Stop high speed 2!

[Lizzy Williams]

Watch us on Countryfile STOP HS2 | BBC Countryfile – Watch it again

It’s hard to ascertain whether Mr Philip Hammond meant just the Chilterns or the whole of the line when he uttered in an interview in the Telegraph “it’s not some Constable country”.

If you watch the recent Countryfile programme featuring HS2, John Craven refers to this statement when he was discussing the potential impact on the Chilterns with the actor Geoffrey Palmer.

What did Mr Hammond mean? Well “Constable Country” is renowned as one of Britain’s finest landscape which inspired the internationally recognised painter John Constable. It is situated on the borders of both Essex and Suffolk including the Dedham Vale and Stour Valley and has legal protection as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The Chilterns AONB is described as a stunning area of protected countryside only a few miles north west of London. With rolling hills, magnificent beechwoods and charming villages. It too follows a beautiful valley containing the River Misbourne.

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is exactly what it says it is: a precious landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so outstanding that it is in the nation’s interest to safeguard them.

There are 38 AONBs in England and Wales (33 wholly in England, 4 wholly in Wales and 1 which straddles the border). Created by the legislation of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949, AONBs represent 18% of the Finest Countryside in England and Wales.

Apart from location the classification of the two AONBs is exactly the same so Mr Hammond is either deliberately misleading those who are unfamiliar with the area or is badly misinformed. Strange for a politician who claims hill walking as one of his passions. When you check the detail on his website however he does in fact say “hill walking in Scotland”. He will benefit from HS2 then.

High Speed 2 will carve straight through the Chilterns ANOB as it forces its way through 138 miles of almost totally virgin countryside, much to the horror of anyone who cares for the environment and our heritage in this country. If they go ahead the next two legs from Lichfield to Manchester and Leeds will affect other protected landscapes in particular the Peak District National Park.

Worse still the proposed high speed 2 project is based on unsubstantiated economic and environmental claims that simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

STOP HS2 believes Mr Hammond and the government are guilty of dereliction of duty in pursuing this project and failing to protect and enhance the environment.

We need you to help us save our countryside and STOP HS2.

Please email me with any questions. Our website is STOP HS2 - The national campaign against High Speed Rail 2.

Lizzy

[Pete Collins]

Good luck with the STOP HS2 campaign.

As someone who regularly walks in the Chilterns, I am very disappointed that such a lovely area as the Misbourne valley will be ruined by the proposed route. I've added a link to the STOP HS2 web site on my own site.

[bobx123]

Re: Stop high speed 2!

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Hi Lizzy ,
Love this article, i am hugely opposed to hs2 and was wondering where i could get some hard posters/placards to display outside my house , i live on a major trunk road a41 and they will be seen by 1000s of people daily
Robert

[brendaward]

looking at this as a bystander, I wish the railway was still going through our little town. With very little public transport we have to own cars and pollute and use petrol. Mr Beaching did not look into the crystal ball when he did away with thousands of miles of track. The picture of the future in my crystal ball is thousands of acres of beautiful farmland will need to be used for more railways as petrol becomes as precious as gold. If we fail to let this happen people in rural areas will be reliant on farm jobs. Then how will the products be distributed?

The canals could service some transport but rail looks the more likely candidate. They may call these projects high speed but they are a step in some way of the right direction, to a reliable non road link infrastructure.

However if you oppose the plans can you offer an alternative. We do need to re invest in railways but not indiscriminately.

[Paul mabbott]

Strange times indeed: I never thought I'd find myself agreeing with a Tory Minister of Transport.
As he says, most of the opposition to this plan comes from people with big houses in Buckinghamshire. It is unfortunate that some people in the Wildlife Trusts have been suckered into supporting these nimbys - there should be a great rethinking by those in charge. Seeing Wildlife Trusts in bed with the Countryside Alliance is not going to attract many people to their cause.
If, as I believe is true, there are infringments on areas valuable for wildlife then these should be protested and viable alternatives suggested. One of the reasons there is so little respect for the anti-rail campaign is that they came out in total opposition to the project rather than suggesting how problematic parts might be ameliorated.
I am disappointed in several ways with the plan and I shall be making my views and counterproposals known. For instance, we should now be planning the extensions to Scotland and to France; perhaps the line would better terminate at St Pancras and thus connect with the Tunnel line or we should be planning for a second tunnel as the current one is reaching capacity. These things shouldn't be left for decades later, it's time UK transport caught up with that in the rest of the Europe.

[Jim Ford]

You've only got to drive around some of the towns affected - Amersham, Great Missenden, Wendover and look at the big houses set in big plots, to see that the scheme will never get approved!

Jim

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Williams

..............An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is exactly what it says it is: a precious landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so outstanding that it is in the nation’s interest to safeguard them.

The problem with words like 'beauty' is that they're very subjective. In this case, there is a big argument about how much the building of a railway line would affect 'beauty' - this is an argument that has been going on for over a century.

........High Speed 2 will carve straight through the Chilterns ANOB as it forces its way through 138 miles of almost totally virgin countryside, much to the horror of anyone who cares for the environment and our heritage in this country. If they go ahead the next two legs from Lichfield to Manchester and Leeds will affect other protected landscapes in particular the Peak District National Park............Lizzy

'virgin countryside' is nonsense. Most of the route will be through urban/suburan land, some through farmland and only a small amount through chalk upland/woodland (which is hardly virgin habitat!). This, I think, is where the nimbys are exploiting those of us interested in wildlife conservation. The damage created by railway lines is much smaller than that from roads and, after some years, will hardly be noticeable on an ecological view. So let's work to avoid damage to genuinely important (i.e. SSSIs and the like) sites by making sensible, constructive amendements to the proposed route.

[Lizzy Williams]

Dear All, trains can be green but not at the 250mph intended by HS2.
For stophs2 signs etc. please visit the toolbox section on our website.
I personally can not understand anyone who loves wildlife supporting HS2 whatsoever - it is bad for the environment and particularily for wildlife.
The Wildlife Trusts oppose, the Green Party oppose, Sustainable Development Comission oppose, CPRE oppose to name a few and yesterday the Woodlands Trust announced their objection also.
Save our biodiverse landscape from HS2.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Williams

...... trains can be green but not at the 250mph intended by HS2.
.........

So, as I suggested, your objection is to high speed trains per se? You're not interested in amending the route, saving some woods etc. You think that Nature will be best served by increased air traffic and further pressure on the road system?

[brendaward]

High speeds will be shortlived as the planet runs out of oil. Frid I cant see any way foreward except running rail down the middle of motorways.