09 Nov 2021
Work by HS2 contractors continues to calculate what the enormous total environmental and financial cost of building HS2 phase 2b (Crewe to Manchester) will be.
With COP 26 highlighting the need for effective action to be taken now to cut carbon emissions and when even the carbon cost of small road bypass schemes are being questioned, the massive overall environmental damage of HS2, including loss of valuable countryside, woodland and wildlife and especially the huge loss of carbon to the atmosphere, surely has to trigger a rethink of the HS2 project.
HS2 reply that they will plant 7 million trees to offset carbon loss. Not all of these will survive, but those that do will only be capturing significant quantities of carbon in 2040s – too late to contribute to Carbon Net Zero by 2050. We can’t afford the cost and damage of this white elephant.
Investment in upgrading our current rail infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of HS2 would deliver benefits for many many more residents of Cheshire and cut the environmental damage that HS2 would cause. Now is the time for Cheshire residents to lobby politicians for these changes.
Mike Slater
Chairman Mid Cheshire against HS2
