HS2 is a ‘roll of the dice’ for the West Midlands, says Andy Street

The remarks were heard at the Midlands Connect conference held yesterday , where a new transport plan was set out.

The ‘Strategic Transport Plan’, with the slogan ‘greener, fairer, stronger’, aims to improve east-to-west transport links, recognise social mobility in travel, and to make the case for the government, public, and private sectors, and to invest money in projects to ‘level up’ the region.

Debates around whether the ‘eastern leg’ between Birmingham and Leeds, was “dead in the water” were also discussed, after the conference heard the project may not be ready until 2040.

Mr Street said HS2 was ‘on target’ to deliver 20,000 jobs. “We always said that in the construction of HS2, it was said there would be 20,000 jobs for the West Midlands – that looks as though it is on target.

“Just last week, Balfour Beatty Vinci, were talking about 3,000 jobs that they have bought in, they’ve invested with us building HS2 colleges in one of the toughest areas in the city. Youngsters are coming in, literally off the street, moving into the training, and into a job there.”

Mr Street added ‘tough political leadership’ was key ahead of claims only London would benefit from HS2.

“But political leadership is about taking tough decisions. And actually, that’s what the Prime Minister has done. He said; ‘We are going to back this’, and if any of these parts, he told him to turn his back, he said; ‘No, it’s the right thing to do’.

“In lots of ways, it’s been made more acceptable to some of the areas in the south-east, we’re lobbying strongly against it. Most of the line goes under the Chiltern underground. So the environmental impact is limited.

“There is a big cost consequence of that, it all has to be balanced. But ultimately, the economics of this is very clear. All of the big agencies that have looked at this confirm that it is the Midlands that will gain most from this by being the centre of it.

“Yes, there’s a benefit for London. Yes, there’s a benefit for the nation as a whole, but he’s primarily a roll of the dice in favour of the Midlands and the north.”

When asked whether HS2 was a ‘long way away’, and whether improvements to existing lines could work, Mr Street said Birmingham city centre is already ‘awash’ with planning applications as a result of investment.

“The best way for opening as soon as possible on the shortest length of tracks. If it only goes on ‘X’ years before it can go to Euston, we’ll take that because it gives us an advantage already.

“But let’s say that seven years away, if you’re a property developer, that’s tomorrow, those are the decisions you’re taking now. So this for us is not a future tense question, it’s right now.”

Max Sugarman, public affairs and PR director for the Rail Industry Association, asked a panel on HS2 whether transport links between Birmingham and Leeds were ‘dead’, after the government scrapped it as part of its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) last November.

Maria Machancoses, Midlands Connect CEO, said: “What the transport plan today and the Midlands is quite clear about, is that to us the debate is not dead.

“We really believe that when it came to perhaps, the West Midlands into Manchester, there was a massive argument around capacity. When it came to the eastern leg, it was more about transformation or connectivity, which at the moment, the links between Birmingham and Leeds, are very, very poor.

“The study that I’m planning is going to take over the next few years, that’s going to be hugely important not only for the West Midlands and the eastern leg, but also particularly for East Midlands colleagues as well.

“The whole debate about how we go to north is also a Midlands debate because the Midlands does care about how we reach our northern cities, colleagues, and towns.”

Ben Bradley, MP for Mansfield, said: “The East Midlands is a very different economy, It’s not one urban centre, it’s lots. Our jobs are in Nottingham, in Leicester, Derby, but also on the M1 corridor also off the main stations around the East Coast mainline.

“I don’t think it’s clear whether you would benefit in the same way from a high speed line from Nottingham, Derby, to Sheffield, and Leeds. I think there’s a lot to be said for improvements and upgrades around Nottingham, Sheffield, around the East Coast and how we link more widely across the whole geography.

“I think I don’t know the answer to that myself quite yet. So we need to really investigate. In one way or another, there will be a decision, and there will be a commitment to build or upgrade that connection between Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield, and Leeds.”

Mr Street added: “My answer is simple: it will happen eventually.

“The whole point here is we have to defend the why we had to defend the link to Nottingham, that is brilliant, frankly, 26 minutes to Nottingham. Once the spine is there, it can be extended at a time in the future that will happen. So I’m sure that that will come in due course.”