The residents of Camden in London NW3 have earned a reprieve from HS2-Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin will remove from the Hybrid Bill the link to HS1 that would have destroyed Camden Market and hundreds of fine streets (Town & Country, March 12)- but other organisations are less impressed with the latest news, especially that an extra 43 miles of railway, from Birmingham to Crewe, could be fast-tracked. The NFU says it’s worried by ‘the distinct lack of engagement with the farming community’.

The CLA says it’s even more imperative that HS2 looks at introducing a Property Bond scheme to compensate affected property owners. CLA president Henry Robinson says: ‘This would go some way to alleviating the blight that many on the route have felt for nearly four years, with some left unable to sell their properties and others unable to make the investments needed to keep them going.’

Last week, the Environmental Audit Committee of MPs held its first evidence hearing on HS2 with representatives of such organisations as Stop HS2, the CPRE , the Woodland Trust and the CLA.

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