High-speed Rail

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I have, and that is why I am cracking on with it today.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

Today’s announcement has been welcomed by the business community in my constituency, including the chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire local enterprise partnership, but many people are rightly concerned about the countryside. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is vital to safeguard the countryside and its wildlife as far as possible for all the people who are living there today, as well as for those who will be living there tomorrow?

[Justine Greening]

I thoroughly agree. I have had a clear priority to look at how we can minimise the impact of this project on people, but in addition to that I have been careful to look at how we can minimise the impact more broadly on both the environment and of course wildlife, and I will continue to do that. The environmental impact statement process that we can now begin will enable us to do that in a far more detailed way. That is very welcome.