, rather than leaving them as large brown strips or scars on the landscape.”
Councillor David Smith, who represents the Lichfield Rural South area, said there were other issues that needed to be considered too, including the impact on the county’s aggregate suppliers. “I have five quarries in my division, all of which are looking to be major suppliers to HS2, and with what we’re looking at now it’s going to have a major impact, together with housebuilding, on the quarry industry”, he said.
“What’s happened will have a major impact on the aggregate industry. I think we need to look at how we can work together so that we can see a reduction in the aggregate requirements.
“When we look at the impact this is having on my division, where it comes straight through the middle with an enormous scar, I don’t think the story looks particularly attractive. I think that until we resolve what’s going to happen finally with HS2 it’s going to be a terrible mess.
“What we’re going to have is what they say will be making all the routes grassed over and looking reasonable. But we are still going to have ugly fencing all the way along.
“Are we going to have at Lichfield a railway line that goes to nowhere, or are we going to make an argument politically that we should be looking at a terminal station where the line does actually go somewhere? I think that there’s the opportunity for us to argue the case for a station, possibly at Fradley, where we could see the benefits to north Birmingham and Staffordshire of a station, or following on from the end of HS2 we could link up with the West Coast Main Line and provide a fast route going north.”