On Merits - Praying to Be Heard by Counsel, &C
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IN PARLIAMENT 1027 HOUSE OF COMMONS SESSION 2013-2014 High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Against the Bill - On Merits - Praying to be heard by counsel, &c. To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament Assembled THE HUMBLE PETITION of MR RICHARD ANTHONY LLOYD SHEWETH as follows: - 1. A Bill (hereinafter called "the Bill") has been introduced into and is now pending in your honourable House intituled "A Bilito make provision for a railway between Euston in London and a junction with the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre in Staffordshire, with a spur from Old Oak Common in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to a Junction with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at York Way in the London Borough of Islington and a spur from Water Orton in Warwickshire to Curzon Street in Birmingham; and for connected purposes". 2. The Bill is presented by Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Theresa May, Secretary Vince Cable, Secretary lain Duncan Smith, Secretary Eric Pickles, Secretary Owen Paterson, Secretary Edward Davey, and Mr Robert Goodwill. 3. Clauses 1 to 18 set out the Bill's objectives in relation to the authorisation of works and the acquisition of land and rights over land. Clauses 19 to 36 make provision for the deeming of planning permission and the disapplication of powers contained in other legislation on matters such as heritage issues, trees, traffic, and noise. Clauses 37 to 42 set out the regulatory regime for the railway. Clauses 43 to 56 establish further powers relating to the nominated undertaker, additional related works, and the Crown. Clauses 57 to 65 of the Bill deal with miscellaneous and general provisions. 4. The works proposed to be authorised by the Bill are specified in clauses 1 and 2 of and Schedules 1, 2 and 3 to the Bill. They consist of scheduled works, which are described in Page 1 Schedule 1 to the Bill and other works, which are described in clause 2 of and Schedules 2 and 3 to the Bill, and which are works authorised to be constructed by the nominated undertaker (defined in the Bill and hereinafter referred to as "the nominated undertaker"). The Petitioner 5. Your Petitioner is Richard Anthony Lloyd, who has resided in Balsall Common for 30 years in a property some 750 metres distant from the proposed railway. For many years, your Petitioner has walked the public rights of way in the surrounding area as an adjunct to his interest in mountaineering, and has built-up a database of all the local paths as a basis for encouraging proper maintenance by the local Highway Authorities - Solihull, Coventry, and Warwickshire. In 2006, your Petitioner carried out a comprehensive survey of 100 kilometres of paths around Balsall Common. 6. Your Petitioner is a current member of the Coventry Mountaineering Club, Ramblers Association, Solihull Photographic Society, and the National Trust, and is registered with the Scottish Mountaineering Club as Munroist number 2832. 7. As a user of all the public rights of way around Balsall Common for 2 to 4 hours every day, the rights and interests of your Petitioner are injuriously affected by the Bill, either directly or indirectly. Objection is taken to the part of the proposed works and the provisions of the Bill that are injurious, as set out in the following paragraphs. Public rights of way for non-motorised users 8. Public footpaths and bridleways are valued by many members of the community. In some instances, they can be used for utilitarian purposes, for travelling from A to B, but the majority of use is recreational. Physical exercise and dog-walking are predominant, but nature-watching, casual social activities, and art or photography are all important. Physical exercise includes walking, jogging, cycling, and horse-riding. For all purposes, getting away from motorised traffic and other disturbances is important. 9. When it becomes necessary to alter a non-motorised route, it is essential that both the convenience and the amenity are preserved. The convenience aspect means that the origin and destination must remain useful and accessible, the path should continue to be part of a practical circuit or network, and the surface condition and drainage must be suitable for all seasons and users. The amenity includes factors such as having a purposeful route, keeping the path open on both sides, preserving attractive landscape, minimising noise disturbance, and having points of interest or refreshment along the way. Rural amenity 10. Whilst your Petitioner asserts that the preservation of rural amenity is important for the recreational use of public rights of way, this would not conflict with or preclude the provision of facilities for those who wish to watch operation of the proposed railway. It is critical to the rural amenity that