We aim to provide information for people in Polesworth and the surrounding villages who want to know more about the impacts of HS2 and the Y route.

The Government has announced that the HS2 Leeds route will cut through our area.  Maps can be seen here on the Borough Council website: http://www.northwarks.gov.uk/info/200377/high_speed_rail/958/high_speed_rail_hs2

*********Large scale maps are available in Polesworth library**************

The line will cross under the M42 from the Jn10 motorway service station surfacing near Birchmoor and following the south side of the motorway until it reaches the Leicestershire border. The M42 is to be re-routed closer to Birchmoor while the line is built.

Our Action Group is extremely worried about the impact that the train line will have on our environment, businesses, residents and their homes.

It is clear from the way that the Government and HS2 Ltd has acted on Phase 1 of the route, that decent mitigation of the trainline’s impacts will only be possible if communities fight for it. The Government’s interest seems to be in building HS2 as cheaply as possible, not in securing the best outcome for those negatively affected.

What is HS2 and the Y route?

HS2 is High Speed 2, the Government’s planned £32 billion ultra high speed rail line from London to Birmingham ending in Lichfield.  The Y route is the second phase of the rail line which will go to Leeds and Manchester.

Unfortunately, as many indpendent groups and reports have discovered, HS2 is a white elephant in the making.  In April 2012 the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee uncovered the fact that the Government’s own Major Projects Authority watchdog has put a “Amber/Red warning” on the HS2 project.  It’s only one step away from the red light.  Yet the Government won’t release the report, a E-Petition has been launched calling for the report’s publication, you can sign it here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34095

The Y route will run from near Water Orton along the M42 corridor through our villages to the East Midlands before heading up to Leeds.  The Government is expected to announce the Y route in January 2013.  To find out more go to our facts and figures page.

It is still vitally important that you continue to talk to friends and relatives all over the country to make them aware what their taxes are being spent on now in the face of so many other public spending cuts.