The Hybrid Bill required to construct Phase 2a of HS2 – the 36-mile route from the West Midlands to Crewe expected to be operational in 2027 – is having its Second Reading in the House of Commons today.

The Wildlife Trusts believe that the Environmental Statement – published in July 2017 to accompany the Hybrid Bill documents – is incomplete and an inaccurate picture of the likely impacts. This is a repetition of the inadequacies of the statement produced for Phase 1 and is a cause for grave concern. If the Environmental Statement is inaccurate it has repercussions for the mitigation measures and funding.

Today’s reading affects important wildlife sites in Staffordshire and Cheshire and, based on the information provided in the Environmental Statement, the proposed compensatory habitat is insufficient to address the damage.

In Cheshire, for example, the route will result in the loss of a 100 hectare wildlife site - Randilow and Bunker Hill Local Wildlife Site - which forms an integral part of the Meres and Mosses Nature Improvement Area (NIA). This NIA received £568,470 from Defra between 2012 and 2015 to create joined up and resilient ecological networks on a large, landscape scale and Cheshire and Shropshire Wildlife Trusts (and others) have continued the work since that time. It is, therefore, extremely disappointing that HS2 has failed to acknowledge or address the impact that the loss of this site will have on this area.

Steve Trotter, Director, The Wildlife Trusts England, says:

“Our natural heritage will be very badly affected by HS2 and hundreds of wild places will be destroyed or damaged by it. Today the spotlight is on two counties where, once again, HS2 Ltd has failed to come up with effective mitigation to make up for the loss of important natural havens.

“Just two weeks ago, the Government published the long-awaited 25 Year Environment Plan. It re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to ‘connecting habitats into larger corridors for wildlife’ – and the principle that development should deliver ‘net gain’ to try to reverse the loss of wildlife in our country. Yet here is a scheme that will increase ecological fragmentation and destroy many important wildlife sites – contrary to Government policy.

The Government has missed an opportunity to demonstrate how growth and development can go hand in hand with improving the environment. The Wildlife Trusts’ vision for HS2 shows how this could still be achieved – we urge Ministers to look again at their damaging approach, it’s not too late to do the right thing.

“The Wildlife Trusts believe the new development will have significant adverse impacts and that HS2 Ltd could and should strive to boost wildlife and the habitats on which it depends. That’s why we came up with a vision that makes the case for a ribbon of natural areas, wild havens, green bridges and cycle ways along the corridor of the route. We’re calling on HS2 Ltd to face their responsibilities and rise to this challenge.”

Editor's notes

High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crew) Bill 2017-19
https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/highspeedrailwestmidlandscrewe.html

Randilow and Bunker Hill Local Wildlife Site, Cheshire – under threat from HS2
The Local Wildlife Site Partnership for Cheshire East approved the selection of a new site at their recent review meeting. The importance of the newly selected area at Randilow and Bunker Hill near Blakenhall in south Cheshire came to light following surveys undertaken by consultants working for HS2 Ltd. The area, which has been farmed in an environmentally sensitive way for a number of years, supports at least 12 rapidly declining breeding bird species of conservation concern such as the yellow wagtail, grey partridge, tree sparrow, skylark and linnet. Birds including snipe, teal and fieldfare overwinter on the Local Wildlife Site foraging for either insects or berries and seeds in the hedgerows, fields and wetlands. A corner of the site is mature oak woodland with an abundance bluebells and at least 7 species of bat, including the rare Nathusius’ pipistrelle, forage along the woodland edge and connecting hedgerows. Bunker Hill has a small flooded quarry and there are at least 15 field ponds, many of which support breeding great crested newts.
Unfortunately almost the entire site is due to disappear in 3-4 years’ time when HS2 Ltd start work digging the footings for the tracks and excavating a 40 hectare ‘borrow pit’ in the fields where most of the ponds now lie.

CWT hope that the selection of Randilow and Bunker Hill as a Local Wildlife Site, before it is destroyed, may prompt HS2 Ltd to rethink their mitigation plans and live up to their promise to achieve no net loss of biodiversity in the local area. Their current proposals are wholly inadequate - quite simply not enough compensatory habitat will be created. The yellow wagtails, tree sparrows and grey partridge will very likely struggle to raise young in 2020 as their breeding and foraging habitats disappear. The rare bats will almost certainly disperse to other areas, hopefully finding new roost sites and enough food to support their young. The bluebell woodland will be cut down and the invertebrates, mammals and amphibians that live there may escape the bulldozers, but with no suitable habitat nearby they too may struggle to rear young in 2020.
Although not ideal, the provision of new conservation woodlands, wetlands and hedgerows, together with the restoration of species-rich grassland, may help lessen these impacts. So we are now calling on HS2 Ltd to up their game and do the right thing and commit to creating more high value wildlife habitat close to the new railway – just as they said they would.

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust objections:
In Staffordshire, nearly 30 Local Wildlife Sites will suffer direct losses; 10 ancient woodlands will be directly impacted and 7 indirectly. A major concern though is that around 50 other high-value habitat areas have been highlighted by HS2's surveys which may be potential new Local Wildlife Sites. Nearly 30 veteran trees are assumed to be lost within the construction areas, and several 100 km of hedgerows would be lost. We are concerned that surveys are not complete, and that much more could be done to minimise impacts.