The Member Project Board (MPB) agreed on 14 January that our key messages should be:
The authorities in Buckinghamshire and Hillingdon have come together to oppose the proposals for High Speed rail as they are currently constructed.
We do not believe that the business case stacks up and therefore cannot support the route suggested by the Government and are actively working on a plan to strongly object to the proposals.
We are opposed to the current High Speed rail proposals as they are presently outlined and do not believe that they are in the best interests of the UK as a whole in terms of the benefits claimed in the business case.
We are not opposed to the need for higher speed rail per se and fully acknowledge the need for strategic improvement to the national rail infrastructure but cannot agree with the current proposals as the economic and environmental benefits are not at all credible.
We do not believe that all the other alternatives to achieve the transport capacity, regeneration and environmental benefits have been fully explored by the Government and with the billions of pounds that are proposed to be invested, we owe it to the nation to ensure these are fully explored.
The overarching campaign message is: “Is HS2 the right investment priority for the UK?”