The Amersham Society
The Amersham Society
Campaigns

HS2 Update 17 Nov 2017

Published

We have received the following update from the Buckinghamshire County Council HS2 team.:

(Note: previous Updates can be found https://www.amershamsociety.org/topics/hs2/).

New £5m fund to create and restore woodlands

The first £1 million of the HS2 Woodland Fund is being managed by the Forestry Commission on behalf of HS2 Ltd. It is encouraging applications from landowners located up to 25 miles from the phase one route, which passes through parts of Greater London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, as well as the wider West Midlands. You can read more at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-5-million-fund-to-create-and-restore-woodlands

HS2 watch

An HS2 Watch has been established in order to monitor the progress of HS2 construction throughout the Chilterns AONB. HS2 Watch operates entirely independently of HS2 Ltd, and of central government departments. You can read more at http://www.hs2watch.org.uk/.

Construction Commissioner’s leaflet

The current Construction Commissioner, Gareth Epps, has produced this leaflet to explain his role in relation to complaints about HS2. Hard copies of the leaflet can be obtained at libraries along the route and at County and District Council offices.

Community and Environment Fund and Business and Local Economy Fund (CEF and BLEF)

  • 11 applications for funding have been submitted from the Buckinghamshire area to date, of which 10 are to CEF and 1 to BLEF.
  • In total across both CEF and BLEF streams of the programme for Phase One, there have been 38 applications submitted.
  • Route-wide there are currently over 300 applications in progress for Phase One (it is not possible for Groundwork UK to view applications that are in progress to identify which location they are from).

The first awards for CEF and BLEF will be announced towards the end of this year. Following this announcement there will be quarterly newsletters and website updates sharing latest information on approved projects and allocated funding geographically. This will include an interactive map and project case studies to guide applicants to think about the type of projects which the CEF and BLEF is supporting and to regularly share information publicly with interested parties, such as Local Authorities.
At the beginning of next year it will also be possible to start determining any potential ‘cold spots’ (i.e. where not yet seen any applications submitted) to assist with outreach and engagement.

Buckinghamshire County Council HS2 team: