• "Our street" - moving video as an ageing community in Hampstead discuss the prospect of leaving their homes.
• Latest Newsletter to supporters (earlier newsletters here)     Earlier HS2 news
• Bucks County Council HS2 Summit 19 April 2012 - see video highlights
• Government to be taken to court over HS2 - see BBC Oxford broadcast
• Report on Great Missenden businesses affected by HS2
  
• CCG submission April 2012 to CAA and Environment Consultation
• CCG submission April 2012 to London Luton Airport Operator Limited masterplan consultation.
  
• CCG submission March 2012 to Luton Borough Council consultation "futureTuToN:Optimisation"  - more details
  
• CCG submission March 2012 to All Party Parliamentary Group for High Speed Rail's Inquiry into High Speed Rail
• CCG News - Funds urgently needed in next stage of HS2 campaign 
• Transport Secretary hears truth from Chiltern Conservation Board
• CCG response (February 2012) to Government response to Transport Committee report on High Speed Rail

HS2 CAMPAIGN

DFT ADMITS HS2 BUSINESS CASE FOR PHASE 1 NOW SUNK TO A BENEFIT COST RATIO OF 1.2 FOR EVERY POUND SPENT. 
This continues to be based on a widely-refuted assumption that all time spent by business people on a train is wasted.  Experts disagree - if this element is taken out of the costings, the true BCR looks nearer to 0.9.  This means HS2 will lose 10 pence for every £1.00 spent on it.  Full story see: http://www.51m.co.uk  or press coverage: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/11/railways-hs2-fewer-economic-benefits?newsfeed=true

JUDICIAL REVIEWS ON GOVERNMENT'S HS2 PROPOSALS NOW BEING CONSIDERED BY JUDGE

A huge THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO IS HELPING TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THESE ACTIONS - WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN TOGETHER!  Within a few weeks, individuals and communities have donated or pledged contributions to the thousands of pounds needed to fund legal challenge - this is Big Society in action! Through the generosity of our supporters, CCG has given to the HS2 Action Alliance Legal Fund, which is headlining the challenge to the Government's decision of January 2012.

• NOW UNDER WAY FIRST STAGE OF LEGAL CHALLENGES TO GOVERNMENT ON THE DECISION TO PROCEED WITH HS2
  

  Currently, there are 3 notices of intention through Judicial Review to challenge the Transport Secretary's decision to proceed with HS2.  All have served a formal letter on the Secretary of State for Transport asking her to rescind her decision to proceed with HS2 and giving notice that they may otherwise challenge the decision by way of judicial review.

• Members of 51M, the alliance of local authorities opposed to HS2. Key points for this challenge on the grounds of an inadequate consultation are:
  (a) Failure to consult on route North of Birmingham; (b) Failure to properly consider impact of operation and construction of HS2 on Euston Underground; (c) Inadequate environmental assessment; (d) The Hybrid Bill is not compatible with the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive which requires the public to be consulted on the environmental impact before a decision is made.  For more information on these challenges, see http://www.51m.co.uk/about-51m.  Camden Borough Council has now joined 51M.
  

• HS2 Action Alliance Ltd supported by over 70 Action Groups, including the Chiltern Countryside Group, is challenging Government on 2 counts:
  
  (a) Environmental - The grounds for the environmental legal challenge are the failure of the Department for Transport to comply with the requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Regulations 2004 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010.
  The SEA Regulations require a full strategic environmental assessment of any important infrastructure project and an assessment of all alternatives to be completed before any proposals are presented for public consultation. The Government failed to do this with HS2.
  
  (b) Compensation -  The compensation Judicial Review centres on the inadequate information provided in the consultation, preventing the public from being able to give a meaningful response.  The decision was without proper justification, ignored their own criteria and relied on new undisclosed material.  Further, the decision did not meet the expectations that had been created by Government, who had promised a fair deal for those suffering losses due to a project alleged to be in the public interest.  If all the information had been provided, then the public could have responded to the questions and a different decision should have been reached.
  
  Many thousands of people through no fault of their own now find themselves trapped in their properties.  For more information on these challenges, see http://www.hs2actionalliance.org/

• Letter of complaint re: HS2 to EU from Bucks, Berks & Oxon Wildlife Trust

• CCG CONTINUES ITS CAMPAIGN TO RAISE FUNDS TO HELP COVER COSTS OF HS2 ACTION ALLIANCE/ACTION GROUPS LEGAL CHALLENGE
  
• CCG are financially supporting the legal challenge on environmental grounds led by HS2 Action Alliance but we cannot do it without YOU.  EVERYONE IN OUR CHILTERN COMMUNITIES NEEDS TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR THIS KEY ACTION. However much, or little you are able to contribute will make a difference - together, we can do it but we need every family to contribute in some way.  For information on how to make a donation please either email: info@chilterncountrysidegroup.org   or visit the HS2AA website.

• Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Transport, has published the government's decision to proceed with HS2. Details are on the DfT website . See the CCG Press Release from the previous day. Please see the CCG website's live news feed for latest info. Aerial view - the evidence is clear!
  

• January 2012 courtesy of local economist & statistician - Graph of responses to HS2 Public Consultation July 2011 questions
  
  
• The CCG will continue to object strongly to any HS2 route which passes through the Chilterns and its AONB.