Residents still awaiting compensation over HS2 leg

Bernard Kettle says his farm has been stripped of its value

Residents who were forced out of their homes to make way for the scrapped northern leg of HS2 are still waiting for compensation six months on.

Some say they have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds in life-altering moves to make way for the West Midlands-to-Manchester high speed rail scheme.

Many properties that were vacated for the project remain empty and unused.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was continuing to develop a clear programme for selling land no longer needed for HS2.

Ben Wilkes of the Border Collie Trust says the charity spent more than £136,000 on a new field for the dogs

A number of families living in Stockwell Heath, near Rugeley, were forced to sell their homes and say the now scrapped plan has ripped the heart out of their once vibrant community.

Less than a mile away in Colton, Border Collie Trust bosses say they are frustrated after spending more than £136,000 on a replacement field to exercise the dogs.

They had been told part of the site was subject to a compulsory purchase order that was due to take place this year.

Ben Wilkes, a trustee, said: “It has been very frustrating and aggravating - I can’t think of enough adjectives to describe how difficult it has been.”

'Treated as a non-entity'

Bernard Kettle lost 40 acres (16 hectares) of his farm in Madeley, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, to the HS2 scheme.

The 82-year-old, who has had four heart attacks since 2021, was told he would be paid £230,000 but claims he has not received a penny.

His access drive was compulsory purchased, and without it, Mr Kettle says his farm has lost its value.

“We’ve been treated as a non-entity and walked all over,” he said.

“They’ve destroyed the land, the lane is gradually disappearing and the fields are inaccessible.”

Mr Kettle says his farm has been ruined by the scrapped plan

Last October, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the northern high-speed rail line was no longer going ahead, but the funding would be reallocated to other transport improvements in northern England.

Mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester unveiled three options to boost existing rail connections last month.

These include:

• Enhance the West Coast Main Line;

• Build bypasses at the most congested parts of the line;

• Build a brand new line possibly following the track of the cancelled HS2 route

An HS2 spokesperson said: “We recognise that people did not choose to live in the path of a high speed railway, and understand the frustration they may now feel following the cancellation of the northern sections of HS2.”

The rail provider also said it was working with the Border Collie Trust to settle its claim.

The majority of Mr Kettle’s claims for compensation had been paid, it added, and an interim solution for accessing his site was provided.