Campaigners battling to stop a high-speed rail line through Lichfield have said their visit to Westminster to lobby MPs gave decision makers food for thought.
Members of the Lichfield Action Group joined the Stop HS2 campaigners to raise their concerns about the line to MPs, including members of the transport select committee.
They also heard from speakers, including former executive director of the Strategic Rail Authority, Chris Stokes, who said:
“A year ago if you had asked me I would have been fully supportive of HS2, but to echo John Maynard Keynes, when the facts change, I change my mind.”
Professor Mike Geddes of Warwick Business School added that HS2 was the wrong way to regenerate the north of the country.
Joe Rukin from Stop HS2 – one of those who organised the event – said he hoped some of the issues highlighted would lead to greater scrutiny of the scheme.
He explained:
“The problem with high speed rail is that it sounds like a really good idea. Like Chris Stokes, I thought it was at first, but then I took the time to find out the facts.
“The Lobby Day event was all about getting those facts across to Members of Parliament. It is fair to say that the ones who were hearing those facts for the first time were truly shocked and this will lead to greater scrutiny of the £34bn project.”
Andrea Leadsom MP, who hosted the event, added:
“I am really pleased that people got the chance to air their views to a number of members of Parliament and Minsters. There were some excellent points made in the presentations which raise significant questions about HS2.
“Britain is too small and congested an island to accommodate such an insensitive project.”
