2 Committee visits
Visits made and proposed
26. We have undertaken six highly informative visits
to sites along the proposed route, and to Crossrail, to HS1 in
Kent and to the Arup sound laboratory in central London. The visit
to Crossrail provided useful background on petitioning processes
as well as an opportunity to view a tunnel boring machine on location.
The visit to HS1 was instructive as we were able to see, hear
and travel on UK domestic high-speed trains and experience a high-speed
route in context. Separately, Rt. Hon. Damian Green MP, the Member
for Ashford in Kent, gave us an informative briefing on his perception
of HS1. The visits to sites along the route assisted us greatly
in our understanding of petitioning issues and helped petition
hearings to be substantially more productive and efficient.
27. We reiterate our thanks to our parliamentary
colleagues who accompanied and guided us on visits, to the petitioners
and other local people and businesses who welcomed us warmly notwithstanding
their general disquiet about the high-speed railway, and to the
team, including Terri-Ann Lovelock from HS2 Limited, who managed
our visits, and our driver, Ken Humphries. We appreciate the knowledge,
commitment and contribution of parish councils and other local
representative groups.
28. Following is a table of the visits undertaken
so far. Further visits are planned for after the general election,
including three days of visits to Buckinghamshire, which has the
longest section of the Phase One route of any county.Table:
HS2 Committee visits undertaken to date
| Date
| Visit
|
| 8 July 2014 | Arup sound laboratory
|
| 15 July 2014 | Birmingham Curzon Street to Water Orton and Kingsbury, accompanied by Dan Byles MP and Rt. Hon. Caroline Spelman MP
|
| 16 Sept 2014 | Birmingham Interchange site to Lichfield, accompanied by Rt. Hon. Caroline Spelman MP, Dan Byles MP, Christopher Pincher MP and Michael Fabricant MP
|
| 17 Sept 2014 | Crossrail site at Limmo peninsula, Canning Town
|
| 7—8 Oct 2014 |
South Warwickshire, accompanied by Rt. Hon. Jeremy Wright MP and Mr Jim Cunningham MP, and Mixbury, Oxfordshire
|
| 27 Oct 2014 | South Northamptonshire, accompanied by Andrea Leadsom MP
|
| 2 Dec 2014 | HS1 in Kent
|
| 15 Jan 2015 | Denham, Colne Valley, Harefield and Ruislip, accompanied by Rt. Hon. Dominic Grieve MP and Mr Nick Hurd MP
|
| 5 Mar 2015 | Old Oak Common and Northolt, accompanied by Angie Bray MP, Mr Andy Slaughter MP and Stephen Pound MP
|
|
