Villagers on front line of HS2 ‘don’t recognise’ their home and say: ‘Welcome to hell’

It was a peaceful village until HS2 moved in. What was once a serene rural scene is now a 'hellish 24/7 building site', according to residents.

Fed-up villagers in Water Orton^[1] said they no longer recognised the formerly-pleasant spot just outside Birmingham. Work on the first phase controversial high-speed railway has continued after the Government controversially scrapped the project's northern leg.

Two giant viaducts, in the process of being built, will eventually carry trains over the M42 and River Tame. But, years into the project, some villagers have simply had enough.

Water Orton's tiny high street leads into small estates and from there quickly turns into countryside reshaped by HS2. Within a 20-minute window, we counted 14 highway maintenance trucks travelling along residential roads.

Julie Carr, owner of family-run business Coleshill Tool Service Centre, told us HS2 works had caused "upheaval" and "mess". "It's been going on for a long time," said Julie who has lived and worked in the village for 39 years.

"And, sadly, it's going to go on a lot longer. In a few weeks, they're going to install traffic lights for two years down the road from us. When [temporary lights] are put up here, it causes absolute chaos. Traffic will back up all the way through.

"It's a shame. It's not a village anymore...it's just a building site."

Julie said Water Orton^[3] before HS2 was "lovely" and "quiet". She added: "Everywhere you go now, no matter which lane you go down, they've taken over. Trucks and goodness knows what else."

Janet, 65, who lives on Birmingham Road^[4], said HS2 had turned the tranquil village into a "hellish" place to live. "It feels like we're living on a 24/7 construction site with trucks passing through constantly," she said.

"It's a blot on our land. Just feel like we're living in a bit of a tip now, kind of like if you go the day without a shower? It's a mess.

"I moved into my home decades ago. The last few years, with this, have been rubbish. I think most would agree they want the HS2 stuff done and dusted as quickly as possible."

Watton Lane^[5] resident Joe, told us HS2 had been "disruptive". "Some people think it's ruined the entire village: roads closed everywhere, traffic light systems in place.

"It's not just HS2 workers either. You've got others coming around all the time like the water board and telecoms. It can get really busy.

"But, I suppose, instead of moaning about it, we just have to get on with it. Nothing we can do.

"What annoys me though is that, to me, [HS2] was an idea on a beer mat in a pub when Labour were in power. Conservatives and Lib Dems took over and thought to themselves, 'oh yeah that's a good idea, we'll have that', and it's been a farce ever since. Nobody voted for this; not in my view."

On the Government amputating the northern leg of HS2, Joe added: "There's an argument they should have started up north, brought it down to Birmingham, and then decided whether to go to London or not. It's all just costing far too much; waste of money."

Joe added that in his opinion HS2 is "nothing more than a vanity project". "Japan, Spain and France have all got [high-speed railways], everyone's got it, so we thought 'oh, we'll have to get it too'. But we don't need it. We're too small an island."

Joe, who played rugby as a youngster, said Old Saltleians Rugby Club relocating to a "wonderful facility" due to HS2 purchasing land where it was previously based was one of "the few side benefits".

HS2 viaducts in the village will hold 700 metres of new track over the River Tame and a network of existing transport links, including the Birmingham-Peterborough line, running between Water Orton and Coleshill Parkway stations. Latest designs from HS2 show landscaped areas that will provide green public spaces and wildlife habitats below.

A HS2 spokesperson told BirminghamLive: “We take our responsibilities to local communities very seriously and try to minimise the impacts of construction wherever possible. We’ve built a haul road in this location - carrying our vehicles directly off the nearby M6/M42 link roads to the works site - which means HS2 construction traffic doesn’t travel through Water Orton village or pass people’s homes.

"We’ve also listened carefully to residents and introduced a range of measures based on their feedback. Additional noise mitigation, road sweeping, window cleaning, and access to car washing facilities are just some of the measures now in place, and we encourage the residents to keep talking to us so we can act on their concerns.”

References

1. ^{^} Water Orton (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^{^} 'High demand' as cash-strapped Birmingham City Council to sell dozens of properties at auction (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Water Orton (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Birmingham Road (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Watton Lane (www.birminghammail.co.uk)