4/9/10 – SUNDAY-WALKERS DESCEND ON VILLAGE TO STOP HS2

SUNDAY-WALKERS DESCEND ON VILLAGE TO STOP HS2

Hundreds of walkers and cyclists are expected to descend from various locations onto the Warwickshire village of Burton Green via the Kenilworth Greenway to protest against the planned high speed rail route this Sunday.

A series of events is planned, with walks organised to arrive in Burton Green coming from Kenilworth, Balsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden, Stoneleigh and Berkswell. Additionally, a 13½ mile ‘HS2 Cycle Tour’ will take place, starting in Kenilworth and taking in local areas which will be destroyed and disfigured, such as Stareton, Stoneleigh, Cryfield Grange and Kenilworth, before arriving at Burton Green. The event will coincide with the walk of Lizzy Williams, who started to walk the entire route of HS2 near Lichfield on Wednesday 1^st September.

Joe Rukin, Chair of the Kenilworth Action Group and Stop HS2 Campaign Director said “This isn’t a case of not in my back yard. The simplest analysis of HS2 leads to the conclusion ‘Not Anywhere’. It’s very straightforward, despite what politicians might say, there is no business case, no environmental case and no money to pay for it.”

Jerry Marshall, Chair of the Burton Green Action Group, ‘Keep Burton Green’ said; “On 11^th of March when HS2 was announced, I said I wouldn’t oppose HS2 if it was in the national interests. I read the plans and by the 13^th of March I was writing a paper about why it should not be allowed to proceed.”

Lizzy Williams, who is currently walking the entire route of HS2 from Lichfield to London, before coming back to walk the spur into Birmingham to coincide with Conservative Party Conference in October said; “We really want to educate people as to what HS2 represents. It will destroy the countryside for no good reason. To those people who say it will be good for the economy, they said that about HS1 and look at that. It’s lost money, they’ve cut services because no-one is using it and it’s being sold off for a quarter of what it costs. HS2 will be exactly the same, but on a national scale.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Details of the Kenilworth Greenway walk are;
   1. Walking from the North- Contact Lizzy Williams 07842 164880

                                                               i.      High ground to the north of Didington Lane (B92 0BY) at 10am

                                                             ii.      Patrick Farm, Meriden Lane (B92 0LT) 10.30am

                                                            iii.      The Railway Inn, Balsall Common 12.30-1.30pm (CV7 7EF).

1. Walking from the South- Contact Joe Rukin 07811 371880.

                                                               i.      Meet between 12 & 1pm for 1pm  set off at the Virgins & Castle, High Street, Kenilworth (CV8 1LY)

1. Cycling from the South- Contact Joe Rukin 07811 371880.

                                                               i.      Meet at Abbey Fields Car Park, Bridge Street, Kenilworth (CV8 1BP) at 11.30am for 13.5 ‘HS2 Tour’, taking in Kenilworth, Stareton, Stoneleigh, Crackley & Burton Green.

1. Events at Burton Green Village Hall (CV8 1PL) between 2pm and 5pm – Contact Jerry Marshall 07941 017236.
2. Stop HS2 is the national group campaigning on behalf of anti-HS2 action groups up and down the proposed route.
3. There are more local events planned for the weekend of 10^th-12^th September. This and the  itinerary (subject to change) of Lizzys’ progress along the route of HS2 can be found at www.stophs2.org and at www.walkhs2.co.uk
4. More details of the Kenilworth Greenway walk can be found at www.bgvh.org.uk (Burton Green, the destination of the walk) www.hs2cv8.co.uk (Kenilworth, for those coming from the south) and www.hhag.org.uk (Berkswell, for those coming from the north). The Kenilworth Greenway was part of the Sustrans Connect 2 network, which won lottery funding in the ITV1 ‘The People’s £50 Million’ programme in December 2007. The Burton Green section has not been surfaced due to the threat of HS2.