New HS2 petitioning opportunity as Hybrid Bill passes to House of Lords
The debate on the future of the UK’s high-speed rail network moved on a step yesterday (23 March 2016) after the House of Commons passed the third reading of the HS2 Hybrid Bill.
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The bill, which if successful, will pave the way for the construction of the first phase of HS2 between London and the West Midlands, now passes to the House of Lords.
According to parliamentary procedure, individuals or organisations “directly or specially” affected by HS2 now have the opportunity to petition the House of Lords.
Petitions can address specific parts of the bill and suggest ways to reduce the potential impact of HS2, but they cannot question the bill as a whole.
Those who petitioned the House of Commons and were satisfied with the outcome do not need to submit another petition, but those who did not achieve the desired outcome will need to resubmit an entirely new petition as the process is completely separate.
Anybody wanting to submit a petition must do so by 5pm on 18 April.
"Many of those who petitioned to the House of Commons Select Committee were appeased by the results they obtained, but in some cases further petitioning may be necessary and maintaining a dialogue with HS2 is more likely to bring appropriate mitigation if a petition has been submitted"
_James Del Mar
“As yesterday’s vote shows, cross party support for HS2 remains, despite an increasing likely total cost. It is therefore prudent to prepare on the basis that HS2 is going to happen, rather than hope that it won’t,” adds James.
Full details of the bill as amended during its third reading, including some provisions that may be beneficial to affected property owners, available on Hansard.
Despite the overall support for the bill – 399 MPs voted in favour with only 44 voting against – significant reservations were expressed yesterday by a number of MPs who felt that insufficient time had been given to debate the bill and a number of the suggested amendments that had been tabled.