If you are interested or concerned about the proposed HS2 development you MUST go along to the current set of Consultative Presentations that the government have set up to provide the public with information and justifications as to why they wish to spend this vast amount of money on this financially dubious venture.

I'm not going to present a case for or against it here, but just note a couple of my observations and recommend that everyone go and see what the government have to say and judge it for your self.

When you see data presented that states that this development will save 6 Million air trips per year as part of the business case, you have to wonder about the rest of the data on which the business case is built.

As no one can fly from Birmingham to London on a commercial flight, this relies on passengers who would have taken flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool chosing to take the train instead. That's roughly 1 Million passengers per airport / year, i.e ~20,000 / week i.e 3,000 passenger / day , at 100 / plane = 30 flights per day cancelled and replaced by people taking the train to London. That doesn't sound like a solid statistic from which to base a business case, so you just have to questions all the other "statistics" on which the case is built (which many MPs who are bothering to look into it are now agreeing just doesn't stack up).

You really also need to go into the Sound Booth to listen how quiet these trains are - it really is UNBELIEVABLE. The Bus that drives past the listening point is thunderous and the Sparrow in the tree next to you drowns out the sound of the distant train!

So why is there such a bug push by the government for this development. Well it doesn't come out of their budget - if it did based on their current budget proposals it would be cut immediately. SO why on earth do they want to land the future governments and our chilldren in a position to have to pay back all this money in 10-30 years time.

You  need to ask your selves these questions and make your comments on whether you think this is a worthwhile way to spend £17 Billion plus.

There are more meetings scheduled as follows:

24th May (Chipping Warden Village Hall)

25th May (Upper Boddington Village Hall)

26th May (Calvert Green)

27-28th May (Brackley Leisure Centre)

2nd June (Ladbroke - Bell Inn)

3-4th June (Southam)

6th June (Cubbington Sports & Social)

7th June (Balsall Common)

8-9th June (Litchfiled Guild Hall)

11th June (Water Orton)

13-14th June (Kenilworth - Holiday Inn)

15th June (Hampton in Arden - Sports Centre)

17-18th June (Birmingham - Museam and Art Gallery)

Check out http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk for more info.

Don't let it just happen - Get involved - Check it out - Have your say!