A CONCERNED resident in Lostock Green is urging people to have their say on HS2 before a consultation closes next month.

Rosalind Todhunter says the consultation is ‘an opportunity to influence and mitigate’ the effects of the high-speed train line, which she says will have an ‘enormous’ impact on Cheshire communities.

She explained: “HS2 is a very important local topic and many people are still not aware that our patch of Cheshire is slowly sleepwalking into an HS2 nightmare without any benefits from HS2.

“HS2 will have a very negative impact on Northwich, Knutsford and surrounding communities.

“For example, in my parish of Lach Dennis and Lostock Green, there are 19 footpaths to be temporary and/or permanently stopped or diverted.

“How do we get out of Lostock Green to the shops, doctors, schools etc, or even to catch a slow-speed train to Manchester, let alone get to a HS2 station sometime in the future?

“All communities along the route will also have their unfair share of HS2 impacts on their travel connectivity, cohesion, environments.

“And vitally there is a deadline to be met, a closing date of March 31, for comments from anyone on the effects of HS2 on our environments and communities.

“How many people know this HS2 Phase 2b Environmental Consultation even exists?

“How many people know there’s still an opportunity to influence and mitigate the impact of this enormous, time consuming, carbon consuming, rail construction project on their lives, environments and communities for years to come?

For information on the consultation, visit gov.uk/government/consultations/hs2-phase-2b-crewe-manchester-environmental-statement-consultation.

HS2 proposes a ‘faster way of travel’, ‘speeds of up to 250mph’ and a ‘reduction in journey times’.

The construction of the full network is now estimated to cost somewhere between £98 billion and £106 billion.

HS2 Phase 1 will link London to Birmingham and construction started in September 2020.

Phase 2a will link Birmingham with Crewe, while Phase 2b will link Crewe with Manchester.

A HS2 spokesperson said: "We take the environmental cost of construction very seriously, which is why we’re delivering an unprecedented programme of tree planting and habitat creation right along the route of the new railway.

"On the Crewe–Manchester section of HS2 we aim to deliver a net gain in biodiversity, ensuring we leave the landscape more diverse than it was before construction.

"By providing a cleaner, greener way to travel, HS2 will help cut the number of cars and lorries on our roads, cut demand for domestic flights, and help the country’s push to reduce carbon emissions. 

"We encourage local communities to have their say on the proposals for the railway by responding to the public consultation on the Environmental Statement by March 31, 2022.”