October 27th 2023
Cheshire East Council is seeking compensation of HS2 cancellation
The local authority in the north of England is demanding over £11m from the government after they invested their own money into the rail megaproject.
Earlier this year the HS2 was proposed to be the UK’s zero carbon alternative for long distance travel, but, at the Conservative party’s political conference last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the government would be scrapping the northern leg due to soaring costs.
However, this decision was not well received. Councils across the north of England have been complaining that by scrapping HS2 businesses and jobs will be lost.
Against this backdrop, there is one local authority who have publicly expressed their frustration. This week, Cheshire East Council wrote to rail minister Huw Merriman and communities secretary Michael Give seeking compensation after they forked out £11.2m to help deliver the northern leg of the HS2 project.
The local authority has also asked for a range of transport improvements for Crewe and nearby areas.
‘Cheshire East would have been a major beneficiary from HS2,’ said Cheshire East Council Leader Sam Corcoran. ‘But for Crewe itself – sitting at the centre of the HS2 phase 2 network – HS2 was the catalyst to reverse its fortunes and deliver on the levelling up agenda, and it is arguably the biggest loser from the HS2 cancellation and Network North plans.’
Cllr Corcoran also added that the government’s decision was already hitting developers’ confidence in the area, stating that 4,500 homes and 5,000 new jobs would be lost as a result.
Cllr Corcoran said: ‘The expected £750m boost HS2 would have had on the local economy will not be realised, and what we will now see because of this decision by [the] government is in fact levelling down and not levelling up.’
Image: QuinceCreative
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