Please respond as next time it could be you
Martin Halliday’s main point in last week’s letters column was well illustrated by the letter from Amanda Roy.
Those who read only the front page article of the KWN can be forgiven for thinking that the whole compensation package offered is “fair and reasonable”. As Nick Hillard points out, the high-profile part of the package is only available to a small minority. The majority of those whose property values are adversely affected by HS2 will have to rely on the “exceptional hardship scheme” (EHS). Under this scheme, the Government will purchase the property, but only if owners have a “strong personal need to move” and cannot sell their property without incurring a “significant loss”. It is also important to note that for properties within the “safeguarded area” (within 60 metres of the line), the Government will pay the “un-blighted” price, but those words are absent in the EHS. So, to summarise, there must be a strong need to move plus a significant loss, and even then the implication is that Government will not pay the full un-blighted price.
Let’s be clear about the sort of loss that those who have to rely on the EHS might incur. A local estate agent advises that those around a quarter of a mile from the line can currently expect a loss of about 20 per cent; that is £100,000 on a house with an un-blighted value of £500,000.
My question to readers not affected by HS2 is – if the Government caused the value of your property to fall by 20 per cent, would you think that the EHS provides fair and reasonable compensation? Would David Cameron? Of course not. Our MP, Jeremy Wright, certainly doesn’t think so, as he makes clear elsewhere in this paper. We need to send the Government the strongest possible message that the only fair scheme is one which provides 100 per cent compensation, regardless of the reason for moving. I therefore urge you to respond to the consultation paper saying this. Next time – it could be you! - Mervyn Harvey, Red Lane, Burton Green.
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Monday 20 May 2013
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