Tories give fast-track pledge on high-speed Yorkshire rail route

Jonathan Reed Political Editor

PLANNING permission for a high-speed rail line through Yorkshire could be fast-tracked through Parliament in less than a year if the Tories win the General Election.

They have pledged to move “swiftly” once a preferred route is drawn up, to limit the impact on people whose homes are near the proposed line and to prevent the project getting bogged down in discussion for years.

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Instead of going through the traditional planning process, the Tories have pledged to publish a Bill to go through Parliament once the preferred route – which they plan to take from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds – is chosen, an approach Labour will also adopt.

Shadow Communities Secretary Caroline Spelman also pledged to review “inadequate” compensation rules amid concern there is little home-owners can do when thousands of pounds are wiped off the value of their property merely because the line might pass nearby.

Ahead of next month’s expected publication of the Government’s preferred route for a line to Birmingham and then further north – known as High Speed 2 – Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland yesterday met Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis in his campaign for backing for a route dubbed High Speed North drawn up by Harrogate engineer Colin Elliff, who also attended the meeting.

After the meeting, Mr Mulholland said: “It is important that the Government give the High Speed North proposal the attention it deserves before making a decision about whether to employ the High Speed 2 recommendations.”

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The Yorkshire Post has been campaigning for the region to be included in a high-speed rail network, and the three major parties are each set to include their favoured route in their election manifesto.

Lord Adonis is currently considering recommendations from experts who favour a single route from London to Birmingham which would then branch in a Y shape, one line going through the North-West and the other through Yorkshire to the North-East, with one branching off to Scotland.

But with the General Election only weeks away, the Tories – who want an initial line from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds – have turned down an offer to see the Government’s White Paper before it is published and are unlikely to endorse it.

Now they have unveiled their proposals to reform the planning system, insisting they want to move quickly to ensure a high-speed network is built.

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Ms Spelman confirmed the railway would be taken out of the normal planning system. Once the party backs a particular route it will be subject to consultation and then published in a Hybrid Bill where MPs would be able to argue on behalf of constituents about parts of the route.

“It will go through parliament in a Hybrid Bill, with all its stages in one year rather than being mired in public inquiry for years and years, because we desperately need High Speed 2,” said Ms Spelman.

The Tories say they want to reform procedures for Hybrid Bills, so called because they affect the public but also impact on individual’s property, so they can be approved “more simply and directly by Parliament”.

The Government has also pledged to use a Hybrid Bill, and says the public would be able to express their views on the proposed route through extensive consultation before the Bill is published.

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Lord Adonis has promised to publish the report by the High Speed 2 company he set up when he publishes a White Paper next month and has proposed a hardship scheme to “minimise uncertainty” for people potentially affected by a proposed line.