Without any evidence of consultation, serious consideration of alternatives, or interest in the environmental implications, the UK Government is pushing ahead a 'hybrid bill' (affecting the public and commerce alike) to determine the proposed route of the HS2 (high speed train linking Northern and Southern cities) once and for all.
We, the public, know this is a white elephant because only the most wealthy commuters would ever pay prices way out of reach for the average traveller - and the reason the Government want to build it is so that they look trendy to the rest of Europe (and, of course, The World!) Never mind the devastation to the environment, destruction of landscape, and the dismay of communities all along the route which cuts through many parts of the country once thought to be jewels in England's green crown.
We, the public, know this is a white elephant because only the most wealthy commuters would ever pay prices way out of reach for the average traveller - and the reason the Government want to build it is so that they look trendy to the rest of Europe (and, of course, The World!) Never mind the devastation to the environment, destruction of landscape, and the dismay of communities all along the route which cuts through many parts of the country once thought to be jewels in England's green crown.
The Government published an Environmental Statement of around 50,000 pages and gave everyone just 42 working days to respond to it. "Equates to reading around 1,000 pages of the document every day," noted Tom Day of Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, who are awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on the Government's decision NOT to carry out a Strategic Environmental Survey (SEA) during the consultation process.
Stories are behind the pictures here.
Stories are behind the pictures here.
If this whole operation smells to you of more under-the-counter subsidy exchanges and political-commercial corruption, tell your MP. Whether or not s/he takes any notice of you, your call for common sense will be recorded.
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