Update to Open Consultation on HS2 West Midlands to Crewe

HS2 Phase 2a Consultation (West Midlands to Crewe) February 2021

Following the inclusion in the HS2 Phase 2 Hybrid Bill of amendments proposed in the House of Lords, HS2 Ltd started a new consultation with the affected residents of Staffordshire, South Cheshire and North Shropshire.

Leaflets started to be delivered by post to households along the Phase 2a route during week commencing 1st February inviting local people to provide feedback via the completion of an online questionnaire. Alternatively, residents could respond by email or post.

The 4th paragraph on page one of the leaflet contained the following statement that undermined the consultation process:

Following complaints by SRCG and others to local MPs, HS2 Ltd issued a second leaflet on Monday 8th February (see below), which presented an entirely different tone. However, it contained no retraction of the contents of the first leaflet and therefore residents might feel justified in believing that irreparable damage to the validity of this consultation process had already occurred.

However we might feel about the way this matter has been handled, SRCG recommends that all residents take part in this consultation to show to HS2 Ltd and the Government that the people affected by this project have a voice that should be listened to and taken into account.

For over four years, SRCG has campaigned with the objective of relocating the Stone Railhead/IMB-R to a far superior site, where it could be constructed with a greatly reduced environmental impact and at much lower cost to the taxpayer. The alternative site, known as Aldersey’s Rough, would also facilitate the reopening of the former Newcastle/Stoke to Market Drayton line and the creation of a new junction with the West Coast Mainline near Madeley. This would be the catalyst for the reopening of the line and stations into Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke station, with the huge connectivity and economic benefits that would bring.

Our technical team has represented Stone Town Council and Yarnfield & Cold Meece and Chebsey Parish Councils on four occasions in parliament. In so doing, they have undertaken many detailed assessments of HS2 Ltd’s proposals and produced a large amount of detailed evidence. Most recently this has included the Staffordshire Railway Review, which is provided here in full or the Executive Summary. We recommend residents read this review to see how HS2 will impact our rail services and particularly the links to London, Manchester and Liverpool from Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford.

To provide further assistance to residents, we have provided some background information in relation to the following consultation questions that form part of the online HS2 consultation questionnaire.

• Question A: Road Traffic
• Question C: Rail Connectivity
• Question D: Reopening old railway lines and stations

If anyone would like any further advice from SRCG’s technical team then please email us on info@stonehead.org and we will post additional information in response as soon as we can.

Thank you for completing the HS2 consultation and for supporting the SRCG.