Part of the reason things take so long is that there’s lots of perspectives to consider.
Natural England’s advice must be considered and their position is clear: no bat death is acceptable. Hence, the need for the SWBMS in the first place.
But, Natural England aren’t the only players in town.
Buckinghamshire Council & residents have a say too, required by the HS2 Act.
Residents were consulted on the shading of the mesh and other aspects of the scheme.
This 2022 consultation was all in the hope of convincing Buckinghamshire Council to approve the SWBMS.
But the Council had other ideas and engaged in a power play in March 2023 by issuing a ‘Tree Preservation Order’, stopping some of the works required to get the site ready for the tunnel:
I’m not sure how much more work HS2 were able to do in the rest of 2023, but you can imagine that TPO put the dampeners on progress. Timelines reviewed, staff redeployed, budgets re-profiled.
Despite the new trees and planting committed to in the image below:
So even though Natural England and other consultees were supporting the tunnel, the council remained strongly opposed and was blocking it from progressing throughout 2023.
Eventually HS2 appealed to the Planning Inspector and in late-January this year were finally given the go-ahead.
Many consultees. Blockers given effective veto power. Leading to lengthy design processes and a 1km structure first envisioned in 2012 taking until 2024 to get built.
The £100m bat tunnel is a feature, not a bug, of the system the Conservatives – who were once in favour of a more nimble, pro-growth, state – designed and maintained.
It’s worth noting that Bucks Council argued to the Planning Inspector that HS2 provided insufficient detail on the environmental impact of the scheme.
That’s despite HS2 providing a 111-page Environmental Assessment Summary Paper.
To be clear – I'm in favour of protecting the environment and our wildlife. But it is certainly not clear that this is best achieved, at best value for money, by this process.
The Council waved away the hours of work that went into the Environment Assessment, and who actually did read it?
And, although I'm sure its contested, I also note that the boss of HS2 said: “No evidence, by the way, that high-speed trains interfere with bats.”
But it’s not just the bat tunnel, or just HS2, but a broader problem with our planning system which is blocking the infrastructure and energy we need.
In his speech at October’s Investment Summit, Keir Starmer called out the East Anglia 2 wind farm as another example.
A project where regulators demanded over 4000 planning documents for approval.
And then – once planning consent had finally been provided – a judicial review was allowed to hold up progress for a further two years.
So we can see why we struggle to get anything built in this country.
And why, when we do, it comes at far too great a cost.
This must change, as the PM said, “it’s time to upgrade the regulatory regime…We will rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment…[we are] determined to get Britain building”.
And why does this matter? Because if we can’t build, we can’t grow our economy and all of us will continue to suffer.
Workers are £10,700 *a year* worse off than if wages had grown in-line with pre-financial crisis trends.
As I said in the Budget debate, we can move on from a politics of scarcity to one of abundance.
It’s time to end decline and invest in our future again.
It’s been a great first few days as MP for Chipping Barnet, and I’m excited to get on with supporting my constituents and delivering on my pledges. But I want to take a moment to thank my predecessor, Theresa Villiers, for the hard work she's done over the past two decades. (1/6)
I know many people in Barnet voted for Theresa even though they had strong reservations about the Conservative Party, and my sincere hope is that in the coming years you will see that in me you have a local MP who will work just as tirelessly for our community. (2/6)
Theresa was a committed campaigner for the reopening of Barnet police station. This station was closed as a result of £1bn of cuts to policing in London under the Conservatives, and my hope is that we can reopen it alongside Labour’s investment in policing in London. (3/6)
It has been an honour to serve in the Tower Hamlets Cabinet, with responsibility for highways, public realm and parking. It’s been a job like no other – with a direct impact on the way hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors get around and experience our streets.
I’d have loved to continue in the role, but instead will be moving to the local ‘backbenches’. I’ve worked hard since taking on the role to deliver the changes that our borough needs to improve air quality, support walking & cycling & invest in public spaces.
Here are some of the highlights. I hope this will show what can be achieved if elected representatives decide that they are going to make a difference to our public spaces and roads, and put in the hours to make change happen...
Today is the first day of the Wapping Bus Gateway.
Council staff have been on site this morning and our contractors have been busy getting things ready for weeks.
Here's some things to know about the gateway...
1. It isn't a gate! It's two automatic number plate recognition cameras pointing at the road right next to two signs. Any non-exempt vehicle passing over this point during peak hours will get spotted by the cameras and issued with a fine.
2. Emergency service vehicles and busses - including local school busses - are allowed to pass through the gateway at all times.