30.07.10
No local veto over High Speed Rail
The Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has said that no local communities will be given the opportunity to veto the government’s high speed rail plans.
He has said that they will receive help to accommodate any changes to their communities because of the infrastructure project.
He said that ‘one of the functions of governments is to balance national benefits with local disbenefits.’
He said: “People who currently are faced with extreme hardship as a result of the identification of that route have the possibility of being able to sell their properties, notwithstanding the inevitable planning blight.”
Whilst the construction of a high speed rail network may be bad new for some communities, it will provide a huge number of jobs in rail for many years, across a variety of sectors.
(Image courtesy of Paul Goyette)
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