HS2 Community Meeting St. Mary’s 18 January 2014
Agenda Time Subject Presenter 5 m Welcome and Introduction Mike Beard 10 m Impact on Wendover Phil Wallis 10 m Mitigation Options Brian Thompson 20 m Questions & Answers All 20 m Coffee Break and completion of Postcards 5 m Introduction Mike Beard 20 m Petitioning Process Tom Crane 10 m Wendover example Antony Chapman 15 m Questions & Answers All 5 m Wrap Up Brian Thompson
The Impact of HS2 on Wendover Public Meeting 18 January 2014
Everyone will be affected! 1. Four years of construction mayhem – From 2017 to 2021 • 10 hours a day Monday-Friday, 5 on Saturday – Temporary/permanent road closures/diversions • Ellesborough Road, Bacombe Lane, Rocky Lane, etc. • Disruption/destruction of footpaths and lanes – Peaking at 300+ HGV’s and 890 LGV’s per day on A413 • Significant Increase in traffic and delays
A permanent environmental loss - 10 farms will suffer high impact, another 2 medium impact – 236 hectares taken during construction and 95 hectares lost permanently - Part of Grim’s Ditch and Jones Hill Wood destroyed - 10 buildings demolished – cricket ground lost - 19km of hedgerows lost - Potential threat to SSSI at Weston Turville - Sensitive wildlife and flora threatened - Great Crested Newts, bats, white helleborine, etc.
A Visual Disaster 500m long viaducts at Wendover Dean and Smalldean – up to 22m high
The Wendover Dean viaduct and ‘toxic pond’
Entrance to ‘green’ tunnel at Bacombe Lane
Noise - Before and After
Permanent blight and loss of value to property What compensation? - Noise and visual pollution - Increased traffic - Yet, almost no homes in Wendover will qualify for compensation under current plans
Is there an answer? A bored tunnel throughout the entire Chilterns would solve most of these problems. Support the ‘CRAG’ Tunnel proposal
KEY COMMENTS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT • Visual Impact • Noise • Community Facilities • Agriculture • Water Quality • Traffic • Ecology and Environment • Code of Construction Practise
MITIGATION – LONG TERM IMPACTS A Tunnel through the Chilterns - CRAG Extend Green Tunnel/Enclosures Bigger Barriers with Legal Noise Limits Maintenance Loop – move/cancelled B Extend tunnel to Chainage 56.200 Bigger Barriers with Legal Noise Limits C Other Community Facilities Cricket Ground Wendover Campus St. Mary’s Skateboard Pk
The ‘CRAG’ Tunnel Advantages - No demolition of houses in Ellesborough road - Less operational noise - Less visual blight - Less environmental damage - Less loss of agricultural land • Key Facts - Protect tourism and economy of Wendover - Bored/Green Tunnel - Reduced property blight - Portal near 55.800 - Bored tunnel to 54.800 then a Disadvantages green tunnel. - Large work camp north of - Emergency gap at Durham Wendover Farm. - Takes longer
MITIGATION – CONSTRUCTION PHASE • Legally enforceable COCP by Local Authorities – not optional by contractor. • Maximised use of Chiltern Line – limited number of HGV’s allowed • Double face working on green tunnel • Incremental funding for public services • Dust controls on spoil storage • Limit night time working – 8 hours quiet time
HOW TO RESPOND In Detail: • Complete a response form or send a letter/email • Send completed form or Emails to: HS2PhaseOneBillES@dialoguebydesign.com • Write to: FREEPOST RTEC-AJUT-GGHH HS2 Phase One Bill Environmental Statement PO Box 70178 London WC1A 9HS OR Complete a Postcard
Hybrid Bill & Petitioning Thomas Crane HS2 Action Alliance
Who Are HS2AA? • Formed in 2010 as a national campaign to oppose HS2 • Led on undermining business case for HS2 • Brought two court cases • Full time campaigning effort in Parliament. • Thousands of registered supporters across the country • Funded exclusively by donations from supporters
How Does HS2 Get Built? Use the Planning Act’s specially created process for large scale infrastructure projects or use an obscure The Government has decided that Parliamentary process from the Victorian era? Hybrid Bill….Select Committees….Petitioning
Parliamentary Process
Fair Process? • Government use their power to whip MPs to get principle of HS2 agreed. If you vote against your career suffers • Government chooses the members of the Select Committee who review HS2 route and environmental impacts. • Each Select Committee member is paid extra for being a committee member • HS2 Ltd have lawyers in the room every day-unlimited legal budget • Huge efforts to limit people’s ability to petition by limiting who has “locus standi ” • Select Committee not bound to accept evidence even when overwhelming.
