Furious Minister says HS2 is ‘mistreating and pressurising residents’: Attorney General claims high-speed rail link has become a threat to mental health
- HS2 bosses have been blasted by a Minister for mistreating homeowners
- Jeremy Wright raised fears the line was affecting people’s mental health
- David Cameron is determined to press ahead with the £55.7 billion venture
Criticism: Attorney General Jeremy Wright has hit out at HS2 bosses claiming they have mistreated homeowners
Bosses of the controversial HS2 high-speed railway scheme have been blasted by a Cabinet Minister for mistreating anxious homeowners who live along the planned route.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright even raised fears that the line, designed in its first phase to reduce journey times between London and Birmingham, was affecting his constituents’ mental health.
He said: ‘HS2 is having a huge psychological effect on many of those I represent who live in the path of this project.’
The intervention by Mr Wright, the Government’s top legal adviser, will embarrass Prime Minister David Cameron, who is determined to press ahead with the £55.7 billion venture.
Mr Wright, whose Warwickshire constituency will be bisected by the railway, condemned the way HS2 Ltd – the company overseeing the scheme – was dealing with some people affected by the proposals.
He accused the firm which will build the 225mph line of blocking requests for information and even sending letters to deceased relatives of local people.
In a letter to a Commons inquiry into the project, he wrote: ‘This poor administration causes great anger and does little to allay the feeling that HS2 Ltd do not care about the people whose lives have been turned upside down.’
Mr Wright also rebuked the company for its treatment of residents who had attempted to suggest route alterations, tunnels or deeper cuttings to lessen the line’s impact in certain places.
Key information was not available, he said, and in one case, HS2 took more than 18 months to explain why a proposal had been rejected – only fully responding after he had written personally to the managing director.
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Mr Wright said: ‘This was profoundly unacceptable.’ As a result of such delays, concerned residents had taken petitions to a previous inquiry by a committee of MPs – only for last-gasp compensation offers to be made in the corridor outside the meeting room before proceedings started, he said.
Mr Wright added: ‘The ‘‘corridor deals’’ were certainly unsatisfactory in terms of the way in which they put pressure on individual constituents to reach a settlement.’
He went on: ‘I have also received complaints from constituents who have received communications from HS2 Ltd addressed to a deceased relative or to ‘‘the owner-occupier’’ when there has already been extensive communication with the named individual.’
Fighting back: One of the anti-HS2 protests. Bosses of the controversial high-speed railway scheme have been blasted for mistreating anxious homeowners
Last night, HS2 Ltd defended its consultation procedures, including making deals with homeowners just before they were due to address MPs.
A spokesman said: ‘Over the last few years, we have held thousands of meetings with residents, community groups and local authorities up and down the line to inform and reassure people.
‘In many cases, we were able to resolve people’s concerns before they appeared at the Select Committee. We feel that this was the right thing to do, and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders to find a way forward that allows us to build and operate HS2 with as little disruption as possible.’
Mr Wright’s complaints come in the wake of a Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report last year which rebuked HS2 for its treatment of people in a Staffordshire hamlet and ordered it to pay them thousands of pounds in compensation.
The new line will be built from London, reaching Birmingham in 2026 before being extended to Manchester and Leeds by 2033. Construction is due to begin next year.
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