‘We stopped HS2 seizing half our family farm – now we’re under threat again’
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A dairy farmer who won the fight to stop the seizure of almost half his land for the scrapped HS2 line through Birmingham and Manchester says his family farm could be under threat again.
John Edge, 74, said further uncertainty was clouding the future of the business after transport minister Heidi Alexander announced plans for a new north-south line between the two cities as part of investment in the northern rail network on Wednesday.
Two years ago, in October 2023, former chancellor Rishi Sunak canceled the northern HS2 link following rising costs and major protests in village and town communities along the planned 87-mile route.
Mr Edge’s farm at Wimboldsley, near Middlewich, Cheshire, was set to lose 300 of its 700 acres due to the line and railway line. still protected It is being developed by the Ministry of Transport for possible future projects.
Now the farmer, who is trying to sell his farmhouse two years before retirement, said that with plans for a new line, he and his son, who runs the dairy herd, are back to years of more uncertainty.
“It’s another sword of Damocles hanging over our heads right now,” Mr. Edge said. Independent. “From the moment HS2 was first announced, after so many years of uncertainty, we wanted it to be over and we would have a clear view of the future.
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“But this news just brings it all back and when we hear the line may not be built for another 20 years you wonder when it will stop. It’s been going on for too long, it’s affected so many lives, including ours, it’s not good enough.”
The family are among thousands of people living on the scrapped HS2 line who will question the route of the line and its potential impact on their lives, despite assurances that the new line will not be a “revival of HS2”.
Mr Edge’s own plans have been affected by plans for HS2. He and his wife Ruth had planned to retire and move to a bungalow near Nantwich. But only now do they appear to be getting close to selling, after their farm and outbuildings were put up for sale two years ago.
“Whenever someone comes and looks [at the property]You should have mentioned HS2,” Mr Edge said. “That was due to uncertainty and that affects people’s decisions. It certainly didn’t help us sell the farm, which set back our plans.
“We are now wondering whether the line will follow the same route and what will happen to our family dairy farm, which will be significantly affected in terms of herd size and viability by such a loss of land.”
In the village of Wimboldsley, which has a population of around 140, Mr Edge said HS2 and ongoing uncertainty about future projects had removed “padding” from the community. He said around 20 houses had been purchased by HS2, many of which were empty and in poor condition.
By August last year HS2 had spent more than £380 million on 459 properties along the scrapped route from Handsacre and Manchester, just north of Birmingham. HS2 said some could not be leased back due to their poor condition.
On Wednesday the DfT said: Independent He said none of the properties purchased between Birmingham and Manchester had been sold and that conservation measures on land, including Mr Edge’s farm, would remain between Crewe and Manchester.
Further afield in Staffordshire, Ben Wilkes, who runs the Border Collie Trust on four and a half acres in the path of the canceled section of the HS2 track, said: “It’s a bit of waterboarding, we just want to get out of this uncertainty and be able to have a solid plan for the future.”
In the village of Whitmore Heath, also in Staffordshire, where around 35 out of 50 homes were sold for the scrapped HS2 line, Deborah Mallender, who set up Madeley and Whitmore Villages Stop HS2, said: [news of a new railway line] many residents’ worst nightmare. “We’re back to square one again.”
As plans for the north-south rail line are still being developed, it is not yet clear whether its route will follow the scrapped HS2. No timeline has been given for when it will open, but it will not open until after the completion of the Northern Powerhouse Rail.
In the House of Commons on Wednesday, some MPs raised concerns on behalf of residents living on scrapped lines. Lichfield MP Dave Robertson said: “For 17 long years voters have had to deal with the complete failure of HS2 Ltd while ministers were asleep at the wheel, and the chaotic cancellation of the scheme did nothing to alleviate these problems and replaced them with uncertainty.
“Unfortunately, all today’s announcement does is confirm that uncertainty will continue for another two decades.”
Mr Robertson called on Ms Alexander to commit to a rapid redesign of the HS2 line so the land can be freed from conservation. The transport minister acknowledged “there will be some people dealing with more uncertainty today”, adding that he wanted to try to reduce disruption to their lives.
But South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson said: Independent: “This is potentially the worst in the world. They promised a rail line but there was no funding behind it which means communities continue to suffer.”
“The Labor government needs to get the situation under control and end this huge white elephant.”
Ms Alexander said a long-term plan for a new north-south route from Birmingham to Manchester was needed to address congestion and overcrowding on the West Coast Main Line. “This will not be a revival of HS2 and no decisions have been made regarding the specification or timeline,” he added.
The Ministry of Transport was contacted to get an opinion on the issue.
