Gillan responds to 'resignation calls' from anti-HS2 groups

Sep 24 2010 By Jack Abell

Cheryl Gillan

MP CHERYL Gillan has spoken out against calls for her resignation following a meeting about the High Speed rail line through the Chilterns.

Before the meeting, which took place on Wednesday night, there had been calls fom anti-HS2 groups for Mrs Gillan to resign from her position because of her government's stance on the issue.

Mrs Gillan has spoken out against the plans in the past, but Philip Hammond, secretary of state for transport, recently confirmed the scheme in a speech on September 10.

After the meeting on Wednesday, Mrs Gillan said: "I was pleased with the positive response from the Secretary of State to my invitation to look at the route proposed by the last Labour government for HS2 through the Chesham and Amersham constituency.

"I am grateful that some of the leaders of our campaigns challenging various aspects of the proposals were able to put questions to the Transport Secretary.

"This allowed him to see at first hand the strength of feeling on this issue in the Chilterns.

"There are many serious questions to be answered on the current plans but I am reassured that the consultation in the New Year will cover the business case as a whole, the route corridor and route mitigations.

"In response to my question the Secretary of State laid out the proposed timetable which included publishing the Environmental Impact Assessment, consulting in 2011 with a response to that consultation coming at the end of 2011, followed by 18 months of engineering investigations before any legislation was introduced in Spring 2013 in the form of a hybrid bill.

"We are at the beginning of a long process and I will continue to work alongside my constituents making the detailed and complex arguments in order to protect our precious environment here in Chesham and Amersham.”