Villagers must be taken into consideration with building of high speed railway
The decision to build the HS2 high speed railway may be a done deal but now everything possible must be done to mitigate the effect on people living along its route, both MPs and members of the House of Lords have said.
North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson is calling for more to be done to ensure the villagers of Woore are safe when construction work starts on the railway while in the House of Lords, the shadow transport spokesperson Lord Rosser, has bought up the plight of the community saying residents are going to be heavily affected by the impact of HS2 construction traffic over a lengthy period.
He is expected to talk about the problems facing Woore in the House of Lords again next week.
Recently Mr Paterson organised a socially distanced meeting in Woore of parish councillors, Shropshire Council representatives and the police to look at the safety issues of the construction traffic.
Chairman of Woore Parish Council, Councillor Mike Cowey, said the meeting had shown how important it was for everyone concerned to talk to each other.
"One issue was the proposed new pick up point for the bus taking students from the village to school in Madeley," he said.
"When the police saw what was proposed they pointed out safety issues which means it now has to be looked at again."
Mr Paterson said there was now a "reluctant acceptance" that HS2 would be build.
"It may be a done deal but the parish council for Woore needs to be reassured that everyone possible will be done to mitigate the problems that construction traffic could bring," he said.
"I am very keen to speak with Andrew Stephenson, the minister for HS2 about the parish."
Councillor Cowey said he would like to see Mr Stephenson travel to Woore to see for himself the problems of the village.
"We have two main roads going through the village and there are some children that have to cross the A51 three times to get to school because the pavements are so narrow. Now we are facing the prospect of 128,000 additional wagons going through Woore, six days a week, over the next seven years."
