WPC HS2 - UPDATE

Wendover Parish Council HS2 update

Did HS2 Mislead Parliament?

Lord Berkeley’s letter and report to the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, on the subject of fraud and the misleading of Parliament by HS2 Ltd and Ministers is a shocker. Some of you may have seen it in the broadsheet press.

Nobody knows more about UK rail or the HS2 project than Tony Berkeley, and I include HS2 Ltd and the DfT in there, so for him to take such action should act as a wakeup call to government.

If you didn’t catch it in the press you can read Tony’s letter and report here… https://www.wendover-pc.gov.uk/post/ ministerial-fraud-in-misleading-parliament-onthe-142bn-hs2-project

Engagement Again

HS2 and EKFB did put together a 1 to 1 engagement event on 27 July. It was a Microsoft Teams event. I’m quite involved in the HS2 world and I only found out about it by accident, so I can’t give HS2 many points for their advertising. Hopefully this will be the last attempt at remote engagement. With Covid restrictions lifted there seems to be every opportunity for public meetings to resume. We still won’t like the message but we can look them in the eye as they deliver it.

Challenging Ministerial Claims

The Mined Tunnel Proposal for Wendover still causes turmoil in political circles. On 30 June Lord Berkeley wrote to Andrew Stephenson MP, Minister for HS2 to question assertions made by the minister regarding the consideration that had been given to Wendover’s proposal.

You can read his letter here…. https://www.wendover-pc.gov.uk/post/ekekfb-ministerial-response-letter-17-june-2021

The Wendover Parish Council Way Forward on HS2

Having considered a report and recommendation from the HS2 Working Group and a detailed proposal of future works from our Parliamentary Lobbyist, WPC has resolved to carry on with its current campaign strategy on HS2 matters. So we still push for the best mitigation and while we argue for that we scrutinise and challenge the project and we support Buckinghamshire Council and others as they do the same.

Tom Walsh Chairman of the WPC HS2 Working Group