Friday 9 December 2016

HS2 Limited spends £280,000 on pro-HS2 propaganda to 7 year old Children in HS2 Affected communities

In a move which mimicks the world of George Orwell, HS2 Limited has awarded a £280,000 contract to a London based consulting company to target pro-HS2 propaganda at primary school children aged 7 as well as Secondary School students in the very communities affected by the HS2 route. At the very time these same communities are being consulted about the many objections to the route, schools in Wakefield are being solicited on behalf of HS2 to promote the scheme. Since anyone of any age can reply to the consultation, this is a clear breach of the consultation by HS2 Limited. Children in Wakefield district whose families are facing the demolition of their homes are invited to make the fastest train using a balloon. Older Children are given a project to plan a Zoom Train route and calculate the cost saving of demolishing peoples homes compared to tunnelling underground. It is outrageous that Wakefield Council which has voted to oppose HS2 should be party to promoting corporate propaganda aimed at indoctrinating children while parents and Grandparents are lobbying to protect their communities and families from the same destructive project. If this wasn't so sinister and unacceptable it would be funny, but to the hundreds of families facing enforced relocation by HS2 and the thousands being financially blighted and facing years of noise and construction pollution it is anything but a joke.


Wednesday 7 December 2016

How HS2 aims to save billions by not tunnelling in Yorkshire

As a result of the decision by BBC Radio Sheffield to exclude Yorkshire Against HS2 from the key HS2 Debate on December 1st in Sheffield in preference to pro-HS2 business & community groups, a key fact was prevented from coming into the public domain. Namely that the planned amount of tunnelling on the new M18 Eastern Route has been halved from 4% to 2% of the route. It is worth reminding ourselves that the "new" route is an old proposal from 2009 called "East of Rotherham" and was rejected by HS2 Limited themselves in 2011 due to the high costs, high impacts and low connectivity compared to other routes including the previously recommended Meadowhall route which HS2 Limited advocated between 2012-2016. (This route is not dead, and as it is less impactful and less costly & gives higher connectivity it may well be readopted)  So compare the 2% under tunnel on the M18 Eastern Route proposal with the 17% of tunnel on the London-Birmingham Leg (a total of 54km of tunnel costing £5 billion) with the 24% of tunnel on the Birmingham to Manchester Leg (total of 32km costing £3billion) with the mere 5km (2%). This tunnel at Woodlesford was the result of a 3 year campaign against the proposed Viaduct. Also remember that a proposed 2km length of tunnel under Hickleton which was including in the East of Rotherham plan from 2009-11 was dropped from the resurrected proposal.  The claimed £768m saving from the M18 Eastern Route would be swallowed by the necessary mitigation tunnels needed to protect communities in Mexborough, Bramley, Crofton and Hickleton amongst others which would add a minimum of £800m to the costs of the proposal, wiping out the one off saving of £300m from not building a HS2 station in Sheffield at Meadowhall.




Indeed if the level of tunnel mitigation offered on the London to Birmingham or Birmingham to Manchester routes was provided to Yorkshire communities it would add another £4 billion to the cost of construction as tunnels cost £100m per Km. Yorkshire people would say that Yorkshire landscape rivals the Chilterns in beauty and Yorkshire homes are as important as those in London,Birmingham or Manchester.