HS2 axing a devastating blow, Cheshire business leader says

Scrapping the northern leg of the HS2 high speed rail link has been branded an "utter disgrace" by a business group in Cheshire.

The planned route from Birmingham to Manchester would have gone through Staffordshire and Cheshire.

Its axing is a "devastating blow" for Crewe, said Paul Colman, chief executive of the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce.

"Business confidence was at an all-time high. Now that is shattered," he said.

The plans for Crewe, a name synonymous with the railway industry since the 19th Century, included a new station in the town.

HS2 Ltd had suggested the scheme would mean £180m in regeneration and investment schemes in and around the area.

Now however, Mr Colman said the area would have to "look at ways of picking itself up" along with working with local firms on a plan to bring other investment in.

About £205m has already been spent on buying land and property between Birmingham and Manchester, HS2 Ltd confirmed.

One deal involved Phil Robinson, from Madeley, who sold his mother's bungalow to the firm in 2017.

Mr Robinson has now questioned the impact the scheme's cancellation would have on homes like that.

"No matter what anyone says, they will be blighted because the government could turn around in five, 10 or 15 years and say, 'Right we are going to finish the railway line'," he added.

"Who is going to want to buy a house knowing at some point in the future they could lose it?."

Announcing the cancellation of the northern leg at the Conservative's party conference, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged billions of pounds for other transport projects across the country.

They include upgrading the M6, reopening the closed Stoke-on-Trent-to-Leek railway line and the building of a new station at Meir, Stoke-on-Trent.

Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant, an outspoken critic of HS2, has welcomed the scheme's cancellation.

"This announcement ends years of worry for my constituents to the north of Lichfield who would have been badly affected by the construction," he said.

The project had already had "a significant, irreversible impact on this county", Staffordshire County Council leader Alan White said.

Mr White said he had opposed it "from the outset" but he now wanted the first phase finished to make sure "the promised shorter journey times for residents are delivered".

Many people living in Staffordshire who spoke to the BBC after the announcement said they supported the cancellation of the HS2 link to Manchester.

"It shouldn't have happened from the start, it's just trashed a big part of the countryside and unfortunate they kept persisting," Karen Mackintosh, in Stoke-on-Trent, told Radio Stoke.

Mick Newman, in Lichfield, said he did not think the project should have been started in the first place.

"The damage is done for Lichfield, if you drive round the outskirts of Lichfield, it's terrible. It hasn't done the city any good," he added.

Carole Wood, also from Lichfield, said she was concerned at the number of trees which were cut down to make way for the line's construction.

"If you cancel it, all this awful thing to the trees is a waste of time, they've flattened so much and I don't think there's any train lines in the area. A bit of a white elephant," she added.

Crewe had big plans for HS2. Cheshire East Council, run by a Labour-Independent coalition, said the scheme would have unlocked thousands of jobs and homes.

It has now said its growth plans would no longer be viable.

Officials at the Department for Transport said Crewe would continue to be an important junction on the West Coast Mainline and they would focus on improving the station for the conventional network.

When the delays to HS2 were announced earlier this year, some people I spoke to in the town said they expected HS2 wouldn't come to Crewe at all. Now they have been proved right.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]