Last month, HS2 Limited issued “Rebalancing Britain,” its vision for the HS2 project. One of the key aspirations for Phase 2 is the speeding up of delivery of the Western leg between Birmingham and Manchester, with the proposed North West Hub being at Crewe. Accordingly, Sir David Higgins, Chairman of HS2 Limited, recommended that delivery be accelerated to 2027 instead of 2033 so that the North and Scotland would begin to feel the benefit of HS2 as early as possible.
Although Stoke on Trent continues to mount a strong case for being the centre for the North West Hub, Crewe continues to be the preferred location. As a consequence, consultation has now started to safeguard and protect the land identified for HS2 between Fradley and Crewe from conflicting development.
Stephen Lashmar, Senior Surveyor at Roger Hannah & Co., comments, “This announcement suggests that HS2 Limited is firming up the route of Phase 2, which will hopefully bring some clarity to property owners and other affected parties after a number of years of uncertainty.”.