High speed rail plans on wrong track in Selby District!
PROTEST: On Church Fenton railway station is Parish Councillor Jo Mason with Martin and Craig Blakey. (BUY THIS PHOTO L8587TS) Picture: Tony Saxton
ELATION and anger have greeted government news of proposed high-speed rail links to cities, towns and villages in the North of England.
Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams said it could bring prosperity and jobs to the area, but parish councillors at Church Fenton – site of a proposed stretch of rail track 50 feet in the air on stilts – claim the new build would blight the area’s quiet rural landscape.
The proposed London to Birmingham HS2 line would reach as far as Manchester and Leeds, cut journey times dramatically and would also pass through Church Fenton and join up with existing lines to York.
Parish councillor Jo Mason said she was “horrified” at the prospect of what she described as creation of “an urban island surrounded by railway lines”.
She added: “We will fight these proposals all the way. It’s confusing why they want to bring the track through the village. We are on a flood plain and this track would avoid the current railway station and cut across beautiful fields. It would cut the village in half and blight the area for walkers, those taking out their dogs, horse riders and many others.”
Fellow parish councillor Craig Blakey said: “This would come through two of the fields we look after as part of the Wildlife habitat Protection Trust. It could potentially destroy a greart deal of important habitat.”
But MP Nigel Adams said the announcement of a high-speed rail link extending from the Midlands to Leeds, York and beyond was “incredibly good news”.
He added: “This is great news for the whole district. It will have enormous economic benefits in the medium and long-term for the area, not just in terms of reducing travel tijmes to one hour 23 minutes from York to London, but also in terms of boosting our economic development and competitiveness.”
For full story and reaction see this week’s Selby Times.
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Weather for Goole
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
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Wind direction: North west
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