the structures for the proposed railway are of pleasing design, agricultural activity is re-established around the railway, and that suitable screening plantings and replacement habitats are established. The impact of noise is discussed in paragraph 11. Your Petitioner seeks undertakings from the Page 2 Promoter that all elements of the proposed scheme will be designed to harmonise with adjacent buildings and scenery, that measures will be taken to prevent loss of Greenbelt land in consequence of the proposed railway, that a fund and management board will be created to encourage the merging of fragmented farmland into viable agricultural holdings, and that woodland and wildlife habitat will be created in line with best- practice guidance in suitable locations to naturalise the proposed railway and mitigate its ecological impacts. Noise disturbance 11. The tranquillity of the countryside is a key element of rural amenity, and special measures are needed to mitigate the intrusive noise level that is generated by railway trains at high speed. A particular problem is the rapid onset of the noise pulse. For footpaths and cycleways, the peak potential disturbance would occur where the way passes over or under the railway. Exposure to high noise would be relatively brief, but there is good scope for effective noise barriers around bridges and underpasses. Your Petitioner seeks undertakings from the Promoter that acoustic disturbance from the proposed railway will be moderated by the design of the trains, barriers, and regulation of the speed of the trains, and that the maximum noise experienced on a footpath or cycleway from the passage of a single train will not exceed 75 dBA. 12. The reaction of animals to sudden loud noise levels is understood to vary with species. Horses can be startled by noise, by visual effects, or the combination for the two. In the context of public rights of way, serious danger can be created to horse-riders and those walking with, or leading, horses. Because of the combined effects of acoustic and visual stimuli, your Petitioner believes the safe maximum noise level for a bridleway would need to be determined locally. Regulation of highways in the construction phase 13. Temporary closure or diversion of footpaths and bridleways during the construction phase will cause disruption, inconvenience and - in some cases - financial loss. The likely inconvenience that would be caused by a closure or diversion is hard to determine without local knowledge, and the Promoter only proposes to review matters at the Highway Authority level. Your Petitioner seeks amendments to the Code of Construction Practice and an undertaking from the Promoter that the nominated undertaker and its contractors will be required to apply for the closure or diversion of bridleways and footpaths through a community engagement process that would give the relevant parish or town council the right of refusal, and that would require a clear procedure to ensure closures, diversions, and restrictions are properly coordinated and well signed. Public Bridleway W164 14. Public Bridleway W164 forms a part of National Cycle Network National Route 52, which links Warwick and Coventry via Kenilworth and Warwick University. The route was upgraded to a cycleway by the Sustrans Connect2Kenilworth project, and 1s an important route for both commuting by cycle, and leisure. The current route of the way would pass over the proposed railway. Work No. 2/146, at an elevation of 7.52 metres above the rails. Users include horses, cyclists, and disability scooters, so any bridge over the railway would need to protect users from the rapid-onset noise from the trains, and Page 3 shield horses from visual disturbance. The Promoter proposes to divert the way in a loop that would lengthen it by 300 metres and introduce two right-angle-bends and a bridge. Work No. 2/176, over the proposed railway. The bridge would have a 12 metre height change, and a steep gradient, and would encourage cyclists to reach speeds that are a danger to other users. The slope would be hazardous for all users in icy conditions. It would appear the Promoter is trying to avoid providing bridges over the diverted Canley Brook, Work No. 2/175, as only a modest humped bridge would be needed to pass over the proposed railway itself. The diversion of the bridleway, as currently proposed, would result in a serious loss of convenience, safety, and amenity. Your Petitioner seeks an undertaking from the Promoter that bridleway W164 will be kept close to its current alignment, that suitable bridges will be provided over the diverted Canley Brook and the proposed railway, that barriers will be provided to protect users from noise from the trains, that the noise barriers will be designed to tone in with the natural environment, and that the Promoter will certify that sound levels and sightlines at all points on the way are safe for the riding and leading of horses.