A RESIDENTS’ group is attempting to forge an alliance to fight the proposed route of the high-speed rail link between Birmingham and Leeds (HS2).
Packington Nook Residents’ Association (PNRA) has written to Leicestershire County Council and North West Leicestershire District Council in a bid to build a consensus.
“We believe our local councils and councillors must join us in taking a stand against this route,” said PNRA chairman Nigel Garnham.
“We will not accept that ‘the route is the route’ and local people must not be subdued into thinking that nothing can be done.
“While alternatives are clearly possible, we want to see our elected bodies working hard for the best interests of local people.”
If the existing proposals are implemented, trains would tear along a track alongside the A42 every few minutes.
In a statement, the PNRA said: “While the Government appears to believe that associating the line to the A42 corridor is the best cost and environmental solution, it is at the same time imposing the worst possible social consequences on the people of Ashby, Packington, Measham and Appleby Magna.”
The group said the line would be so close to Measham that the A42 would have to be moved west.
In a bid to build opposition, the group has drawn the councils’ attention to alternative routes considered in Government engineering reports, particularly one running east of Measham and Packington claimed to cost more but have less impact on residents.
The PNRA has also called on them to be ‘realistic’ and prioritise residents’ fears.
“A relatively minor diversion of the route around Measham and Ashby would make a big difference to a lot of people,” it said.
The PNRA also wants the authorities to question HS2’s business case, promoting regional employment and telecommunications to substitute the presumption that more people will want to commute to London.
