TORY BREAKS RANKS TO CONDEMN RAIL LINE AS A ‘WASTE OF MONEY’
Local democracy reporter EREWASH borough councillors say the HS2 proposals are ‘unacceptable’ and have ‘demanded’ a rethink.
That was the result of a vote after a long and raucous debate at Long Eaton Town Hall on Thursday night.
The council wants plans for the high speed railway line, which would result in hundreds of Long Eaton homes and businesses being demolished, sent back to the drawing board.
Councillors stopped short of voting to state that the authority is against HS2, as proposed by the opposition Labour group, which required legal advice to consider.
During the debate, two Conservative councillors stepped outside party lines.
One was a member of the executive group of councillors which leads the authority, much to the surprise of his party.
While having a toilet break during a legal discussion, councillor Mike Wallis, lead member for leisure, decided, that ‘I could not stay silent’ or ‘sit on my hands.’
He told the meeting: “I hate HS2, I don’t want it. It is an extremely bad idea.
“I can think of much better things to spend a hundred billion pounds on than a ruddy railway line.
“The one question I get asked more than anything else is, ‘what is the council’s view, are we for or against it.’
“As we have seen tonight, some people are for it, some people are against it.
“I happen to be against it. I don’t want the damn thing.
“It is a waste of money, it is a public abuse of a hundred billion pounds, because that is what the final bill will be.
“At the end of the day, I think we can make far better use of that.
“Having a look at our infrastructure, putting police back on the streets, reclaiming the streets from the morons who are out there running riot.
“Look at the NHS, let’s have a look at the school situation, let’s have a look at the way we educate our kids.
“I think that’s where we should be going, rather than building a railway line which gets someone from A to B eight minutes faster, I think that’s totally cosmetic.
“I hate it, I don’t want it. There are lots and lots of people who don’t and I felt that you can sit on your hands for only so long.
“I sat and I listened to the debate. I went to the loo, and a lady asked me, ‘what is the council’s position, is it for it or against it?’
“This is the one question I get asked.
“We’ve got to look after our residents and lessen the impact that this proposed railway line is going to have.”
Fellow Conservative councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, who is also a Derbyshire county councillor, said a tunnel was a better option than a viaduct.
His statements were met with shaking heads among councillor from his party.
He said this would bring all the benefits, but none of the ‘construction pain.’
He said the cost of a tunnel, thought to be triple that of a viaduct at nearly £1 billion, was for the government to worry about, not the borough council.
Councillor Athwal, who has lived in Long Eaton for 45 years, said: “If HS2 is coming through Long Eaton, the best option is the tunnel.
“It will be the best possible thing for our area, for our residents, and for our businesses in the area, and the natural habitat.
“I have been assured by senior officers at the county council that, technically, it is possible and the only thing that people have been saying against it is the cost.
“Well, that’s not our responsibility at Erewash borough council. That’s national government’s responsibility.
“Our responsibility, as elected representatives, is to our local residents, our local area and our local businesses.
“I would vote for the tunnel so that we get all the gains and economic Councillor Mike Wallis, left, spoke out at the Erewash Borough Council meeting at Long Eaton Town Hall generation, and minimise the pain.”
James Dawson, Labour group leader, said that ‘people power does work’ and urged the council to oppose HS2 as a whole, and not just the current proposals for the route.
Regarding the outspoken Tory members, he said: “It is encouraging that two of the controlling group sided with us tonight and I think that is the basis of democracy.
“You are there to speak for your residents, which is what they have done. They have followed their conscience.
“They’ve done the right thing. It might cause them a few problems, but that’s for their party, not mine.
“The key message we were trying to get across was, even though we have heard all the arguments that it is all government and we can’t stop it, you’ve got to make your voice heard and that’s what they (Tory councillors) were doing in that chamber.”
Councillor Michael Powell, lead member for regeneration - which includes the HS2 project - said HS2 would have the biggest impact on Erewash that residents will see for many years.
He said: “When I first saw these proposals, many of which I had never seen before, my first thought was one of horror and dismay.”
He said that ‘huge’ traffic jams in Long Eaton will affect all Erewash residents.
He said the council’s mitigation plan, which includes moving the route to save more than 40 houses from demolition, as well as the axing of the low-level train line, is a list of demands, not requests.
He said: “We are not going to be soft with them. We don’t think they (HS2 Ltd) have done a good job.”
Council leader Carol Hart called for the council to state that ‘the negative impacts to Long Eaton and Sandiacre from HS2 Ltd’s proposals’ were ‘unacceptable.’
She said: “There is no way we should be wasting time campaigning for or against it”.
Councillor Hart, who is also a county council cabinet member, said a consultation would be costly and ‘would make no difference to the outcome.’
She said: “We have no power to stop HS2 going ahead, and neither can HS2. Only the government can stop this.”
Labour councillor Alex Phillips proposed a motion that the council opposed HS2.
He said the Conservative group needed to make its mind up about whether it is for or against HS2.
Tory members said this was ‘irrelevant.’
Mr Phillips said the Conservatives plan was to ‘kick the can down the road’ and ‘it is not good enough for the people of the borough”.
Labour councillor David Doyle said: “Your idea is to mitigate this by turning a Victorian mill into a sweatshop.”
The council’s stance and its requested changes will be placed with the views of other councils affected by the high-speed rail project and form part of the next HS2 bill to go through parliament.