Council to spend £150,000 keeping an eye on HS2 work in Northamptonshire

Councillors have earmarked £150,000 to fund a job keeping an eye on HS2 work in West Northamptonshire.

Over the next three years, an HS2 Marshall will be tasked with ensuring:

■ Communities have a voice and are listened to

■ Planning conditions are complied with

■ Road closures are properly managed

■ Delivery vehicles follow the correct routes and that heavy deliveries are managed

■ Damage to public property, especially highways, caused by the development is remedied.

The plan, revealed in the authority's draft budget proposals for 2022-23, will be paid for out of the council's reserves.

A West Northamptonshire spokesman said: "Our members are keen to have feet on the ground, with someone overseeing the development activity and ensuring that appropriate community engagement takes place, enabling issues of concern to the affected communities to be fully addressed."

HS2 between London and the Midlands includes just under 13 miles of track through the south of the county, running through two tunnels and over three viaducts.

Work started in 2020 on the line which runs just north of Brackley and close to a number of villages including Westbury, Radstone, Sulgrave, Chipping Warden, Upper Boddington, Culworth, Whitfield and Greatworth.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson approved the go-ahead despite fierce opposition and the line is expected to be open between 2029 and 2033 and cost between £72billion and £98billion.

Local MP Dame Andrea Leadsom last year admitted she is 'ashamed' of how locals blighted by the HS2 project have been treated.

She added: "We were all promised that no expense would be spared to ensure that our communities and countryside were looked after. How wrong that proved to be."

■ An earlier version of this story stated that the cost was £300,000 based on information in the council's draft budget. West Northamptonshire Council says the correct figure is £150,000. We apologise for this error.