HS2 Community Update

Ahead of Royal Assent, as the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill progresses through its final stages in Parliament, HS2 Ltd have sent out a community update newsletter to all affected residents in South Northamptonshire. As part of their commitment to keep local communities updated with engagement activity, the newsletter introduces Matt Hadlington – our area’s Senior Community Engagement Manager – and gives an overview of recent progress on preparatory works for the project. You can read HS2 Ltd’s update here.

As ever, my office and I remain the best point of contact for anyone in South Northamptonshire who has questions or concerns about any aspect of the construction or operation of HS2. Many of you will have met or spoken with Tommy Gilchrist, my Parliamentary Assistant, and he is happy to assist you any way that he can. You can reach him at tommy.gilchrist@parliament.uk.

In addition to supporting local residents through the Lords’ Select Committee petitioning process and the Need To Sell property scheme, I have continued to push for the best compensation and mitigation for all of my affected constituents. Before the end of the year I held meetings with Gareth Epps – the independent HS2 Construction Commissioner – and HS2 Ltd’s Community Engagement team including Matt Hadlington. It was an excellent opportunity to put some of the key concerns that people in South Northamptonshire have raised with me to HS2 Ltd including engagement with Parish Councils over traffic management plans, the visibility and accessibility of the Construction Commissioner, and enforcement of construction times especially during evenings and weekends. Tommy and I also continue to attend the HS2 Liaison Committee in South Northants, as well as the Compensation & Mitigation Forum and MP Line of Route briefings in Parliament.

To stay updated on HS2 and other news in South Northamptonshire, please sign up to my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cuN8ur