The Chair of the HS2 Working Group, Cllr David Stringer, will give a status report on the current progress of the group.
Terry Stafford, Community and Stakeholder Managerfrom HS2, has confirmed he will attend the meeting to give a short presentation and answer Members questions.
Minutes:
The Chair of the Scrutiny Committee, who was also the Chair of the HS2 Working Group, gave a status update on the work of the group. Their task had been to examine the available evidence and to determine if HS2 would be beneficial to the Borough. The Group had been unable to establish any substantial benefits outweighing the negative consequences. There had been significant bad press for HS2 in the national media recently. This included a statement by Alistair Darling stating that he no longer supported the project and the Institute of Directors had also announced their opposition. The accident in France could also not be forgotten and the spiralling costs of running a high speed services in Europe.
The proposed route had been acknowledged by one of the action groups as the best route. This route had been challenged by Stoke-on-Trent City Council who were looking at alternative routes. But even if the route was changed, it was acknowledged that one of the suggestions would be devastating for Kidsgrove. The HS2 Working Group was of the view that a significant change in the route was unlikely.
The Chairman stated that the bodies representing local trade and commerce had stated that they broadly supported the HS2 proposals and urged local councils to be innovative and grasp the initiative. Most of their support hinged on the provision of a new stopping point to serve the conurbation of North Staffordshire. There was currently no provision for such a station but there were moves to propose sites close to the M6 motorway. The first of these would be near to Stafford Services and the second close to Junction 16. If there was to be an Interim station, the estimated cost was £600 million which was not currently in the HS2 finance model and would therefore have to be financed by other means. The fact that trains would need ten minutes to slow down and ten minutes to regain their optimum speed in addition to the time for passengers to depart and board would mean a possibly unacceptable increase in journey time.
The Chair identified that nationally, all of the three main political parties were officially supporting HS2. He was hopeful that the Council could join with Staffordshire County Council and other local Council’s in opposition to HS2. If however the scheme was pushed through nationally it was important to ensure that the compensation arrangements were fair. There were however problems with the current arrangements that had been outlined by HS2. Areas which currently resided outside the area that qualified for automatic compensation could only claim compensation during a period of twelve months after the commencement of the HS2 service, in twenty years time.There was anecdotal evidence that residents were already experiencing a sharp fall in the value of their property. The demographics of the people affected in the Borough were of an aging population. If they wished to move before the completion of the project they would be adversely affected as they would not be entitled to compensation at that point. There was uncertainty with regard to the compensation arrangements associated with agricultural land. There was at least one farm that would be economically unviable due to the proportion of its area that would be lost to HS2. The Working Group was unsure of how the loss of agricultural land and the employment associated with it would be compensated.
The Chairman stated that he had been informed that the environmental impact in Whitmore had been slightly improved because there was going to be a tunnel rather than a cutting. Notwithstanding the use of cuttings and tunnels there would be a massive impact on the visual environment, particularly where the lines would be laid on embankments. There was also the noise pollution likely to be caused as trains exit from the tunnels. The working group were concerned that during the building phase, unless there were proper plans and monitoring processes in place, rural roads would suffer from severe traffic congestion. If HS2 did go ahead, it was critical to remain in contact with National Rail. Officers at Stoke-on-Trent City Council believed HS2 would have a catastrophic effect on the classic network. There would be less London Midland services per day from 13 a day to 8 and stopping at more locations resulting in a slower journey time to London. There would be less West Coast classic services through Stoke-on-Trent, from 30 a day to 3 a day (peak only) after phase 1, then only 16 a day (half from Glasgow and half from Edinburgh via Manchester Piccadilly) after phase 2.
The working group had identified one potential benefit of HS2 to the Borough, this was the increased availability for freight and the provision of quality commuter services due to the released capacity on the existing West Coast Main Line. The ability to despatch freight by rail could have a twofold benefit to the area. Firstly the reduction of HGV movements on the local motorway and trunk roads would have a positive impact on all other users of the road system through less CO2 emissions and easier movement owing to less congestion. Secondly the former railway goods sidings within the Borough could be brought back into operation to the aid of the thriving warehousing and distribution businesses.
The Chairman concluded his opening statement by stating that it was important for the Borough Council to join with other Councils in North Staffordshire in opposition to HS2. If however the scheme did go ahead it was critical for there to be appropriate compensation arrangements and support services in place. The Council should also work with the relevant parties to ensure that the environmental impact was kept to a minimum and with Network Rail to ensure that the provision of train services to London using the West Coast Main Line were as frequent as possible. When the final report of the HS2 Working Group was completed, he thought it was prudent to include a statement that the recommendations of the working group were based on the information they had available at the time and that if it was proved there were going to be significant economic benefits to the Borough then they would look at the issue again.
A Member of the HS2 Working Group stated that political support for HS2 was, according to a YouGov poll diminishing within the three main political parties. He could see no clear benefit to North Staffordshire. All Members of the Working Group were supportive of the Chairman’s statement. The following points were raised by the Members of the working Group, that all three MPs in the area opposed HS2, that there would be significant destruction to local areas for little benefit and the substantial decrease in conventional train services through Stoke-on-Trent would have a detrimental effect.
A Member of the Committee stated that if there was to be a spur off the line through Stoke-on-Trent then there could be substantial benefits. The construction of a spur would allow “classic compatibility” stock to use the existing line and then join the high-speed network. The capacity for the greater use of lines being used for freight due to HS2 also needed to be considered carefully. He did however believe there were better ways of spending the money which could also increase capacity on the railways lines and have greater economic benefits. These included local improvements to stations and a direct rail link from North Staffordshire to Manchester Airport. HS2 would not reduce carbon emissions, even when taking into account the reduction in road traffic. He believed any scheme to increase capacity should be part of an integrated Transport Plan.