Village meeting on HS2 rail plan

A PUBLIC meeting is to take place at Culcheth tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss the likely impact of the controversial HS2 railway line on the village.
The meeting – to be chaired by parish council chairman Keith Bland at Culcheth High School – will enable residents to find out details of the route of the proposed line and pass comment.
It is likely that an action group will be set up to fight the proposals.
Action groups have already been established at Lowton – where a similar meeting is being held tonight – and at Rixton-with-Glazebrook.
Cllr Bland (pictured) said: “The parish council has already decided that we need to look into all aspects of HS2.
“We are united in opposing anything that will decimate the local community. We are expecting a big turn-out for the meeting, but the hall at the school will only hold 280 so it is possible that not everyone will be able to get in.”
Published plans for HS2 show the high speed railway running along the line of Culcheth Linear Park – ironically created nearly 40 years ago on the line of an old railway.
It would also cut through at least one local farm as well as through the Old Rectory building in Warrington Road – currently being renovated – and through the Taylor Industrial Park.
Warrington North MP Helen Jones – who lives in Culcheth – said she was disappointed that Warrington Bank Quay would not become a HS2 station.
She said it seemed that residents of the Culcheth area would suffer the disruption of the new line without getting any benefits.
Local councillor Paul Campbell said while it would be many years before the line was built, people in Culcheth were understandably concerned and keen to know how the proposed construction and operation would affect them.
“It is vitally important that we establish that any adverse effects such as the loss of some of the Culcheth Linear Park or impact on housing and land will be properly compensated.”