Minister voices concern about HS2’s impact on woodland

Environment Minister David Heath said his department would be “looking closely” at the proposed route for HS2, because “you cannot replace old trees”.

He said officials from the Environment Agency and Natural England had been ordered to “look critically at what is proposed” and any issues would be examined in an “exhaustive” Parliamentary process.

Answering questions from party members at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow, Mr Heath said it was a “major Government scheme” but “from my point of view, sitting in Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs], we have instructed our officers in the Environment Agency and Natural England to look critically at what is proposed and to give exactly the same impartial advice I would expect them to give in any other context”.

“They will tell us what the consequences are, where there are areas of mitigation,” he said. “There is one thing that I will admit more than slightly concerns me, and that is where it touches on areas of ancient woodland, because you can mitigate lots of things but you can’t grow old trees.

“We will be looking particularly carefully at that.”

Mr Heath said he expected the lengthy Parliamentary process that awaits the Government’s forthcoming HS2 Bill – due to be placed before the House of Commons later this year – would provide an opportunity for careful scrutiny of the route.

The Woodland Trust has warned that 33 areas of ancient woodland lie along the route, with another 34 near it and liable to be affected by noise and disruption.

Oliver Newham, the organisation’s senior campaigner on ancient woodland, said: “You can’t just go and plant more trees, it simply doesn’t work like that. Once they are gone they are gone forever.”

Mr Heath’s comments fly in the face of the Government’s self-professed PR “fightback” on HS2, launched last week amid concern about the scheme’s rising cost.

The £50bn line will massively increase the capacity for North-South rail journeys across England, while significantly reducing the journey time between Yorkshire and London.