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‘Use HS2 to get Aylesbury bypass’
PROPOSALS will be put forward by Aylesbury Town Council asking for a bypass to be built around the town when HS2 is built.
UKIP councillor, Chris Adams, has, however, criticised the authority of ‘getting into bed with HS2’.
Aylesbury Town Council agreed at its full council meeting last week to start up a dialogue with the transport giant in order to make the best of a bad situation.
In explaining his stance at the meeting, council leader Steven Patrick said that if the authority did not begin to suggest mitigation measures now, Aylesbury may miss out on the potential benefits.
“We can oppose, and oppose, and oppose the plans,” he said.
“But it’s only if we put forward suggestions, that we may stand a chance of getting something back.”
Aylesbury Town Council will, therefore, be joining a community forum, set up by HS2, to ‘develop the design in a way which will minimise potential impacts and identify opportunities for local communities to benefit from the project’, according to the firm.
The Stoke Mandeville and Aylesbury community forum, proposed by HS2 Ltd, will be one of 23 across the country, and the firm has recommended that a variety of local authorities take part, including Bucks County Council, Aylesbury Vale District Council and Fleet Marston, Stoke Mandeville, Stone and Bishopstone, Hartwell and Waddesdon Parish Councils.
HS2 has also suggested resident associations and action groups get involved in the talks.
But UKIP town councillor Chris Adams, who voted against the town council’s plans to join the community forum, has accused the authority of potentially falling into the trap of ‘being conned by HS2’.
“I don’t support this at all,” said Mr Adams at the meeting.
“We should be fighting the plans and I think we certainly need to seek professional advice before engaging in any dialogue with this company.
“After all, the coalition government has said there will be a review of the plans.”
Mitigation measures planned for submission to HS2 are primarily for south-western bypass which, the town council has suggested, should be built directly adjacent to the line itself, running from the Wendover by-pass to Fleet Marston.
But Aylesbury Vale District councillor, Freda Roberts, who has publicly voiced her support for a bypass in Aylesbury, says she is completely opposed to the idea of building a bypass next to what could soon be the line for HS2.
“I don’t think I like the idea at all,” she said.
“This route, right where HS2 has been planned for now, was suggested years ago, and I campaigned then for it to be stopped then.
“It’s far too close to people’s homes – it would travel through people’s gardens!
“I wouldn’t want it in my garden so I certainly can’t expect the people I represent to put up with it.
“But a bypass there would be of no benefit whatsoever.
“Aylesbury definitely needs a bypass but quite frankly that is just not the right place.
“A bypass built a bit further out would be better, so the residents weren’t affected.
“I’m also just completely opposed to HS2 – it’s going to affect an awful lot of people who I represent.
“I’m afraid that’s my stopping point.
“As taxpayers HS2 is going to cost us an awful lot of money, but will be of no benefit to the town at all.
“It will, in fact, be disastrous for the people I represent, and a bypass would only make matters worse.”
Town councillor Steven Mitchell has also recommended that HS2 Ltd install a station for the high speed rail line at Calvert, where there will be a East-West Rail station, should it go ahead.
The council has also suggested the firm helps it in moving forward with the Aylesbury Town Plan.
HS2 Ltd has suggested the community representatives meetings should take place on April 2 or 4 from 6.30-8.30pm.
The firm has stated that it wants the community groups to help it identify local priorities for the next stage of design, discuss potential ways to avoid and mitigate the impacts of the route such as managing noise and reinstating highways, explore opportunities for possible community benefits and inform the local community about HS2 proposals and consultations.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 23 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
sirelien
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 07:52 PMActually Cllr Poll, what's vacuous is contributing nothing to the debate except a call not to engage in any kind of dialogue whatsoever, on the grounds that government will play 'divide and rule.' It's also childish and it gets no-one anywhere. I'm afraid the point, that neither you nor BarryBob seem to understand, is that the said railway is happening. It's been given the go-ahead in Parliament. You have lost the argument. That said, certain organisations have threatened to pursue judicial reviews against the decision, but whether this is just hot air remains to be seen. So the issue is no longer 'Should we have a railway' because the debate's moved on. Now the issue is: 'Given that we're going to have a railway, how can we make sure that its negative effects are reduced as much as possible, and that we derive as much benefit as possible.' So bring your head up out of the sand, Cllr Poll and start giving some thought to that issue.
