Kenilworth and Southam Liberal Democrats

High Speed Rail - Packed Public Meeting in Southam

There is a mounting level of public interest and concern among local residents about the Government's proposals for a 'High Speed Rail' route to cut through the middle of Warwickshire.

Nigel Rock addressing the public meeting

At a public meeting arranged by the Liberal Democrats at the Grange Hall in Southam last Thursday (1st April) evening, up to150 people came to hear about the plans and express their views. As well as residents from the town, there were people from Ladbroke, Cubbington and Offchurch, all communities close to the line of the proposed route.

Nigel Rock the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Kenilworth and Southam constituency, stated that all three of the main national political parties supported 'High Speed Rail' in some form, but made clear his concerns about the details of the route and the extreme high speeds intended. The Liberal Democrats wanted to make sure that local people were aware of the proposals, the timetable for the consultations and to listen to their concerns. The first consultation is about hardship as a result of "blight" on properties near the proposed route.

Graham Long spoke on behalf of the Ladbroke Group formed to oppose the line of the route, which almost passes through the village of Ladbroke itself. Two days previously, Ladbroke village had held a meeting in a village hall packed to overflowing and have formed their own action group. Graham had carried out extensive research on the Department of Transport proposals and welcomed the support of the Liberal Democrats in pulling together communities surrounding Southam. He hoped that the various communities could come together, possibly to form a South Warwickshire Action Group (SWAG).

Nigel Rock said "I'm really glad we put this meeting on. It was not intended to be party political, something the audience respected. Given the short notice since the Government made these very detailed announcements, people close to the line of the route needed to be made aware of how it might affect them. For instance, there is a viaduct 2.5 miles long and 35 feet high passing between Ladbroke and Southam."

Graham Long said "Although these proposals will involve a long period of time, many property owners are already blighted. It is not surprising that people are emotional, but we need to mount a rational response over the coming weeks and months. We welcome people from other communities to visit our web site www.hs2-ladbroke.net and hope to create some joint working on this."

Nigel Rock said "One of the most disturbing aspects to me is the very early closure date for the Government's proposed Exceptional Hardship Scheme consultation, by the 20th May. The environmental impact studies have not yet been done so people don't know if they will be affected or to what degree, by these mega-high speed trains at 250 miles per hour. It seems that the high speed rail route in Kent only considered properties up to 300 metres from the line, but the HS2 proposal is for much higher speeds, involving much more energy, and locally elevated sections near communities. This does not give residents a fair chance and to know whether they should be reassured or concerned."

One theme that ran through the event was that South Warwickshire was getting all the pain and no gain and many speakers thought a wider investment in rail should come before a plan to carve through the Warwickshire countryside.

One resident said "This was a very well organised meeting with good speakers. It's a good job the Lib Dems organised this to make local people aware of the implications of the proposals."

Nigel Rock said "I am keen to see improvement in the rail infrastructure, but support in principle from the main political parties does not mean that this particular scheme and route is the right answer. My own view is that it would have been better to have a public debate on such fundamental points as the ultimate destination cities, presumably Edinburgh and Glasgow, rather than a super detailed scheme designed to the nearest half metre."

John Whitehouse (Lib Dem environment spokesman, Warwickshire County Council), chaired the meeting, and advised residents that a special scrutiny meeting of the County Council to consider the Exceptional Hardship Scheme would be held on the 28th April at Shire Hall, Warwick. The meeting would be open to members of the public to attend.

Key Dates:

• 20 May 2010 - Exceptional Hardship Consultation deadline

• June/July 2010 - production of 3 reports

• Demand Model for Transport Forecasts

• Environmental & Sustainability Report

• Business Case Appraisal

• Autumn 2010 - 6 months public consultation period

• 2011 Government decision on whether to proceed

• 2011 - 2013 detailed design & assessment

• 2014 Hybrid Bill goes before Parliament

• 2019 Construction could start

Related Links

• HS2-Ladbroke.net web site