Consultation on the proposed high speed rail route (HS2) route ended in January and the final decision on the preferred route for phase 2 of the HS2 project should be announced towards the end of this year.
Although the announcement is still many months away, Tony Rimmer is urging farmers and land owners not to wait until the last moment to consider the implications.
As soon as the route is announced, work will begin on the environmental impact assessment which in turn will lead to a consultation on a draft environmental statement, with a view to subsequently depositing a hybrid bill in the next Parliament.
In terms of safeguarding, HS2 Limited is currently considering timing with a view to seeing whether a safeguarding consultation could commence alongside a final preferred route announcement or as soon as possible thereafter.
Tony suggests that if there is any ownership restructuring or planning permissions required to maximise compensation, then the relevant steps need to be taken now as safeguarding could happen as soon as this autumn/winter or early in 2015.
Please contact either Tony Rimmer, Sam Catling or Sam Starkey on 01829 773000 if you have any queries.