Following my previous blog post on HS2 and its possible go ahead, I think its time to take a closer look at HS2 and protecting our ancient woodland.
The current route for HS2 today includes chopping down parts of ancient woodland. I have already said in a previous blog post that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are fully against that, but I did not mention that by chopping down trees our birds and nature will be affected. The government are promising to plant many new trees, but that will not solve the problem. We all know that trees take a long time to grow into full size mature trees, so this plan of the government's seems to be just something to keep those like the RSPB happy, while the government continues its destruction plan. Another organization that is supporting the protection of the ancient woodland is Woodland Trust. It says that 'HS2 is a serious threat to the UK's ancient woodlands with 108 at risk of loss or damage'. It then went on to say that 32 ancient woodlands will be directly affected and another 29 will suffer from secondary effects like noise and pollution. Is that a good idea? By planting new trees, the government won't be able to replace the woodland that has been there before, nor will the government (or anyone else for that matter) be able to call it ancient woodland. The woodland will have lost its title until, another hundred years have gone by at least. Trees are useful for a variety of things. They are the best in nature for providing us with fresh oxygen. They also purify air, contribute in the water cycle, give shade or shelter and protect wildlife. If the government has not considered this, and if they have, decided to completely ignore that fact, then these actions show that the government is destroying our country. If this is its plan, then the news of chopping down trees is very bad news. These actions of the government show us that they don't care for nature anymore, which is very sad. If it did care for nature, it would not be pushing our building force to get HS2 built, and all those trees chopped down. From what we can see, though, is that the government are eager to get the new railway built, however much it might cost - they do not care about anybody else. HS2 has been given the go ahead, and the last thing the government wants is for an outsider to raise up a justified business case to scrap the new railway, that crushes its plans. At this moment in time, HS2 is on the verge of walking into difficulties as it continues to chop down trees. It has stated that this is the largest environmental project, but its actions have contradicted its words. Work has already been undertaken at Crackley Woods near Kenilworth, and the chopping down of trees has taken place during the critical time of nesting. It is also the time when the woodlands should be bursting with natural life. The contractor, who has been appointed to do the work, has made the decision to move the ancient woodland soils to another site, which has been criticized. The RSPB has urged HS2 not to chop down trees in the April to September nesting season, but HS2's response was that work was continuing with an ecologist on site to spot nesting birds, and stop work as required. The reason being that destruction of active bird nests is illegal. The RSPB said: “HS2 isn’t earning our trust and sadly we’ve seen evidence that nest site exclusion zone concerns from local residents are going ignored.” One does wonder what the government is thinking about. It sounds like the government has no knowledge whatsoever about nature, and as it is only interested in its own agenda, everybody else is forced to be swept along with it. It is worth remembering here that one can not overcome nature. If one tries to go against nature, then one will bring destruction.
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It is much debated nowadays as to whether HS2 will be approved and given the go ahead following the Oakervee review.
The Oakervee review led by Douglas Oakervee is examining the case for HS2 following rising costs. The costs were originally forecasted at £56bn, but that has now risen to £88bn. Now there is a problem: Contractors have already started preparing for HS2 by demolishing skyscrapers at Euston and demolishing the former Great Western Railway (GWR) train depot at Old Oak Common. If the project was to be entirely cancelled, then that would mean a lot of work wasted and buildings unnecessarily demolished. The latest news is that PM Boris Johnson wants to review every 'sacred cow' project and is encouraging his Cabinet to scrap projects which won't give good value for money. Other projects do include the Heathrow Expansion project. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) I know would be keen for the ancient woodland to be left as it is, which would leave the option of tunneling HS2 underneath or completely scrapping it. Then there's all those houses due to be demolished in northern England, just to make way for a high speed railway, which might not bring any benefits to our railways. Why can't the houses be left alone? It's just causing mayhem and distress to those who occupy them. The option would be to tunnel deeply underneath them, or once again scrap the project. Let's take a look at the proposed terminus at Birmingham Curzon Street. The last time I saw the area of land it's due to be built on, there was nothing except for the historic building (that was built at the time of the London and Birmingham Railway during the days of George Stephenson) and some hoardings. Once the HS2 terminus is built, it is supposed to have good connection links with the Midland Metro and Birmingham Moor Street station, but what if I want to travel to Birmingham New Street from London Euston directly without changing trains? Now that does change things. I'm not really interested in travelling by HS2, but I would really prefer to travel by the West Coast Main Line itself - it's fast enough for me and it takes me to where I want to go. That leads on to another topic that does need to be thought about. HS2 Limited might have thought about this, but on the other hand maybe not. Do we need HS2? Do people need to commute to London from northern England when cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield have got their own amount of jobs on offer? Has the government thought this through? Maybe we don't need HS2. If other countries in Europe and the rest of the world have miles and miles of high speed railway, that doesn't mean that we have to do the same and keep up with everyone else. There is no harm in being different and just having not so many miles of high speed railway. That statement also accounts for the proposed Northern Powerhouse rail project, which is proposing to build another high speed railway (HS3) that would connect with HS2. From what Transport for the North (TfN) are saying it sounds like that HS3 will destroy the scenery of the countryside, which I'm sure nobody wants in particular. People don't really need to commute such long distances. Leisure and business travelers yes, but not the everyday commuter. Let's take this further; Do we really need to split the north south divide that politicians are always going on about? No, we don't. Whoever made that one up was only trying to push the case for HS2. From what the latest news says, it sounds like Boris Johnson is thinking about it, but beyond that we don't know until he makes his decision. I remain neutral for the moment on the subject of HS2, but I'm certainly not for HS3. I don't like seeing countryside scenery being destroyed. I do know that there are several people who want the money to be spent on more favorable rail projects like more electrification and reopenings. |
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