Mike O'Brien

Packed meeting on High Speed Rail

Hundreds of people packed Coleshill Town Hall on Tuesday night 16th March for the first meeting in the country on the proposals for a new High Speed Railway link from London to Birmingham.  The meeting was called by Mike O’Brien MP as soon as he heard about the proposals.  The route goes through the Coleshill, Water Orton and Gilson area and people are concerned about the impact on local villages.

In a vote at the end of the meeting views were divided with 117 opposed to the project, whereas 98 might support it with modifications, 1 supported it on the current route, and about a dozen said they would want more information before a decision was made. 

Mike said, “I heard about the route on last week and volunteers worked hard to put out 4,000 leaflets to local people telling them about the proposal and the meeting.  We did not know how many would turn up.  It was packed even before the scheduled start time.  We were in danger of breaching fire regulations so had to turn people away.  Another meeting will be organised.  Those who attended the meeting asked serious questions and we had a very constructive discussion.”

The MP explained the proposal and took questions for an hour and a half.  The proposal is for a new railway station near Coleshill called Birmingham Exchange between the Stone Bridge Island and the Coleshill Island of the M6.  It will have links to London in 45 minutes.  The line then goes north on the west side of the M42 before splitting with a route to Birmingham and one to the north.   The northern route cuts close to Gilson and Middleton.  The Birmingham link will require 9 houses in Water Orton to go before the track goes into Birmingham.

Mike said, ”I want to seek modifications to the route as part of the government’s consultation.  I would prefer the current Coventry to Birmingham line to be used, rather than the complex construction of ramps and tunnels proposed in the ARUP plans.  If the proposed route ends up as the option then it must be altered where it hits the villages of Water Orton, Gilson and Middleton.”

The High Speed Railway was announced by Lord Adonis on 11^th March, although the public consultation on the route will not start until the autumn.

The HSR is not due to begin building until 2017 with an opening date of 2026.  It aims to provide an economic boost to the country with a more environmentally-friendly mode of transport than roads and one which should create 10,000 jobs.  Two new stations will built, the overall project will cost £25 billion over 60 years with a cost to the government of £12 billion over sixty years.

The MP also welcomed an Exceptional Hardship Scheme for those whose homes are blighted and cannot wait until the project is completed to get help. Mike said later, “One couple had recently put their house on the market and now it has a proposed railway nearby which will affect the value.  There is a proposal for an exceptional hardship payment where someone needs to move for a new job or for reasons of illness.”

Mike said, "This was the first consultation meeting on High Speed Rail. Residents were grateful that I had organised the meeting so quickly.”

Mike O’Brien said that he would meet with the company promoting the project to raise with them a number of questions put forward by villagers.