What is HS2 - Property Blight

It is recognised that at 400kph, high speed trains will generate much more intrusion than conventional trains at half this speed. This will comprise both air-born sound and ground vibration. How intrusive this will be will depend on many factors such as proximity to the line and its situation (tunnel, embankment etc). The noise & vibration analysis is now underway and HS2 Ltd published its first findings during the autumn.

> Click here to view the findings by HS2.

Subjective assessments by those who have visited sites on the TGV network in France indicate that it sounds like a "low flying jet" when you are close to the line. Clearly populations along the line will suffer varying degrees of noise blight but no authoritative work to quantify the extent and resulting compensation commitments has yet been offered by the Government or HS2 Ltd.

Northamptonshire County Council has now completed its first assessment of the number properties within various distance bands adjacent to the optimised route 3; their results are presented both graphically and numerically. It can be seen that hundreds of properties would be affected and we must continue to press the county councillors to resist the inevitable political pressure to accept the route.

> Click here to view a similar report by Buckingham Council.

Blight Compensation

The Government recognised that during the period of uncertainty between its initial announcement and the finalising of the details of the route, properties close to the proposed route would suffer a degree of price blight. An initial Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) to provide compensation during this period was announced and subsequently revised following consultation. The arrangements for this are given on the HS2 website and an excellent summary of the EHS process can also be found on the HS2ActionAlliance website.

> Click here to view further information on the HS2 Website.
> Click here to view further information on the Action Alliance Website.