Another HS2 land-grab?
While it’s been known for a while that HS2 has a devastating effect on sports such as equine pursuits, angling and golf, the effect on football so far has been pretty small. Up until now, all that was confirmed was that Aston Villa would lose their training ground, but this week The Crewe Guardian published a July 2012 report saying that Crewe Alexandra’s Gresty Road ground had been defined as ‘land available’ for a HS2 hub in the town.
Given that Gresty Road is right next to the west coast mainline and Crewe station and has been for 107 years, it may not be a surprise that their nickname is ‘The Railwaymen’, but what may be a surprise to many football fans is that it wasn’t HS2 Ltd, but Cheshire East Council who defined their home as a prime site for a new ‘urban centre’. While the council has been willing to suggest that Alex would have to vacate their ground if plans for a HS2 ‘superhub’ went ahead, there has been not thought as to where they would go instead, and council leaders reaffirmed their support for the hub at a meeting this week.
The report from last year, titled ‘From rail town to high speed city: a vision for Crewe’, shows a 150 acre plot earmarked for a re-developed ‘urban centre’ around the existing station for housing and office blocks
Crewe Alexandra Football Club declined to comment.
The full report can be viewed here.
Was this discussed by the council and is it linked to their previous trumpetting re their special relationship with HS2 ltd/George Osborne?
Is this what McLoughlin means by encouraging ‘development’ in regard to The Paving Bill?
Does Gresty Road link with the Tatton Kink/Earlier proposed HS2 route ?
The flaky self interests that permeate local and central government are well illustrated by Councillor John Nicholas who voted against as a Coventry
Councillor and since his election to Chair of Centro is now calling for HS2 “to be expanded to include passport and customs control at Birmingham so passengers would not have to change trains or stations and could travel straight through to Europe via the Channel Tunnel”.
He said: “I urge the government to consider a fully segregated two track link between HS2 and HS1, which could cater not only for high speed rail services from the West Midlands to a range of destinations on the continent but which would also facilitate new high speed rail links between the region and economic centres in East London and Kent”
It shows how ill thought out, poorly planned and partisan this project is.
Sadly it will be irreplaceable AONB/SSI and ordinary people who will pay for this lack of proper strategy and organization.
As I have opined before if it must happen
1) re think the whole project to involve scotland wales the east and west counties
2 ) If is is an exclusive sop to the North and Midlands then there needs to be a return to consideration of a tunnelled route following the M1 corridor and greater connectivity with all hubs, the consideration of Maglev or reducing the velocity of the train to allow greater flexibility.
A fair system of compensation and payment for the project should be derived so that those who benefit pay for it (? on local rates and fares)
Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/news/2013/03/02/coventry-councillor-who-voted-against-hs2-now-supporting-it-as-chairman-of-centro-92746-32907939/#ixzz2MOVvK5Sp
Who sounds like a nimby now the previous transport secretary Phillip hamond who wants no more cuts in his dept I why not ask his mate in the dept now to cancel.hs2 he would have 32 bill to buy his new tanks ect
He would have nothing to buy anything as HS2 is a future project and so funding has still to be allocated for it!
In fact on today’s Sunday Politics Vincent Vabld agreed that we need to increase capital spending so HS2 is in fact a route out of recession!
What about the 800 million this parliament