MP Reacts to County Decision on HS2

Hopwas, Hints and Tamworth’s Member of Parliament, Christopher Pincher, has said the announcement that Staffordshire County Council’s announcement that it opposes the High Speed Rail route through the county means “HS2 has some more very difficult questions to answer.”

The County Council has said that it opposes the route in principle “as it brings too few benefits to the county and its people.”

Mr Pincher continued:
“I have asked several questions of government about the business case for HS2 about which I think there remain serious concerns.  I have also asked the Department for Transport to confirm what benefit it thinks this rail line will bring to Staffordshire.  They say they have no analysis, which worries me.”

“Thanks to the efforts of local campaigners, the press and local MPs, the government knows very well about local opinion.  But I am particularly concerned that we don’t end up simply passing the HS2 problem from one local village to another.  I do not want to see that happen.  People need to work together on this issue.  And the announcement by the government last month that it is changing from an “S” shaped to a “Y” shaped route presents an opportunity for an alignment that could avoid our part of the world.  That outcome is worth campaigning for – both now, before the announcement of the preferred route in December and, if necessary, afterward. “