HS2: Shropshire parish set to be flooded with HGVs preparing to stand before House of Lords

Woore Parish Council has submitted its initial application to go in front of Parliament's upper house to propose alternative routes lorries could take and highlight the issues with the current plans.

Woore, on the Shropshire border, faces being used as a route for lorries carrying materials to build phase 2A of the rail line from the West Midlands to Crewe.

The proposed route would see about 260 HGVs travel from the A51 and turn on to the A525 at Woore daily during the peak of construction.

With a mission statement reading "our primary role is to provide a local democratic voice for the people of the Parish of Woore", the council said it is representing concerns made by a number of residents.

Michael Cowey, chairman of the parish council, said there was no need to use Woore as an HGV rat-run.

"We've sent a number of petitions to the House of Commons with little to no response so this is our next step," he said.

"We are not against HS2, we never have been. Our main concern is the way hundreds of HGVs are being routed through our parish when there is absolutely no need to do it."

Outlined in the petition to the House of Lords are a number of issues which "centre around the unsuitability of the use of the A51 and A525 for construction traffic in the current routing proposals", including pollution, delays in accessing healthcare and reducing the overall quality of life.

It states: "For a period of at least seven years, there will be upwards of 200 such journeys, more than doubling the current number of HGV movements through the parish.

"Due to the main roads and pavements along the A51 through the parish being 1.8m narrower than the HS2 Rural Road Design Criteria, the route through Woore Parish is wholly unsuitable for large numbers of HGV traffic."

The council has instead proposed two alternative routes, directing HGVs to exit the M6 at Keele Services onto Three Mile Lane and along an unused railway line, or rerouting the traffic from Baldwin's Gate on the A53 along Manor Road to the sites in Madeley.

Councillor Cowey added: "We're expecting to hear in the next three weeks when we'll go in front of the House of Lords."