The National Trust’s HS2 Project Team has recently submitted a response to plans for the HS2 railway in Staffordshire. The HS2 Phase 2a (West Midlands to Crewe) Bill is currently in Parliament and awaiting Second Reading. Included with the Bill is the Environmental Statement which assesses the environmental impacts of constructing and operating the railway…
On the evening of Monday 17th July, the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling introduced the HS2 Phase 2a (West Midlands – Crewe) High Speed Rail Bill and confirmed much of the route of Phase 2b (West Midlands – Leeds and Manchester). This came in the context of the widely publicised awarding of the Phase 1 main…
This week we submitted our response to the High Speed 2 Phase 2b Route Refinement Consultation 2016. This consultation sought responses on seven route refinements that HS2 Ltd have put forward following further design work since the initial Phase 2 route consultation in 2013. We have concerns about the changes to the route and supporting…
The Royal Assent of the HS2 Phase 1 Act marks the creation of the first of three pieces of legislation that will allow the Government to build HS2. The hybrid Bill process used to deliver this legislation has the potential to confer greater powers on the Government’s developer, in this case HS2 Ltd, and therefore…
Today the Government released more details on its preferred route for HS2 from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds along with refinements that have been made to this section of route, known as Phase 2b, following the 2013 route consultation. Our HS2 project team has begun the process of assessing the detail…
This week our HS2 Project Team responded to a consultation on the environmental impacts of the West Midlands to Crewe section of the HS2 route (known as Phase 2a), which is due to open in 2027. The route passes close to Shugborough in Staffordshire, which is a historically unique and protected Grade I-listed house, garden…
The National Trust has appointed landscape architecture specialists Cookson and Tickner to develop a proposal to mitigate HS2’s impact on Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, and to integrate the high speed rail line into the historic landscape. An aerial view of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. Credit National Trust/John Miller. The appointment has been made following a competitive…
On 7 July, Chairman of HS2 Ltd Sir David Higgins published Sheffield and South Yorkshire Report 2016 which recommended changes to the route of HS2 serving Sheffield. These are the first recommendations to change the route of HS2 Phase 2B since the proposed line of route from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds consultation which…
This week we submitted our response to the High Speed Two Phase 2A Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Scope and Methodology Report (SMR). The report sets out the proposed method for working out the likely environmental impacts of Phase 2A of the project which is due to run from Birmingham to Crewe passing close to…
Commenting on the publication of the HS2 Bill Select Committee report earlier this week Nicola Briggs London and South East Director for the National Trust said, “We are disappointed that the Select Committee have not supported a long tunnel under the Chilterns. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are designated to protect their importance to the…
