Cheshire East Council has submitted its petition against the recent government bill progressing the HS2 rail line from Crewe to Manchester.
The HS2 Phase 2b Hybrid Bill provides powers to construct and operate the stretch of the high-speed rail link from Crewe to Manchester, due to become operational by 2040. The council is seeking changes to the proposal over both the environmental impact of the project as it passes through the borough, as well as plans for Crewe station.
The petition calls for enhanced mitigation against the negative impacts of the scheme on the environment, landscape, ecology and local transport network. This includes offering the maximum levels of compensation to those impacted by the HS2 line between Crewe and Manchester, and measures to reduce the visual impact of the scheme and better manage the disruption on the highways network during the scheme’s construction.
The Council is also calling for the delivery of an enhanced hub station for Crewe to support the right level of connectivity to facilitate 5/7 trains per hour stopping at Crewe. The station is set to be an important interchange for HS2 services to connect with trains to Liverpool and North Wales, as well as onward stations on the West Coast Mainline through to Scotland; the Council is also bidding for Crewe to be the headquarters of Great British Railways, the planned successor organisation to Network Rail.
Cllr Craig Browne, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council and chair of its highways and transport committee, said:
“The petitioning process is the council’s final opportunity for us to formally raise our concerns and influence the proposals before the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.
“I would like to make it clear that whilst we are minded to support the project in principle, our support remains conditional upon the government delivering the best possible outcomes for Cheshire East, namely the infrastructure to support 5/7 trains an hour stopping at Crewe and substantial mitigation for those communities that will be adversely affected by construction along the proposed route.
“The arrival of high-speed services will unlock economic growth and regeneration opportunities and can also help to address serious capacity issues on our local rail network – helping to improve passenger services and moving more freight from road to rail.
“But the scheme will also have impact on the environment, landscape and ecology of Cheshire East and there will be communities that will be directly affected, particularly those close to these routes and construction areas.”
Cheshire East Council has also submitted a second petition against an Additional Provision to the HS2 bill that amends highways junctions and the tunnel taking high-speed trains under the North of Crewe.
The petition by Cheshire East Council follows similar criticism from political leaders in Greater Manchester, where the city-region’s mayor, Andy Burnham, is calling for a rethink of plans for HS2’s terminus at the city’s Piccadilly train station. An above-ground station, critics argue, will severely limit the high-speed rail line’s ability to boost capacity on the North’s rail network, make future connections with an East-West high-speed link (dubbed Northern Powerhouse Rail) more challenging, curb development potential around Manchester’s station quarter, and severely impact communities in East Manchester and Tameside when Northern Powerhouse Rail is built.