High Speed 2 Railway Line: Chilterns

(asked on 18th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Chiltern Society Area of Neighbourly Behaviour? HS2 in the Chilterns since Notice to Proceed, published on 14 January; what plans they have to follow up the concerns raised in that report that HS2 has failed to comply with assurances given to petitioners during the Hybrid Bill process; and what plans they have to place a copy of their response to this report in the Library of the House.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 25th January 2021

At this stage of the HS2 construction programme, the Government appreciates that communities are mostly experiencing negative impacts from the project, such as road closures and other visible changes in their areas, like the removal of trees. A lot of effort has been invested in minimising these impacts, as well as in increasing the volume and quality of community engagement activity along the route. Further improvement is a key focus for the Government, and it is accepted that more can be done to ensure that local communities are given ample warning of significant changes in their area and that concerns are dealt with promptly and sensitively.

The Chiltern Society report referred to in the question contains an account of complaints, most of which have already been raised on an individual basis with HS2 Ltd or with the Department for Transport and are the subject of ongoing correspondence. For this reason, the Government has no plans to issue a formal response. The Government will however consider the contents of the report and work with HS2 Ltd to review and address the issues raised, where it is appropriate to do so.

On a project the size of HS2, it is inevitable that problems will arise and that contractors will sometimes get things wrong. Where this is the case, the Government expects HS2 Ltd to resolve matters swiftly. The Government is also committed to embedding a culture of continuous improvement in the way HS2 Ltd interacts with local communities.

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