Following Royal Assent of the HS2 Phase One: High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Bill, Wendover Parish Council sought to build support within government and Parliament for a Short-Mined Tunnel (at Wendover) that could be delivered within existing Bill limits, and would protect the local area from the operational noise of the HS2 Phase One trains, prevent much of the expected severe construction impact, and ensure that the Chilterns AONB could remain largely intact close to Wendover.
Approach
TFA positioned the Wendover Short Mined Tunnel as an innovative design-ready solution that supported the principle and objectives of HS2 Phase One, reduced the capital cost of the project, and could be delivered without affecting the objectives and purpose of the HS2 project. Engagement programme activity included face-to-face meetings with high-level Ministerial and Special Adviser policy influencers; building a coalition of support amongst environment and transport policy interest Parliamentarians and Chilterns AONB constituency MPs; and arranging Parliamentary site visits to Wendover.
Results
TFA’s ongoing intensive engagement activity programme has (to date) prompted the Department for Transport to instruct the Infrastructure Planning Authority (IPA) to work with the department to review the Wendover Short Mined Tunnel proposal in a separate, dedicated exercise focusing on whether HS2 Ltd and the DfT had properly and appropriately considered the Wendover Short Mined Tunnel proposal.
