MIPIM 2013: Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham united on HS2

LEADERS from Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds were united at property conference MIPIM as they banged the drum in support of the second phase of the high speed rail project.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said HS2 would solve concerns around freight and passenger capacity.

He said: “If you’re going to widen capacity you need to widen the network. And it would be madness not to build it as high speed. The converse would be the network clogging us to death.”

Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham Council, said the major infrastructure scheme, which will see journey times between the three cities slashed, would “unlock vast potential”.

Countering criticism from protestors that the railway, which will extend the first phase from London to Birmingham to Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, will destroy environments, he said it was estimated HS2 would bring a £65bn boost to the UK economy.

“The effort is worth it, Sir Albert said. “This is a once in a generation opportunity. The cost benefits speak for themselves. HS2 is a crucial step in redressing the north / south divide in the UK.”

Tom Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council, called for an end to the debate around the north/south divide.

“What we can do is shrink the distances between the two and for us the opportunities of being involved in a global network is massive,” Mr Riordan said.

“We’ve got to stop obsessing about London and the South East. We keep the lights on in London (from Yorkshire) through assets like Drax power station.”

The sentiments were echoed by Mr Riordan during an event on the Leeds City Region stand focusing on the relationship between regional cities and London.

Joining Mr Riordan during the panel debate was Sir Edward Lister, the deputy mayor of London.

Sir Edward said he believed regional cities benefited from the success of London and that competition between locations did not benefit economies.

“What’s good for London is generally going to be good for Leeds and vice-versa,” he said.

“All of us have got the same needs. We’re all working with the same challenges around skills, unemployment and regeneration and therefore it’s all about working together.”

Sir Edward added that collaboration was key to enable the supply chain to and from London to remain within the UK rather than going overseas.