Plans for the development of Britain’s new high speed railway between the Midlands and the North moved a step closer today (11 October 2018), as HS2 Ltd revealed more detailed design proposals.
Construction of the Phase One route between Birmingham and London is now well underway with 7,000 jobs already supported through the project. When construction peaks, as the full network progresses, that figure is forecast to rise to 30,000.
This morning two new public consultations were launched on the Phase 2b route, which will serve communities between the West Midlands, Manchester and Leeds. The 10 week consultations, which close on 21 December, will give communities the opportunity to formally respond to HS2 Ltd’s designs and proposed mitigation measures for the Phase 2b route. Responses are invited from the public on HS2 Ltd’s:
- working draft Environmental Statement, which describes the design of the railway and reports on the impacts of its construction and operation, alongside the measures proposed to reduce and monitor these impacts; and
- the working draft Equality Impact Assessment Report, which considers the potential effects of the construction and operation of the railway on people with protected characteristics.
The public consultations will be supported by a programme of community events, including an event in Leeds city centre on Saturday 24 November at The Met Hotel, King Street, LS1 2HQ.
Leeds City Council Leader Councillor Judith Blake commented:
“HS2 will be transformational for Leeds and the region. It will bring many thousands of jobs: not just during construction as Birmingham is already proving, but alongside our growth strategy it will deliver enormous economic benefits, huge improvements in connectivity and significant further numbers of future jobs locally.
“It is imperative however that HS2 is planned and delivered in a way that maximises its potential for Leeds while minimising its disruption to the city. This is an extremely important opportunity for people living near to the planned route or indeed anyone who is interested to have their say on the emerging plans and I would urge them to do so to help HS2 Ltd get it right.”
As South Leeds Life has previously reported, the HS2 line is due to be built next to the existing Woodlesford line running through Hunslet, emerging near the junction of Dewsbury Road and Jack Lane onto a viaduct and into a new elevated station, joined across the river to the exiting Leeds station.