CllrPoll
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 05:37 PMWow sirelien. You seem to have read a lot into my comment. All I said was "divide and rule" is a well known tactic. Witness NHS reform. Aylesbury would like a bypass, I guess most residents would agree with that. The question is do we have to suffer a railway in order to achieve it? I would venture not. As far as "pointless tantrums" are concerned, that is a vacuous argument. Just like the accusation that all objectors to HS2 are nimbys'.
BarryBob
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:54 AMHS2 is far from being a 'done deal'. There is a lot of opposition to it and not just from those along the route. The business case is massively flawed and the environment study, something that should have been done before the decision made, has not even been done yet. The Government are already having to face a number of Judicial Reviews and don't forget that yes the 3 main parties are in favour of high speed rail not the exact HS2 project and route.
sirelien
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 09:52 AMSo what's your suggestion, Cllr Poll? The only cause of action that you and Cllr Winn appear to be putting on the table is to refuse to co-operate with the government on this matter in any way at all. That stance may appear superficially impressive, but the reality is that it's childish and unhelpful. You need to get it into your heads that HS2 is going ahead, with or without your support. Now you can either engage constructively with that process and extract the best deal possible for your constituents, or you can throw a pointless tantrum that will change nothing. The choice is yours.
CllrPoll
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 09:01 AMSo ATC want to enter into dialogue. Surely then the government will play DIVIDE AND RULE.
sirelien
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:23 PMI think that Councillor Steven Patrick has got it spot on, and many of the people here need to face reality. HS2 is going to happen. I appreciate that many here are strongly against it. But the simple fact is that the government is backing it and that a majority (not everyone, but a majority) generally appears to be in favour of it. It's all very well calling for Aylesbury Town Council to fight against HS2, as Gowest does, but how on earth is a small Town Council supposed to defy the will of the Westminster Parliament? Face reality - it's not going to happen. So we in Aylesbury have a choice. We can either stick our fingers in our ears, bury our heads in the sand and scream 'No HS2' as loud as we like - and get stamped on by Westminster; or we can work constructively with them to get concessions and compromises that will be of great benefit to our town. And I for one think that the proposed bypass would be a very good idea.
JR
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 10:18 PMMullet @ #9 "how does a bypass benefit a town economically?" It means that anyone setting up in one of the large factory units in, say, Rabans Lane - for example will be better placed for getting their goods in \ out much easier. One of the reasons why Arla wanted to build alongside the A41 and why MK did so well during the last recession & is thriving now. People don't want to pay drivers to sit in traffic all day so it's a bonus to have a lorry dropping off a bypass more or less straight into a depot. If we can encourage more employers, we get more workers, people who will want to go shopping.
ColinJones
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 12:56 PMmarko001 wrote: "The people of Hawkslade, Walton Court etc are not for whatever reason vocal on HS2 and are promised no mitigation. I said in the debate that they need to realise that this line will go within yards of their homes mostly on a viaduct surrounded by a wall, as per a letter I had published in the BH, this wall will be like the Berlin Wall surrounding Aylesbury. I want the people of the area to continue to be able to walk their dogs in the fields as I have done in the past and not be prevented to do so by a Berlin type wall." This is simply untrue, Mark. The latest plans for HS2 around Aylesbury have the line at a much lower level. It is now in a cutting. Please base your comments on the revised scheme that has been approved by government, not an earlier proposal which has since been changed as a result of the public consultation.
ToBeFair
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 12:41 PMMarko001 your comments about UKIP are unjust. You are a Councillor on Aylesbury Town Council, and you voted with your other Conservative & Liberal Democrat partners on joining a PRO HS2 forum. You really have got a nerve to kick UKIP when they are the only political party opposed to HS2. By the way I am a floating voter. I have contact Cllr Adams & Cllr Huxley of UKIP, and your statements about them are un-true. They have told me that they abstained from the votes everytime because they cannot be supporting political parties such as the Conservative, Liberal Democrats & Labour that are FOR HS2. It's sounds like that your in the wrong party Cllr Winn, alot of hot air and your leader the Prime Minister David Cameron supports HS2! You talk about polls, your Conservative Party will get a hammering in future elections...Vote Conservative, get HS2.
marko001
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 08:07 PMTobefair yiour comments really showed why UKIP are a waste of time whilst others are discussing the best way of highlighting how HS2 if it is built would really affect the people of Aylesbury you are making political points. I have never heard one piece of opposition from UKIP to HS2 itself but plenty of party political attacks on others about HS2. Lets face it all you are interested in is UKIP as a party and increasing your profile not in actually doing anything about HS2. Then again how can you what is your latest poll rating? you have no MP's who could oppose HS2 and no chance of getting any the only party to opposse HS2 really is that why Cllr Adams voted to abstain in Aylesburty town council when we discussed whether or not we should be oppossed to HS2. Some opposition make some political point was more important when it came down to it than actaully oppossing it. BUcks UKIP not a great advert for UKIP as a party if yiu can't even vote against HS2.
ToBeFair
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 12:01 AMLizzylouise is correct, the community forums are being run by the private company appointed to build HS2, The Aylesbury Town Council Councillors from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats & Labour just haven't got a clue! There was even a County Councillor at ATC, Cllr Brian Roberts...who should have advised the Council but he just voted for it. Oh how silly these Councillors are to vote to join HS2's Community Forums.......Unbelievable and these Councillors didn't even know it. As usual the two UKIP Councillors, Cllr Andy Huxley & Cllr Chris Adams didn't vote for it, very wise and at least they have their heads screwed on about HS2. It just shows you that the three old failed parties stick to together and did not even consult us their voting constituents. Irresponsible.
lizzylouise
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 04:41 PMI am one of the founding members of Stophs2 and walked the route in 2010. Please, if you are all affected by HS2 join our facebook group https:www.facebook.comgroupsVictimsofHS2 . The group is purely for anyone affected to share photographs and information nationally with the press. Mark we can help you get more publicity. The site is not connected to any political party. Don't let the Government divide your community on HS2 - that is exactly what it wants. Adding to the blight and uncertainty by talking about a bypass now is quite frankly irresponsible. I don't know what the council think they could possibly achieve. The community forums are being run by the private company appointed to build the thing - and we saw what happened with the consultation...Lip Service c'est tout.
marko001
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 03:43 PMsorry mark 001 is Cllr Mark Winn should have said at bottom of my post
marko001
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 03:12 PMI agree with GOWEST, HS2 will affect the people of Hawkslade and Walton Court as much as anywhere else such as Great Missenden, Wendover I've written letters about this spoken about it in numerous public meetings including at this one mentioned here. For some reason what I said is not reported in this article, it was that the people of Wendover Great Missenden etc are very vocal in their opposition to HS2 and as a result, they will if God Forbid, this line is built, and I really hope it isn't get some mitigation from the devastation HS2 would cause. The people of Hawkslade, Walton Court etc are not for whatever reason vocal on HS2 and are promised no mitigation. I said in the debate that they need to realise that this line will go within yards of their homes mostly on a viaduct surrounded by a wall, as per a letter I had published in the BH, this wall will be like the Berlin Wall surrounding Aylesbury. I want the people of the area to continue to be able to walk their dogs in the fields as I have done in the past and not be prevented to do so by a Berlin type wall. Whilst though, we can all continue to oppose HS2 as much as we like and I share others total opposition to it and I hope sense will see through that we can’t afford this line, which will devastate the Chilterns and the lives of people in places like Hawkslade and Walton Court. We must also take notice that others are equally as determined to press ahead with HS2. If they get their way I for one do not want to think, oh if only we had sat on the HS2 group, the people of Hawkslade and Walton Court might have got some mitigation measures from the noise of 250 mph trains going past their homes or from the horrid view of viaduct surrounding by a wall and security fencing. And it was for this reason, not to jump in bed with HS2 that I will continue to oppose as much as I possibly can, that I voted that ATC should sit on the Groups that are proposed. Not to have done so would have let down the people of Aylesbury. Finally I must say that frankly ideas to also put a bypass where HS2 is proposed to go are bonkers and would only add to the devastation that HS2 would cause. Yes I am one who totally agrees with a bypass we should have had one years ago, but to put it where HS2 is already going to devastate the lives of many is crazy.
QualityMullet
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:58 PMErr, how does a bypass benefit a town economically? Less passing trade seems bad news. And Aylesbury town centre needs all the trade it can get.
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