2. What is the HS2?
Proposed high speed rail line
Links London to Birmingham in just 50 minutes
Could potentially stretch to Manchester, Leeds,
Edinburgh and central Scotland.
3.
4. Loss of Wildlife and Habitats
Direct Destruction of habitats, anxiety of
physical processes, loss of ecosystems
functions.
Indirect Habitat isolation, population viability
reduced, change in hierarchies of
species, increased competition between
remaining habitats.
Cumulative Irreparable loss of biodiversity.
Synergistic Remaining populations may become
increasingly vulnerable due to pressures
of disturbance, pollution and disease.
5. Loss of Wildlife and Habitats
Many mammals present in the Midlands have landscape
population dynamics, and the HS2 will prevent their
movement around their habitats.
7. Carbon Emissions
The UK government and HS2 Ltd have both said that
HS2 will reduce carbon emissions, however they
didn’t take into consideration the following..
Consumption of electricity
Change from domestic slots to medium and long
haul flights
Lack of consideration of construction impacts
Impacts on road transportation
8. Land Take and Destruction of Homes
The proposed HS2 route would see the destruction of
hundreds of homes, businesses and schools.
50 homes in Birmingham
Curzon Gate halls of residence (BCU)
Water Orton
Gilson
9. Change, Contest, Response
Change Contest Response
Houses demolished to Residents are left The govt have offered
make way for HS2 homeless compensation for
residents and/or to
build new homes for
them, adding to carbon
emissions.
The HS2 is an approved high speed rail line which will run from London to Birmingham, and could potentially stretch further to Manchester, London and Scotland. Journey time from the capital to Birmingham City centre would be cut to just 50 minutes, extending business opportunities further north of London. One of the stops on the route is Birmingham International. It has been discussed in the House of Commons, that Birmingham International Airport could potentially act as the ‘4th London airport which has been so longed discussed, as it is the same journey time from central London to Gatwick.
The HS2 is expected to cost around £33 million pounds to build, creating more than 40 thousand jobs and is projected to generate around £47 billion pounds.
The HS2 route includes it cutting through several areas of woodland, hills and areas of nature reserve, and therefore puts many habitats and wildlife are at risk of loss and destruction.The impacts on wildlife can be split into four inter-related categories.The first category is direct impacts, which include the destruction of habitats, anxiety of physical processes and loss of ecosystems functions. Indirect impacts of the HS2 on wildlife include habitat isolation, population viability reduced, change in hierarchies of species and increased competition between remaining habitats. A cumulative impact is the number of the disturbances to ecological functions, which can be impacted by development. For example, irreversible loss of biodiversity. Too many disturbances on one particular habitat or ecosystem will lead to disastrous consequences as species within that habitat find it harder and harder to cope with drastic changes to their habitat. This then leads on to synergistic impacts. The remaining populations may become increasingly vulnerable due to pressures of disturbance, pollution and disease.
Many mammals present in the Midlands have landscape population dynamics, and the HS2 will act as a barrier almost and prevent the movement between habitats. Examples of these animals are otters, polecats, several bat species and hedgehogs amongst others.
Thechange to disrupt the equilibrium is the destruction of habitats. Habitat destruction often sees vast migration of wildlife. This consequently affects food supply. As migrated insects are no longer around to pollinate food crops, farmers are unable to produce any food. Therefore supermarkets and other food retailers will rely on imports as opposed to selling home grown, local produce.
Despite claims from the Government and HS2 Ltd that the HS2 will reduce carbon emissions in the UK, there are many factors which demonstrate that the rail line is not part o a low carbon future.Electricity consumptionIn relation to the consumption of energy, the HS2 will have relatively high CO2 emissions. The amount of emissions depends upon the carbon intensity of the grid electricity and whether the UK moves to greener fuels in line with targets which have been set to reduce overall CO2 emissions. Change from domestic slots to medium and long haul flightsThe greenhouse gas report sets out the impacts on carbon emissions as a result of a switch off from domestic flights to HS2, with a reduction of 23.2MtCO2 (metric tonne CO2 equivalent). However this calculation is only true if there is a complete shutdown of all domestic flights, which is highly unlikely. Therefore, realistically there is an increase in carbon emissions due to the same number of domestic flights and now the HS2 adding to emissions.Lack of consideration of construction impactsHS2 Ltd has failed to take into consideration the emissions released during the expected 5 year construction of the HS2 to Birmingham, so its argument is therefore flawed.Impacts on road transportationOnly 6% of passengers who would travel between London and Birmingham will leave their cars at home and use the HS2 as a replacement, so there will still be carbon emissions from road transport.
The proposed HS2 route is planned to cut through several villages on the outskirts of Birmingham and around Warwickshire, as well as Sheldon, in Birmingham, which would see 50 homes destroyed. The new student residence of Birmingham City University, Curzon Gate, would have to be demolished which would lead to BCU demanding a £30 million refund. Water Orton, a small village of 3500 residents in North Warwickshire, would see many of its homes destroyed to make way for the HS2, which would pass directly outside the village’s primary school. Gilson in North Warwickshire found just west of the M42, M6 interchange would see the HS2 track built to its East, leaving it a triangle of land surrounded by rail and road.
In the case of land take, the change would be the fact that homes are destroyed to make way for the HS2, leaving many residents homeless. In response to this, the government have offered to build new homes for the residents and have even offered compensation. However, the compensation package on the table doesn’t cover how much the homes are actually worth.
