High-speed Rail

Philip Hollobone Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Ellman]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. I agree about the importance of securing the Heathrow link. I repeat what I have said previously in relation to the possibilities of an estuary airport: the problems in relation to cost, environmental impacts and the need to close Heathrow airport and London City airport are likely to be insuperable barriers to its being pursued further.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

My constituents are understandably worried, as I am, that the KPMG report indicated that there could be a net economic disbenefit to Kettering of £50 million. Will the Transport Committee encourage the Government and HS2 Ltd to commission further research from KPMG or another independent body to try to assuage some of the genuine concerns in constituencies such as mine? If High Speed 2 does come, surely all of us would want it not to have a negative impact on large parts of our country.

[Mrs Ellman]

The hon. Gentleman raises very important issues. The KPMG report is a very useful piece of research that identifies areas that are due to benefit from High Speed 2 but also areas that would not benefit. When the Committee questioned KPMG about its findings, it became clear that some considerations had not been taken into account, including the latest information on rail improvements being planned for the areas concerned, the possibilities of rents being increased, and the impact of freight developments. Those are just some examples of aspects that had been missed out. Our report says that further reports should be commissioned, and I am sure that the Committee will take a continued interest in that. More research in this very important area should be pursued. It is vital not just that areas that are seen to benefit are made aware of that, but that areas that are worried that they would not benefit are able to get maximum support so that they could share in the positive aspects of HS2.