MP hails visit by HS2 committee a success
MPs working on legislation that will pave the way for the controversial high speed rail line through Staffordshire have visited the county to see for themselves the impact it will have.
The HS2 Bill Committee, including chairman Robert Syms, Sir Peter Bottomley, Ian Mearns and Michael Thornton met petitioners and other residents as they toured various locations to see how it will cut a swathe through the county's rural landscape.
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The MPs travelled south to north accompanied by officers from Lichfield District and Staffordshire County Councils, a representative from campaign group Stop HS2, and advisors from HS2 Ltd, the Government backed company set up to deliver the £50 billion project.
See also: Space-age design as Birmingham HS2 station revealed.
They visited Hints, Flats Lane, Packington Moor Farm, Whittington Heath Golf Club, Cappers Lane Cruising Club, Streethay House Farm, Fradley Business Park, the Trent and Mersey Canal near Fradley Junction, Ashton Hayes and where the HS2 line will split to connect with the West Coast Main Line.
Lichfield MP Michel Fabricant, who joined the party, said afterwards: "The committee took their work seriously and spent time observing the local geography and the impact the line will have on the area. They also had time to talk to locals. "
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At Streethay Farm a farmer flew a drone over his land to demonstrate the height of the line above the ground and of the overhead train power lines above the fields.
See also: HS2 will force us out of homes.
Mr Fabricant also accompanied them on their coach, requesting that it made a stop at a high point on Darnford Lane so they could look down on Lichfield and the A38. He pressed the need for the line to go under the road and the railway line rather than over it.
He said: "Committee members were left in no doubt as to how damaging the height of the line with all the necessary embankments, spoil dumps, etc will have on the Lichfield environment and how this can be mitigated by tunnelling under the A38."
The next steps are for the committee to sit in Westminster and hear from the petitioners in a formal session unless HS2 agrees in advance to the campaigners' requests.
