At first sight, the re-routing of the HS2 high speed rail link looks like a victory. The line is being adjusted to mitigate the damage inflicted upon Ladbroke, Southam and Burton Green. But think about it.
Firstly there will still be a high speed rail link, with trains moving at a speed which will waste a great deal of energy.
The trains will not stop in the area, so there will be no local economic gain.
There will be a very large public investment when public spending is being slashed. For example funding from Warwickshire County Council for the Connect 2 Kenilworth project, building a bicycle route from Kenilworth to Coventry is being cut – so that the matched Lottery funding also disappears and the project folds – leaving more polluting car traffic.
Development of public transport infrastructure is needed – but not like this. There should be support for rail freight, taking lorries off trunk roads and motorways, and development of local rail services through urban conurbations and rural communities – to undo the Beeching cuts, reduce road traffic and support rural economies.
It is a Machiavellian tactic to make your enemies think they’ve won, when in fact they’ve lost. That’s what’s happened here.
Take a look at the STOP HS2 site.
