Charlie’s big tentBy John Ford
Another interesting invitation, on a coolish Sunday evening in September. This time from a different source across the other side of the Green and to attend in a personal capacity. The venue was a rather large and draughty marquee in the grounds of Hundridge Manor Estate. The reason being a fundraising to support ‘Conserve the Chilterns and Countryside’. This campaign, supported by local land owner Charlie Mullins and a number of other local residents, has created a not-for-profit organisation to oppose the building of HS2 in the Misbourne Valley.
Their approach is an interesting one. Their basic premise is that because political pressure often outweighs economic rationale, the project is likely to be built. Promotion of high speed rail is official Conservative party policy and is linked to earlier opposition to the third runway at Heathrow. The group will oppose the project on economic and environmental grounds, but that is not where they are putting their efforts.
Instead they are concentrating on promoting an alternative ‘better route’, through areas which already have transport arteries and through communities which may actually welcome the project for regeneration or other economic reasons. The campaign is already working with a major London law firm and supports some of the alternative route proposals outlined in the press recently by Arup, the civil engineers. A key point is that the route will go directly to Heathrow, not a random spot outside Paddington Station. A key method is that they have also employed a political lobbyist to communicate their points effectively. Some of us might wish that democracy didn’t work that way but most of us suspect that it does.
None of this comes cheap and after a variety of very good speeches by representatives of locals, lobbyist, civil engineers and a former FT journalist, Nicholas Faith (who was influential we were told in the partial re-routing of HS1) we were asked to fill out standing orders. Many of us present complied, despite slight misgivings about the overall budget.
For my part I think the approach is interesting and I wish them well. Their approach seems to complement rather than duplicate that of other groups such as the HS2 Action Alliance, which is focusing on weaknesses in the overall business case of the project as a whole. I would like to see better coordination of these various campaign groups but they seem to perform different roles, at least at the moment. I only hope that if funding becomes tighter in future then resources can be shared.
As an aside, the Parish Council hopes to host another public meeting in the near future to assist in the flow of information around the various campaigns. I also feel that there is a role for a village group perhaps linked to South Heath who might be able to represent our very local interests as the consultation process begins.
More information on ‘Conserve the Chilterns and Countryside’ can be found at www.conservecc.org.uk.