Chiltern Society write to the government calling for a halt to HS2 works during Coronavirus pandemic

The society highlight the 'uncertain impacts on national finances and future travelling habits' and 'ongoing safety concerns' with our water supplies in their letter to the Government calling for a halt to works.
Chiltern Society have written to the government calling for a halt to HS2 works during Coronavirus pandemicChiltern Society have written to the government calling for a halt to HS2 works during Coronavirus pandemic
Chiltern Society have written to the government calling for a halt to HS2 works during Coronavirus pandemic

The charity, which is dedicated to conserving the beauty of the Chilterns has hit out at HS2.

They have written to the Government to express views that HS2 should not proceed any further during the Covid-19 situation, given the uncertain impacts on the UK's national finances and future travelling habits.

They have also reiterated ongoing safety concerns regarding the Chiltern Tunnel and the huge demand on water supplies that would be required should the project proceed.

They are now urging the Government to delay any further proceedings until the unprecedented health crisis has been resolved and circumstances are re-evaluated.

In a letter written by the board of trustees, they wrote:

"We are writing to you again regarding HS2, as there now seems to be a real possibility that Notice to Proceed may be issued during the current crisis, without proper examination of the revised business case and demonstration of management competence which should accompany this.

"Such a decision would be completely unjustifiable, given the uncertain impacts of this crisis on the national finances, and future travelling habits. You may remember that the Society has serious safety concerns regarding the Chiltern Tunnel, which we discussed with you in the Autumn of 2018.

"We have been attempting to obtain further information from HS2, in particular a safety report which they commissioned, using FoI legislation1 . We referred these requests to the Information Commissioner in July 2019, and although they began an investigation last November, we have yet to receive any response from the ICO.

"Clearly HS2 are unwilling to open up this issue for discussion, or to publicly defend their safety case for the tunnel. An additional problem has recently emerged, regarding the supply of water needed for the Chiltern Tunnel TBMs.

"This is estimated at between 5 & 8m litres/day, and Affinity Water have stated that they are unable to supply this, due to ongoing problems with drought and over abstraction in the Chilterns.2 The original concerns – pollution of the Chiltern Aquifer, and the risk posed to the River Misbourne, still remain.

"To summarise, it is not clear that the Chiltern Tunnel can be constructed, or what environmental damage would result from its construction, or whether the completed tunnel could safely accommodate the frequency of services which have been used to justify the business case.

"Might it be possible to publicise these concerns, in an effort to (at least) delay any attempt to grant ‘Notice to Proceed’ until the current crisis is resolved?"

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