HS2

When HS2 was initially announced I was supportive. As details emerged however I became sceptical, would the cost of the project ever see real benefits in South Yorkshire? And then Sheffield City Council effectively stabbed the whole of the City Region in the back by campaigning for a town centre station - and the ‘Spur’ was born.

This meant many more downsides for Rother Valley.

1. Its residents would no longer be able to access the station as easy as a Meadowhall Station

2. It tore through vast swathes of the countryside of Rother Valley, and more importantly to some, its villages and recreational facilities

3. Due to the engineering of the Spur - the proposed route will now mean that Sheffield to London (87mins) will take longer than Leeds to London (81 mins).

Net effect is that there is little to no benefit to Rother Valley of HS2. The reduction in journey time is outweighed by the inconvenience of still travelling to Sheffield (as is current).

If elected I would campaign for improvements to the Midland Main Line - electrification of this line to Sheffield (and beyond) would reduce current journey times by up to 16 minutes - and if further work was carried out to straighten the line even greater reductions can be achieved.

The major benefit of this would be a huge reduction in the capital expenditure required and I would hope that savings generated could be invested in other infrastructure projects that we are in need of - better rail connections across the North of England, more hospitals and better flood defences in high risk areas. Its a disgrace that the residents of Catcliffe worry every time we get more than 3 days of rain in a row.

PLEDGE: I would vote for the cancellation of HS2 Phase 2(b) unless the route is altered significantly to allow for a Meadowhall station. If that happens I will conduct local consultations to gauge the strength of feeling.