Stop HS2 have been invited to give oral evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee on 18th March.
They are currently running an inquiry into the environmental protection in Phase 1 of HS2, and are inviting written evidence by Friday 7th March (evidence submitted later may also be accepted).
The Committee’s website says they will examine:
- The extent to which specific route-wide environmental impacts are adequately reflected and addressed in the Environmental Statement — specifically including: agriculture, forestry and soils; air quality; climate; ecology; and water resources and flood risk; and excluding Chilterns-specific matters; community and cultural heritage; landscape and visual aspect; noise/vibration; traffic and transport; and waste and material resources.
- The overarching systems and processes which will guide how environmental considerations are taken into account in the detailed routing of the track and the use of local environmental protection measures (but not examining the route itself).
- The arrangements for funding measures to protect biodiversity or to limit environmental impacts, and any constraints on such funding.
- How and where biodiversity offsetting will operate, and any limits that will be put on such offsetting.
The EAC’s inquiry will not examine the overall economic case for HS2, nor decisions about the route or local environmental concerns about particular sections of the line (areas which the HS2 Hybrid Bill Committee will examine).
How to submit written evidence
The Committee will take oral evidence later, and is now inviting evidence on these specific issues by Friday 7 March, although later submissions may also be accepted.
Evidence should be submitted through the Written Evidence portal on the inquiry page.
Guidence on submitting written evidence
What should the people put to the inquiry. It may simply be the HMG way to avoid being open to the legal challenge up to 6 weeks after the Hybrid Bill vote. What can you put as hard real evidence within the scope of the inquiry. it has to be infringments people have identified not a campaign message. Do you have sufficient real hands on evidence from the route. No business case argument. No Chilterns issues. No section of the route. What hard infringements do you have. No hard infingements from the route Parishes and tenants and land owners and it is hearsay. Please do some home work to invite written evidence to yourselves before granstandings on political points please. Not an easy function to get across the infringements in a questioning forum but most other submitters to the different Select Committees have not succeeded to date. invite people to coment on this web site or send submissions to an emal for your pre-inquiry review. This is not a gift of an invitation but a way the HMG can say you had your chance to put the evidence and it was not compelling. How do you remedy this in the next week before giving ‘evidence’ please. imagine you are in a court to overturn the Hybrid Bill vote for HS2. Treat this as the one chance to put across real cases please.