Meeting documents

The Leader of the Council will provide the Committee with an update on HS2 and the mitigation that has been secured to date.

Contributors:

Mr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council

Mrs Jackie Copcutt, Lead Project Officer, TEE

The Chairman welcomed Mr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council and Mrs Jackie Copcutt, Lead Project Officer to the meeting.  The Leader and Mrs Copcutt presented an update to the Committee on the Council’s opposition to High Speed 2 (HS2) the proposed London to Birmingham rail link, which would cross Buckinghamshire.  During the presentation and in answer to subsequent Members’ questions the following main points were noted:

·         Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) had been opposed to the HS2 proposal for many years on both economic and environmental grounds and more recently had been focussing on a mitigation strategy. 

·         The House of Commons had been petitioned for mitigation and the team was now preparing a further petition to the House of Lords.  BCC had worked closely with district councils and other organisations, such as the Chilterns Conservation Board and the National Trust, during the petitioning process.

·         The negotiations with HS2 were successful, securing over £60million worth of mitigation measures. Some aspects were not wholly successful, for example, the Chiltern tunnel was not the full length requested in order to offer more protection to Wendover, but there was a further opportunity to secure further concessions through the House of Lords.

·         Communities along the line had attended MPs site visits and it was important that the public continued to voice their concerns.

·         Concerns about traffic congestion during construction were widespread and as part of the mitigation package, it was agreed that 71 road junctions would be assessed and if HS2 construction traffic would impact adversely on safety or capacity, then HS2 would fund any mitigation measures.

·         There were also concerns about the intersection of HS2 and East/West rail in North Bucks, as there appeared to be a lack of co-ordination between the two projects.

·         Mr Tett was asked if the mitigation monies were sufficient and in particular, the £1.4million for the Iver relief road.  In response he commented that there would never be enough money.  In Iver, the team believed the funding was sufficient to carry out the required traffic modelling, but the challenge had been engaging a consultant to deliver the work, who was not already contracted to HS2. 

·         It was acknowledged that £1.4million was insufficient to construct a relief road for Iver, but the situation there was already very complex before HS2, due to its proximity to Heathrow and the M40/M4 corridor. Therefore HS2 was only required to make a contribution towards a solution for Iver and options were being considered carefully.

·         Mr Tett reported that he was campaigning for local employment opportunities.  The petition to the House of Lords was calling for a commitment to use local workers and the local supply chain and an apprenticeships offer for Buckinghamshire.

·         Environmental impact remained a key concern, although an extended Chilterns Tunnel had been agreed to Little Missenden and £3million had been secured for the Colne Valley.

·         Cabinet would be making a decision as to whether to apply for Qualifying Authority status in July. 

·         The Leader thanked partners in the district councils for working collaboratively on HS2 and all County Councillors for their continued support.

The Chairman thanked Mr Tett and Mrs Copcutt for attending the meeting and for their continued work on HS2.