Concerns mount over future of HS2 in the East Midlands
There is heightened concern about the future of HS2 in the East Midlands after another open letter was sent to the Government calling for “legal certainty” that the huge rail project will go ahead.
Ian Morgan, the chair of both the East Midlands HS2 Business Advisory Group and the Chamber of Commerce for the East Midlands, has written an open letter setting out reasons for supporting HS2 in the East Midlands.
The letter follows a similar missive from Midlands Connect in January, and follows the publishing last week of a report from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee called Rethinking High Speed 2, which roundly criticised Government for its handling of the biggest rail investment programme in the UK since Victorian times.
While Rethinking High Speed 2 did not suggest that the project should be axed, it failed to mention Toton, Chesterfield or Staveley at all.
How Toton would look
Responding to this, Morgan said that recent reports “have fundamentally misunderstood, or even ignored completely, the opportunities HS2 creates”, adding that “delivered in full, it will be transformational for the East Midlands economy”.
Under the current plan, there would be a trains-maintenance depot at Staveley, Chesterfield would be one of the station stops and there would be a station hub at Toton, which would allow massive regeneration of the surrounding area.
Morgan said: “[HS2] will better connect us to other major hubs across the UK and free up vital capacity on the wider road and rail networks, keeping our businesses competitive.”
He also mentions how having Toton as a focal point had “brought businesses and academia together like never before” to “look at future skills development and spurred further investment in the region”.
While agreeing that, as with any major infrastructure project, costs need to be controlled, Morgan warned that the East Midlands must not allow itself to be drawn into an ‘either/or’ debate over HS2 and future infrastructure investment, describing the project as “a catalyst for a successful East Midlands for decades to come”.
The legal part of the planning process for the Eastern Leg of HS2 Phase 2B has yet to be finalised by Government, however, the Treasury has committed £2m to the East Midlands Development Corporation to develop a strategic plan for an area including Toton, the soon-to-be-decommissioned Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station and East Midlands Airport.
