HS2 Bill Committee
High Speed Rail Bill Select Committee: Statement by Chair on Petitions 783 and 784
30 October 2014
CHAIR: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the HS2 Select Committee session. Today we hear from a number of petitioners, beginning with Ian and Elizabeth, represented by Mr Ian Strachan.
Before we start, we have an interim announcement by way of confirmation of our view of two petitions. Petitions 783 and 784 were from Mr and Mrs Sadler and their elderly mother, Mrs Doreen Round. They have a farmhouse with two dwellings and a farm very near to the proposed link to the West Coast Mainline, but they do not want to leave the area. We sympathise with their situation and we would encourage them to explore with the local authority whether or not there is a planning option for a new build home that would not involve the demolition of their current dwelling, which seems to us the nub of the issue between them and HS2, and we think they ought to be doing that now, before we consider any further action, if appropriate.