HS2 destruction will ‘push nature to brink’, claim wildlife trusts

BUILDING HS2 will unleash a “vast scale of destruction and push nature to the brink” says a new report published by 14 wildlife trusts this week.

Claiming the report contains the most detailed environmental research to date, The Wildlife Trusts body warns that HS2’s current proposals for the high speed line will risk the loss of, or significantly impact’ some 930 different sites and be “ecologically devastating”. It says they include 693 Classified Local Wildlife sites, 108 ancient woodlands and 33 Sites of Special Scientific Interest protected by UK law.

But HS2 hit back, denying one of the most affected local sites would be Park Hall Nature Reserve near Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

It claims The Wildlife Trusts must have been looking at ‘old information’ and said the site would re-open once HS2 had finished its work.

Currently closed to the public, The Wildlife Trusts says the 98-acre site would be ‘80-90-per cent destroyed’.

It adds: “HS2 has taken possession of this area of remnant farmland on the edge of Birmingham. Commitments made by HS2 Ltd in 2014 include preserving some areas of ancient woodland and improving public access in the future.”

The Wildlife Trusts’ report also says half of Whitmore Wood in Staffordshire (about 13 acres) would be lost, the single biggest loss of ancient woodland in the entire HS2 scheme. But an HS2 spokesman said: “The number of sites presented in this report as being ‘at risk of loss, or significant impact’ simply isn’t accurate. HS2 take the environmental cost of construction very seriously.

“That is why we’re delivering an unprecedented programme of tree planting and habitat creation alongside the new railway – with seven million new trees and shrubs set to be planted between London and Birmingham alone – with new native woodland planted to link up ancient woodland, and tailored mitigation plans in place for protected species.”

In October, calls for HS2 to put a total stop to the removal of trees and hedgerows while the project was being reviewed were rejected.

Dr Delia Garratt, CEO, the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, said: “We are frustrated and disappointed with the lack of meaningful engagement from HS2.

“We had sought to influence the design of new and enhanced habitats for wildlife along the route. However, we have not been provided with information on how HS2 will meet their own targets to reduce the impact of the construction on the environment.”