What’s In The Hybrid Bill? The Bill (400) and Explanatory Notes (300) •Environmental Statement reports (47,350) •Book of Reference (1,500) •Plans and Sections (400) •Alternatives, Equality Impact Assessment and Health Impact reports
What Does It Include? • Land needed for railway and mitigation • Approximate vertical alignment of route • Limits of horizontal alignment • Gives compulsory purchase powers • Environmental impacts and mitigation • NO detailed designs
Timetable •Deposit – 27 November •First reading – 4 December •ES consultation – 10 Feb-closes •Assessor report – early March •14 day deposit – late March •Second reading – early April •Petitions – April/May
What Is The Select Committee? Reviews plans for HS2 in detail-like a local authority planning committee. • Composition – 10 backbench MPs, no constituency or other interest – hand picked to be pliable! • Quorum of 3 £15-20k per year for doing it • Quasi-judicial process: hears evidence from petitioners and HS2 Ltd. Counsel/experts involved • Timing – could start shortly before summer recess, but HS2’s timetable indicates may be Autumn • HS1 lasted exactly 1 year, Crossrail 21 months. HS2 likely longer.
What Can Be Achieved? •Bill can be amended •Environmental Statement can be supplemented •Promoters can enter legal agreements/give undertakings and assurances •Committee can require the promoters to do the above People Can Get the Committee to Look At These Issues Through a Process Called Petitioning
Petitioning- The Basics Likely to be hugely controversial issue and current rules unlikely to comply with European law or Human Rights Convention •Any individual or body can deposit a petition, so long as they pay the fee, comply with the procedures and the petition is in the correct form •Only those “specially and directly affected” are entitled to appear on a petition against a hybrid bill Time for depositing a petition •Petitioning period is set immediately after second reading •No petition can be deposited before petitioning time starts running •Petitions must be deposited strictly on time – no later than the final date – maximum four week period for petitioning
Who Can Appear? The general rule is that only those who are specially and generally affected by a hybrid bill are entitled to appear before a select committee on a petition • This is for the select committee to decide • It is for the promoter (the Secretary of State) to challenge the locus standi of petitioners • On Crossrail, no challenges were made • On CTRL, 14 challenges were made, 1 petition survived (there were nearly 1000 petitions in total) Whose locus will not be challenged? •Local authorities (including parish councils) with land within the bill limits •Owners, lessees and occupiers of land within the bill limits •Statutory undertakers whose apparatus is to be affected
What Do You Submit? • A petition must be deposited in person at the House of Commons – no post, email or fax • It can be deposited by the petitioner in person, or by any MP or by a Parliamentary Agent • You must provide • The original signed petition • The fee of £20 • A completed cover sheet (contact details etc)
What Happens Next? • HS2 Ltd may contact you to discuss your concerns and seek to reach agreement on points raised in the petition • HS2 Ltd should contact you in due course: – to let you know when the select committee proceedings will commence – to let you know if they intend to challenge your locus – to let you know when your petition is timetabled for consideration by the committee – to provide you with a petitioner’s response pack
Select Committee Appearance •Petitioners do not have to appear in support of their petitions. But unlikely that the committee will read the petition if they do not •Petitioner can appear in person or represented by a parliamentary agent or counsel •A statement can be made by the representative and they can call witnesses to give evidence (but don’t have to) •This is the opportunity to expand on the points in the petition and make the case for the remedy sought •The committee will wish to know precisely what it is the petitioner wants them to do .
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