HS2 to host drop-in session in Kenilworth

HS2 will host two drop-in sessions next week for Kenilworth area residents to find out the latest developments on the high-speed rail.
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HS2

The first drop-in session will be held from 2 to 4pm at the Balsall Common Library on Tuesday October 15.

The second drop-in informational session will be held the same day from 6 to 8pm at The Kenilworth Centre.

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There will be an additional drop-in session from 6 to 8pm at the Ufton Village Hall on Thursday October 31.

Meanwhile Stop HS2 campaigners continue to camp at a site inside the fenced off area at Cubbington Wood.

Officials with HS2 announced last week they will not remove any ancient trees in 2019.

Instead, they will continue preparing work sites and hold off on removing trees until at least 2020.

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HS2 announced work will be deferred to autumn or winter 2020 on five of the 11 ancient woodland sites, and to early 2020 on six of the other sites.

The five ancient woodland sites to be deferred until early 2020 include Birches Wood, Broadwells Wood, Crackley Wood, Fulfen Wood, South Cubbington Wood and an unnamed Woodland south of Ashow Road.

The general clearance work in Warwickshire will begin in mid-October near Welsh Road, setting up a compound in that location.

Contractors have been instructed to continue with essential preparatory works at all the sites in Warwickshire, which includes some non-ancient vegetation clearance, fencing, and creating site accesses.

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In the sites postponed until 2020, which include Broadwells Wood, Crackley/Birches Wood and South Cubbington Wood, HS2 will still need to work among the trees to carry out measures to protect wildlife (such as bats).

This will involve some localised removal of selected tree branches for essential mitigation works to meet legal requirements for protected species, ahead of continuing work in early 2020.

HS2 said it will not remove branches from any ‘ancient’ or ‘veteran’ trees within an ancient woodland, so as not to affect the integrity of the ancient woodlands.

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