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March news
25 March 2011
Public meeting – HS2 and You
Saturday 2nd April 10.00am Chalfont St Peter C of E School, Church Lane.
Change4Chalfont is organising a public meeting to bring the debate about the proposed high speed rail link (HS2) to Chalfont St Peter. There will be speakers from HS2 Action Alliance and the Chiltern Society, together with displays showing both the planned route of the new line and the key arguments in favour and against.
With the government consultation now underway, it is important that everyone in Chalfont St Peter is as well-informed as possible about this major project that will affect the area for years as it is being built, and will change the countryside forever.
Come and find out how the high speed rail link through the Chilterns will affect us in Chalfont St Peter.
For more information visit change4chalfont.org.uk
21 March 2011
High-speed rail 'is vanity project', says environment watchdog
Andrew Lee, Director of the Sustainable Development Commission and Environment Editor in The Times, says there are more urgent priorities for public transport spending and that too much time is being spent on vanity projects.
He also questions the Government's claim that the high speed line would boost the economies of regional cities. It says there is evidence that the line could have the opposite effect and "further imbalance the economy towards London.
The Commission is being abolished at the end of the month, presumably to help pay for HS2.
12 March 2011
Join the dots for a game of mass destruction
Simon Barnes has written an excellent article in the Saturday Times on the impact of HS2 on habitats the length of the proposed line.
He makes the point that splitting small ancient woodlands will reduce bio-diversity, and summarises areas that will be affected.
8 March 2011
High speed for some; low speed for most
An investigation by the Sunday Telegraph has discovered that there will be more passengers enduring slower rail services than faster ones if HS2 goes ahead because of the disruption to timetables.
Read the full report here.
1 March 2011
One-track mind – Chiltern Society response to HS2 consultation
The consultation on the government's preferred route announced yesterday (28 February) presents a 'take it or leave it' approach to the new high speed line, says the Chiltern Society.
Such bravado fails to disguise the shortcomings of a stand-alone project that has been proposed in the absence of a comprehensive national transport strategy, and has not properly been exposed to the essential discipline of rigorous comparative testing of alternatives.
The Chiltern Society is deeply concerned by such tunnel vision, especially when the financial and risk implications are so huge.
Mike Overall, vice chairman of the society said: "We are mindful of our responsibility to question this one-track mind to ensure that our government-designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other highly valued landscapes are not sacrificed to irreparable harm as a consequence of a fundamentally flawed procedure.
"This seemingly determined and arrogant attitude of the government is perhaps reflected in the lack of any reference in any of the seven consultation questions to the 'environment' or to the importance of protecting the nation's finest landscapes when considering major infrastructure projects.
"This once in a century opportunity to improve the national infrastructure, and to achieve the government's transformational objectives, has more than one solution. The government has a duty to properly investigate a range of options, rather than just adopt its predecessor's 'grand project' for the sake of political expediency."
