THE COMMITTEE of MPs considering the financing Bill for HS2 is taking evidence today which includes the views of protestors who want the project to be scrapped, while the DfT has announced that the proposed route of Phase 1 between London and Birmingham is to be safeguarded.
The move protects the route from future development which might conflict with the planned High Speed line.
It will also allow residents near the route from London to the West Midlands to approach the Government to buy their property under statutory Blight procedures. The DfT said successful applicants would receive the 'unblighted' open market value of their property, plus 10 per cent (this is capped at £47,000) and also their moving costs.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "HS2 is moving from the drawing board towards construction. Safeguarding is an important milestone for homeowners and for planning purposes. It shows we are determined to deliver this once-in-a generation opportunity to drive growth, generate jobs, and secure our country’s future prosperity.
"I understand the distress of those who live along the line of route and can assure people that we will process claims to purchase their property swiftly so that those who qualify can move as quickly as possible.
"In the meantime we will also continue purchasing properties of those in exceptional hardship ahead of consulting on a comprehensive package of long term discretionary compensation measures."
Until now the only mechanism through which the Government bought properties on or near the HS2 route had been through the Exceptional Hardship Scheme for owner occupiers who could demonstrate an urgent need to sell.
From today, owner occupiers within the safeguarded area – typically a corridor 120 metres wide – can now serve a Blight Notice on the Government asking that their home be purchased from them.
The DfT also said that 'the Government wants to introduce a full compensation scheme that is more generous than the law requires, and that it will be reconsulting on a package shortly'. This follows the only High Court defeat for the Government when the project was challenged by opponents last December. The court ordered that compensation should be looked at again, but ruled against the challengers on another nine issues.
However, the project's opponents are telling the Bill committee today that the scheme is still unnecessary and should be scrapped. They will argue against the 'Paving' Bill now being discussed which, if passed, will open the door to immediate funding for the next stage of the project's development.
Joe Rukin of StopHS2 said: "Notwithstanding political reasons for having an early vote on HS2, this Bill appears to be solely aimed at allowing the costs of HS2 to continue to spiral, without transparent financial accountability. Initial cost estimates from the DfT showed that HS2 would require £750 million worth of spend prior to the next General Election, but the most recent estimates have been put in the region of £1.1 billion. The Bill asks for an unspecified amount of taxpayers money to be spent on developing HS2, with no accounts to be presented until after the next election."