HS2 protest stays on track with film
A new short film entitled HS2 Disaster, which highlights the effects the proposed high-speed rail link will have on those living along the route, has been watched by more than 100,000 people in its first week.
And an online petition which accompanies the film, calling on transport secretary Chris Grayling to cancel HS2 immediately, has been signed by more than 7,600 people.
The campaign was launched by West Midlands MEP Jill Seymour, who sits on the European Union’s transport committee.
Nearly 250,000 people have connected with the campaign's Facebook page, and and more than 102,000 have seen the video through the social media site.
Among those featured in the film is "Jim" from Staffordshire, who says the money would be better spent on health care.
“I haven’t a clue how the Government can say it is needed, when it is only going to affect a few people down the side of each line who can use it," he says.
"If they put the money into the National Health Service instead of this railway, there will be more people in the next 20 years needing a hospital, than ever they will need a railway.”
Mrs Seymour, who is Ukip's transport spokesman, insisted it was not too late to cancel the "vanity project".
The official estimated cost of the project is between £41 billlion and £56 billion, but Mrs Seymour said it would be closer to £111 billion.
“It will be our children – and their children – who will be paying this debt,” she said.
“When the £111 billion could be spent on our NHS, emergency services, new housing, and social services, why is the priority on a railway we don’t need?”
The six-minute film claims the route will wreck the lives of families across many parts of the country, from Middlesex through to Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and further north.
Another resident, Crystal Ryall, struggles to hold back tears when she says: “How can you honestly tell people that their children and their parents are just going to be kicked out of the house they own?
“You’re not safe, because if the Government want it, they are going to take it, and that’s that. They should stop pouring all this money into something that’s never going to be any good to anybody.
“Pour it into the NHS, pour it into the police service and the fire stations they are closing down, or pour it into the existing railways. But don’t spend taxpayers’ money like this. It’s just stupid.”
In the film, it is claimed that HS2 will cost more than £400 million a mile, making it the most expensive railway in the world, and costs the equivalent of £5,800 for every household in the UK.
It also says that the technology being proposed for the railway is already 25 years out of date.
Campaigners say ancient woodlands are being destroyed, with 47 sites "directly affected", while newly built housing estates were being bulldozed to make way for the line.
Another resident, Ron Reynolds from Middlesex, says: “I want to know how long it’s going to take my great great great great grandchildren to pay this off. Don’t you think that the services are more important than getting to Birmingham 10 minutes quicker?”
Vikie Shanks from Warwickshire said: “I’ve tried to be open-minded about HS2. I’ve looked at the business case and listened to all sides, and by the time this thing is built, I believe it will be totally obsolete.
“The cost of building it is absolutely ludicrous, when we have social care and the NHS really struggling.”
Mrs Seymour said the video was supported by action groups and individuals whose homes, communities and livelihoods were affected by the HS2 proposals.
