Report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development)

This report informs the Executive about the deposit of the HS2 hybrid Bill in Parliament on 24^th January 2022; the public consultations on the Environmental Statement (ES) and Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) for the Bill; and outlines the Council’s proposed response to these consultations. The report further outlines the key areas on which the Council is proposing to petition against the hybrid Bill, subject to the approval of Council on 4^th March to submit a petition. 

The Committee were invited to considered and comment on the report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) that informed the Executive about the deposit of the HS2 hybrid Bill in Parliament on 24 January 2022; the public consultations on the Environmental Statement (ES) and Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) for the Bill; and outlined the Council’s proposed response to these consultations. The report further outlined the key areas on which the Council was proposing to petition against the hybrid Bill, subject to the approval of Council on 4 March to submit a petition. 

Key points and themes of the report included:-

·                An introduction and background to the HS2 Crewe-Manchester hybrid Bill;

·                HS2 Crewe-Manchester hybrid Bill Environmental Statement;

·                Describing the key themes and issues identified;

·                Immediate next steps;

·                Next steps on the wider HS2 programme; and

·                Conclusion.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:-

·                Supporting the ambitions of HS2 to deliver wider connectivity with the North, however calling for the Government’s immediate attention to, and due consideration given to the concerns raised by Manchester;

·                Supporting the call for an underground, through platform at Piccadilly train station to accommodate HS2 and meet the capacity needs;

·                Noting that the proposals offered to Manchester would not be acceptable in London;

·                The current HS2 proposals were contrary to the many ambitions and policies that city had to address issues such as improving active travel; addressing carbon emissions; protecting the heritage of the city and supporting biodiversity;

·                Further detailed information was required from HS2 on the mitigation proposed to protect Northenden and Didsbury from flooding following the installation of the Withington Golf Club vent shaft;

·                The proposed vent at Fallowfield Retail Park, Birchfield Road would adversely impact local residents; and

·                The consultation events delivered by HS2 had not been satisfactory.

The Director of City Centre Growth and Infrastructure commented that all of the concerns expressed by the Members would be articulated in the submission to Government. She stated that they had lobbied HS2 and the Department for Transport on these and other issues as described in the report over a number of years without satisfactory response.

The Leader commented that this was an opportunity to deliver improvements and deliver the ambitions of Northern Powerhouse Rail to deliver a truly connected network, however the current proposals fell short of delivering on the ambitions for Manchester. She stated that the issue of capacity needed to be adequately addressed, adding that this could only be achieved with the installation of an underground, through platform at Piccadilly train station.    

Decision

The Committee endorse the recommendations that the Executive:

(1)     Note the deposit in Parliament of the HS2 Crewe-Manchester hybrid Bill and the accompanying ES and EQIA.

(2)     Note and comment on the proposed contents of the City Council’s submission in response to the consultations on the HS2 Crewe-Manchester hybrid Bill ES and EQIA.

(3)     Note Council approval to submit a petition to object to aspects of the HS2 Crewe-Manchester hybrid Bill and comment on the proposed areas for the City Council’s petition, and

(4)     Delegate authority to the Strategic Director – Growth & Development, in consultation with the Leader and Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport, to finalise the responses to the HS2 Crewe-Manchester hybrid Bill Environmental Statement and EQIA and submit to DfT.