Details of an environmental consultation designed to seek initial views on the effects of the new HS2 line through Northamptonshire and the plans in place to minimise them during its construction have been announced today.
A series of 26 public information events are being held along the 140-mile route, between London and Birmingham, in May and June, including one targeting people affected by the leg that cuts through south Northamptonshire.
The Northamptonshire event, which covers the line between Greatworth and Lower Boddington, will be held at Boddington Village Hall in Warwick Road, Upper Boddington, on Monday June 3, from noon until 8pm.
At these events the local communities can look at maps of the area affected, read the consultation materials and discuss the proposals in more detail with the HS2 Ltd team.
HS2 chief executive Alison Munro said: “HS2 is one of the most significant infrastructure projects undertaken in Britain in many years. It is an engine for growth that will bring a significant economic dividend in the decades ahead. We estimate that the full network between London, Leeds and Manchester will help support the creation of around 100,000 jobs, while freeing up much needed space on the railway and improving transport connections between our biggest cities.
“But we recognise that a project of this scale can’t be delivered without having an environmental effect and causing disruption to people living along the network. The consultation we are launching sets out our current understanding of what effects the new line will have and what we propose to do to minimise them.
“I encourage the public to visit our information events and contribute to the consultation because it is important that we hear their views.”
Meanwhile, the HS2 project has an estimated £3.3 billion funding gap which the Government has yet to decide how to fill, a report from a Whitehall spending watchdog said today.
It was not clear how HS2 - which runs through Tory heartlands and is bitterly opposed by some - would deliver and rebalance economic growth, the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) added.
The timetable for planning phase one of the project - from London to Birmingham with work due to start in 2016/17 - was “challenging”, the NAO said.
This challenging timetable “makes delivering this work difficult and increases the risk that the programme will have a weak foundation for securing and demonstrating success in the future”, the report said.
Commenting on the report, House of Commons Public Accounts Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said: “There is virtually no evidence in this business case to support claims that HS2 will deliver regional economic growth, one of the key aims and justifications for this project.
“We have been told that it will deliver around 100,000 new jobs but there is no evidence that all these jobs would not have been created anyway.
“The department has also set an extremely ambitious timetable for the project, with no room for mistakes. Past experience does not fill us with confidence in this optimism.”