We have received the following update from the Buckinghamshire County Council HS2 team:
As well as the Select Committee process for the original Hybrid Bill continuing, the first set
of Additional Provisions – changes to the Bill – have now been deposited in Parliament and a
separate petitioning period for those changes has now started. This update will include
details of where to find the Additional Provision documents, the progress of the Select
Committee and the future visit of the Select Committee to Buckinghamshire.
Select Committee
The Select Committee is now in recess for party conferences. The Committee will
recommence on the 14 October when Staffordshire County Council will be the first of the
Staffordshire petitions to be heard. In anticipation of future hearings, on the 16 September
the Committee visited the Birmingham to Lichfield area, this was followed by a visit on the
17 September to the Crossrail Tunnels.
The Committee has not yet announced the outcomes of petitions it has already heard
however the Chairman did make a statement on the 10 September which made it clear that
the Committee is keen to see resolution between parties. That statement can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/hs2/oral-evidence/100914_Uncorrected_Transcript_Morning.pdf We anticipate that a new schedule for petitions following the 14 October will be released soon.
Additional provisions
The First set of Additional Provisions (APs) to the Hybrid Bill has now been deposited. A
summary of these amendments can be found at https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/hs2/140908_Explanatory_Memo_AP1_v02.pdf. These APs include 22 that affect
Buckinghamshire. The majority of these are further land that is required for utility works
and minor changes to planned highways and rights of ways works. If these APs affect you
directly you should have already been informed by the promoter however we urge you to
review these to ensure that you are not.
The full documentation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hs2-additional-provision-september-2014-environmental-statement. Petitions against the additional provisions can be
deposited from 19 September until the 17 October 2014. The consultation period on the
supplementary environmental statement accompanied the AP will close on the 14
November 2014. Details on how to petition can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation/current-bills/hybrid-bills/hybrid-bills-faqs/with the toolkit for
petitioning at https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/hs2/Commons-hybrid-Bill-Petitioning-Kit-2014-15-v7.pdf. BCC is reviewing which points require further petitioning and will release
this shortly.
We have set out further information on our website including where to find the documents.
This is located at https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/environment/hs2/consultations/.
HS2 Select Committee visits to Buckinghamshire
As part of the Select Committee process the Committee is doing site visits along the line to the areas affected. In anticipation of this the County Council with the District Councils is looking to prepare a draft agenda to send through to the promoter to attempt to influence the visit. We have gathered feedback from our Community events over the last few weeks and will be using this as a guide for our draft.
Principally we are considering which sites should be visited, affected transport routes that the Committee could use and suggestions as to the role the public could have during these visits.
An example of a Select Committee visit timetable can be found at https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/hs2/revised-016-September-2014-Select-Committee-Site-visit-itinerary-FINAL.pdf.
Open day at Stoke Mandeville Old Church Site (St Mary’s)
The Bucks Archaeological Society is organising an open day at the Stoke Mandeville old church site on Sunday 19 October. Shuttle buses will run from Stoke Mandeville Combined School commencing at 11.00am on the day. Please note there is no private car access to the site. This site will be affected by the current proposals for HS2.
Buckinghamshire HS2 Summit 8th October 2014
The Summit will be held on the 8 October between 10.00-13.00 at the Oculus, Aylesbury Vale District Council, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury. This event is open to all residents and community groups across Buckinghamshire, and will cover a number of countywide concerns including appearing before the Select Committee and collecting evidence.
Booking to attend this event is essential and there are only a very small number of spaces remaining. Please email HS2Blueprint@buckscc.gov.uk to register. If you have registered to attend, you should have received a confirmation email.
Buckinghamshire County Council HS2 Website
We have now launched our new website which can be found at http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/hs2. We are keen to have feedback on this so that we can ensure it is a useful tool for both people who have a limited knowledge of HS2 as well as those who are more actively involved.
Property compensation consultation
As mentioned in previous updates, HS2 Ltd is currently consulting on the most recent property compensation package and the consultation will be open until the 30 September. The Buckinghamshire County Council response is available at http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/media/2444667/HS2-Property-Compensation-Consulation-BCC-2014.pdf.
Buckinghamshire County Council HS2 team:
Jackie Copcutt jcopcutt@buckscc.gov.uk Tel: 01296 383793
Alex Day alexday@buckscc.gov.uk Tel: 01296 382409
HS2 Blueprint Mailbox HS2Blueprint@buckscc.gov.uk