Following the recent announcement with regard to HS2 Phase 2A (Faddiley to Crewe), HS2 Ltd are now aiming to deposit the Phase 2A Hybrid Bill in Parliament in 2017 with the aim to have Royal Assent granted by the end of 2019 and this will allow construction to begin in 2020.
HS2 Ltd has now appointed Mouchel as a lead contractor for the land referencing work. Rostons have been informed that Mouchel have already started to approach some land occupiers which have been identified for winter environmental survey work, such as for over wintering bird populations and some reptiles. The environmental surveys will be contracted to Arup, Environmental Resources Management and Reading Agricultural Consultants.
HS2 Ltd currently has no statutory or compulsory purchase powers at this stage. However, they will therefore be looking to secure agreement from landowners and occupiers to take access using licence agreements similar to those that were used in phase 1.
Depending upon the type of environmental survey and the activities on the land will depend on the payments due to landowners and occupiers.
Reading Agricultural Consultants have been appointed by HS2 Ltd to review the impact of the scheme on some farm businesses and it is intended that business interviews will be conducted by Reading Agricultural Consultants as soon as possible.
Rostons have been informed that a Farmers Information Pack will be supplied at the same time as these business interviews and each of these packs will be personalised to the farm or landowner affected.
Tony Rimmer of Rostons stated, “Those landowners who have particular concerns, which in my opinion would be all effected landowners should look to engage with HS2 Ltd representatives as soon as possible. Rostons who represent landowners/occupiers will be contacting HS2 in order to start discussions sooner, rather than later. Ensuring that landowners/occupiers have the right agent working on their behalf is the key to the future of any farming business.”
For further information contact the Rostons office on 01829 773000