Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of Schedule 17 applications submitted by High Speed 2 Limited have been (a) refused or (b) modified by the relevant planning authority.

To date 407 Schedule 17 applications have been made by HS2 Ltd, of which nine (2.2%) have been refused by the relevant local planning authority. This does not include applications where the local authority has failed to determine an application within the specified timescale, or extended determination timescales agreed with HS2 Ltd, resulting in HS2 Ltd submitting an appeal to the Secretaries of State in order to maintain the programme.

Applications can be modified in a variety of ways. Local planning authorities may place conditions on an approval. Alternatively, pre-application discussions in advance of formal Schedule 17 applications being submitted, often result in a design being modified or adapted through direct requests from local authority officers, or due to questions or concerns being raised.