Relief for homeowners ‘in the firing line’

RESIDENTS who had feared the destruction of their homes and an increase in traffic have welcomed the scrapping of HS2’S eastern leg through Toton to Leeds.

Homeowners whose properties would have been demolished welcomed the scaled-down plans.

Sue Colton, 69, and her husband, who live on Tiree Close in Trowell which stood in the way of the now-scrapped HS2 line, said: “It’s a brilliant day, not before time at all and I’m very glad it’s gone this way.

“The people who said they wanted it wouldn’t if it was their home in the firing line.

“I am very pleased we won’t have to think about it much any more. I feel sorry for the people who did want it, but it would have been stupid in my opinion - our house would have ended up as the footings just so people could get around a bit quicker.”

Gillian Deeman, 79, and her husband Peter Deeman, 85, who live in Trowell, also faced having to move under the original plans.

Mrs Deeman said: “We are delighted about it, it’s an incredible relief for us.

“The worrying part would have been finding a house at this age – we’re too old to move.

“It’s been in the news a lot but there wasn’t a lot of coverage about the people who would have had to move out of their homes because of these plans.

“But thankfully it doesn’t look like we have to worry about that any more.”

In Toton, where the HS2 hub had been originally planned, people had feared a huge increase in traffic.

Toton resident Maciej Lacina, 42, an engineer, said: “We are happy it’s scrapped. We thought there was going to be a bypass to Long Eaton to help traffic.

“The traffic is already bad around here.

“I’m completely against it – it would’ve been impossible to live here with the cars and the noise. It has had a massive impact on the house prices.

“It has been scrapped for the right reason.

“It would make people here miserable with the noise of the traffic and the pollution.

“We would lose value on the estate, no one would want to buy houses.”

Lynsey Sumner, 46, an accountant from Toton, said: “I didn’t want them to get rid of any of the greenery but then you think they have to progress. It’s hard isn’t it - I think it would have been for the best.

“Is it viable whilst we can all remote work? I do agree over where all the traffic was going to go.”

Another Toton resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It was always to improve the infrastructure throughout the country. It’s a shame. I think it would have benefited many people socially and travelling to work. The Toton residents’ biggest worry was the traffic.”