‘We’re all going in same direction to oppose HS2’ - Residents groups unite to campaign against high-speed rail line
Published: 03 March 2011
by JOSIE HINTON
RESIDENTS from all corners of the borough have united to form a pan-Camden group to fight “flawed and unjustified” plans for a £32billion high-speed rail line beneath their homes.
Members of 15 residents and tenants groups in Regent’s Park, Camden Town, Primrose Hill, Belsize Park and Swiss Cottage voted unanimously to come together to oppose the project during a meeting at the Town Hall.
The decision was taken as Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond launched a five-month consultation, said to be the largest ever carried out by his department, on the High Speed Two (HS2) network, on Monday.
Warning that the UK would be left behind its international economic competitors if it did not press ahead with the scheme, Mr Hammond promised to deliver economic benefits of £44bn.
He is under mounting pressure to make the financial case amid the climate of cuts to local and national government schemes. Objectors are bemused that such a grand scheme has survived massive cutbacks to public spending.
Mr Hammond has allocated £46million for the project in the current financial year alone, with a total of £773m spent before work begins in 2015.
Opponents in Camden say neither the financial, nor the environmental arguments for HS2 stack up.
Peter Jones, a spokesman for the group, said: “To put it in proportion, the projected cost of £32bn is greater than the value of all existing national rail infrastructure.
“It is entirely reasonable to resist the HS2 proposal in its entirety, not simply seek mitigation or hope for any compensation or advantage.
“HS2 is being presented to our nation on mere assertion with no fact based economic, environmental, business or infrastructure justification.”
Costing £17bn, the first phase of the line would cut through Regent’s Park, bulldozing 300 homes, before travelling under Primrose Hill, Belsize Park and Swiss Cottage on its way to Birmingham.
Thirteen councils have already publicly opposed the scheme. Camden has yet to confirm its position, but Labour’s environment chief Councillor Sue Vincent has offered to host meetings at the Town Hall and make a dedicated planning officer available to the group to offer expertise.
She said: “We will be supporting the group to work in mitigation and seeking more detail so we can make evidence-based arguments.”
Councillors from across the chamber, however, have already made clear their objections.
Cr Paul Braithwaite, a Lib Dem, told the New Journal it was “obscene” to allocate £17bn to the link between Euston and Birmingham at a time when families are suffering financial hardship.
He added: “Of course the spend for this government is a modest £750m, leaving the big bucks to the next three parliaments to bear. This route, whilst it is on the table, will blight its path for the next decade.”
And Belsize Conservative councillor Jonny Bucknell added: “I think the money being spent on this project would be better spent on upgrading the rest of the network.”
The project has also surprisingly run into opposition with the Green Party, a natural supporter of the principle of high-speed rail. Members dismissed the scheme as “economically and environmentally unsound” during their national convention at the weekend.
Green councillor Maya de Souza, who represents Highgate, said: “Rejection of HS2 is the right direction for the environment, for London, for Camden and for the country.”
Notably absent from the meeting were Labour councillors Nash Ali, Heather Johnson and Tulip Siddiq, who represent Regent’s Park where four housing blocks face demolition. Regent’s Park was the only area unrepresented by councillors at Thursday’s meeting.
The consultation will run until July 29 and will involve mobile exhibitions allowing residents to quiz engineers, environmentalists and property specialists.
It will visit Euston station on March 24 and 25, Swiss Cottage farmers’ market on March 28, the Camden Centre in Bidborough Street on April 2 and the Castlehaven Youth Centre in Castlehaven Road on April 4.
The Camden group have called a public meeting at St Mary the Virgin, in Elsworthy Road, on March 16 at 7.30pm. All are welcome.