Shropshire councillor calls for HS2 cash to be used for more NHS staff
A councillor for a Shropshire village that will be affected by the HS2 rail programme has joined calls for the project to be scrapped and the money to be spent on staffing the NHS.
Malcolm Blake is a councillor on Woore Parish Council, and was speaking after a report by the New Economics Foundation criticised HS2's "absence of strategy".
He said: "This is what Woore Parish Council has been saying for years. As far as we're concerned it's just not needed.
"It would be better spent if they used the money to pay for more doctors.
"For getting to London 20 minutes faster it is a complete waste of time."
The report also said that the project to build a high speed railway between London and northern cities could over-run in cost for the first phase between London and Birmingham, leaving no money for phase two beyond that.
Councillor Blake also expressed scepticism that the project would finish within its £55.7 billion budget.
He and others at the parish council have argued that the plans will hurt Woore as hundreds of HGVs will use the village to access the A525 during the construction process.
He said: "They are talking about hundreds of vehicles coming through the village.
"In one way it will certainly stop the speeding there because nobody will be able to get through. You will be choking on the fumes but at least nobody will be speeding!"
