Saturday, April 24, 2010
Bucks County Council wants High Speed Rail next to the West Coast Line
A report in The Bucks Herald on Wed 31st March, stated that: “Bucks County Council, supported by all of Bucks district councils, is advocating a route which follows the west coast mainline and includes an intermediate station at Milton Keynes”.
It must be made clear at this point that as far as HS2 Ltd and the Department of Transport, the West Coast Main Line options have been rejected and Bucks County Council have not been invited to state a preference. Consultation on a single route west of Wendover and Aylesbury is scheduled to begin in October 2010.
Bucks County Council has published a full colour A3 leaflet opposing the officially proposed route, proposing instead one of the rejected alternatives along the West Coast Main Line, supported by all County Districts.
At an AVDC council meeting on 14th April, under pressure from Avril Davies, (Lib Dem, Pitstone and Ivinghoe) Corry Cashman (Lib Dem, Cheddington and Marsworth) and Peter Cooper (Independent, Wingrave and Aston Abbots) the District Council withdrew its support from the west coast main line option, and declared its opposition to all HS2 routes through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding natural beauty and Aylesbury Vale.
However the County Council Conservative administration put a motion to the County Council on 22nd April which stated that ‘any routing’ through the AONB was unacceptable, and that the proposed alternative routings through Buckinghamshire are ‘equally unacceptable’. They then went on to say that if a case was made for high speed rail the council’s preferred routes are ’along the West Coast Main Line or in a non-AONB routing.’ The County Council cabinet members were unable to clarify if they were referring to the HS2 (rejected) west coast main line proposal, passing MK to the west, or an option of their own devising alongside the existing route.
Avril Davies proposed an amendment to the motion, requesting removal of any mention of the west coast main line preference, which was defeated on party lines. She said that if the main reason for opposing the route was the effect on the AONB, preferring a different route, still through the AONB, would weaken their case. That it was not clear which route they meant, that it is not necessary to commit to any route at this stage, and that they no longer had the support of AVDC. Persisting in advocating the WCML would bring a blight on house prices in the area which HS2 had specifically intended to avoid by proposing one route only.
There are many other very good reasons for HS2 not to follow the WCML, most of which contribute to its official rejection by HS2 and the government as an option.
In the County Council debate the cabinet member for Transportation made it clear that they wanted to use the west coast main line option as a trade off for ‘our more beautiful Chilterns’, and said that ‘people who live by the West Coast Main Line knew they were near the railway when they bought their houses’. The Cabinet member for planning stated that the possibility of a station at Milton Keynes would bring benefit to the Bucks economy.
Afterwards Avril Davies said ‘Their motion was nothing more than crocodile tears about the AONB, as they made it quite clear they are perfectly happy to offer up parts of it as a sacrifice to protect their own back yards, and gain some economic advantage at the expense of others, namely, us. They made it quite clear they place a lower value on the quality of life for residents of this part of Bucks’.
It must be made clear at this point that as far as HS2 Ltd and the Department of Transport, the West Coast Main Line options have been rejected and Bucks County Council have not been invited to state a preference. Consultation on a single route west of Wendover and Aylesbury is scheduled to begin in October 2010.
Bucks County Council has published a full colour A3 leaflet opposing the officially proposed route, proposing instead one of the rejected alternatives along the West Coast Main Line, supported by all County Districts.
At an AVDC council meeting on 14th April, under pressure from Avril Davies, (Lib Dem, Pitstone and Ivinghoe) Corry Cashman (Lib Dem, Cheddington and Marsworth) and Peter Cooper (Independent, Wingrave and Aston Abbots) the District Council withdrew its support from the west coast main line option, and declared its opposition to all HS2 routes through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding natural beauty and Aylesbury Vale.
However the County Council Conservative administration put a motion to the County Council on 22nd April which stated that ‘any routing’ through the AONB was unacceptable, and that the proposed alternative routings through Buckinghamshire are ‘equally unacceptable’. They then went on to say that if a case was made for high speed rail the council’s preferred routes are ’along the West Coast Main Line or in a non-AONB routing.’ The County Council cabinet members were unable to clarify if they were referring to the HS2 (rejected) west coast main line proposal, passing MK to the west, or an option of their own devising alongside the existing route.
Avril Davies proposed an amendment to the motion, requesting removal of any mention of the west coast main line preference, which was defeated on party lines. She said that if the main reason for opposing the route was the effect on the AONB, preferring a different route, still through the AONB, would weaken their case. That it was not clear which route they meant, that it is not necessary to commit to any route at this stage, and that they no longer had the support of AVDC. Persisting in advocating the WCML would bring a blight on house prices in the area which HS2 had specifically intended to avoid by proposing one route only.
There are many other very good reasons for HS2 not to follow the WCML, most of which contribute to its official rejection by HS2 and the government as an option.
In the County Council debate the cabinet member for Transportation made it clear that they wanted to use the west coast main line option as a trade off for ‘our more beautiful Chilterns’, and said that ‘people who live by the West Coast Main Line knew they were near the railway when they bought their houses’. The Cabinet member for planning stated that the possibility of a station at Milton Keynes would bring benefit to the Bucks economy.
Afterwards Avril Davies said ‘Their motion was nothing more than crocodile tears about the AONB, as they made it quite clear they are perfectly happy to offer up parts of it as a sacrifice to protect their own back yards, and gain some economic advantage at the expense of others, namely, us. They made it quite clear they place a lower value on the quality of life for residents of this part of Bucks’.
# posted by Avril Davies @ 10:39 AM 
