HS2 delays are prolonging our agony, say Staffordshire farmers

Siân and David Froggatt say their health has suffered due to stress from HS2 works

"By the time this train is running, we'll probably be dead."

For more than 100 years, farming has been in Siân Froggatt's family. Now, some of the land they've owned for more than a century is also owned by HS2.

When a two-year delay was announced to the second phase of high speed rail, Mrs Froggatt, from Blithbury, a small village in Staffordshire, said a longer time living with works and disruption would "prolong the agony".

Landowners along the route have faced acquisition from the HS2 company to build the line as well as access roads, gravel pits and moving gas pipes.

Mrs Froggatt said HS2 had taken ownership of land that crossed her farm's north and south drives - their only access points - in February.

"Our experience has been horrendous," she said. "It's like owning a house but someone else owns your living room."

It's made it harder for her to access some of her fields, adding at least 15 minutes to journeys and meaning an increase in traffic through her local village.

Mrs Froggatt said part of their south drive had been acquired by HS2

The acquisition followed years of discussion and appearances before select committees in Parliament. But Mrs Froggatt said their demands had still been "completely ignored".

She said as well as her drives, HS2 now owned part of their fish shed and stables and a haul road had also been built across fields.

Hundreds of dump trucks use this route every day and the noise, she says, is having an impact on her livestock.

"It's a dreadful situation," she said.

The couple's mental health has been affected by the stress.

"We feel trapped in this ongoing nightmare - we don't have a pension, the property was our pension and its value has gone overnight."

The railway's first phase, which will see the line connect Birmingham and London, will still go ahead. However, it is the onward phase, connecting Birmingham and Crewe, that will be delayed in a bid to cut costs.

HS2 said land acquisition on the route between the West Midlands and Crewe would continue, and environmental work would carry on. But it added "major new works" would now be deferred.

The industry has warned the government the delay will increase costs in the long term and concerns have been raised the link to Crewe could end up being scrapped altogether.

Joy Fielding farms land in Staffordshire that has been in her family for generations

Joy Fielding and her partner Barry Stoney said HS2 had acquired land in almost all of their fields at their farm near Kings Bromley.

Like Mrs Froggatt, the land has been in Ms Fielding's family for years.

"I'm the third generation," she said, her voice filling with emotion. "My grandfather farmed this land, then my father.

"He died in 1985 and me and my brother have been farming ever since."

The couple hope the second phase of HS2 will be scrapped altogether

Now in their 70s, Ms Fielding said the train line works had been "incredibly stressful" and "heart breaking".

The couple mostly farm vegetables but they have also planted woodland on their land, five acres of which was removed to make way for HS2.

They said they were subject to compulsory purchase orders but had not yet received any money.

HS2 has used the land to install burrow pits and fields have been affected for water and gas pipes to be moved.

"Barry and I, we're getting on in life, we want to enjoy our woods, our lake," Ms Fielding said. "Now we have more uncertainty - how do we plan?"

Part of the farm's woodland has been acquired by HS2

She hopes the farm will stay in the family when they decide to retire, but they sometimes question how they will continue.

"We're damned if we stay and we're damned if we move," Ms Fielding said.

She said the couple did not yet know from HS2 what the delay would mean as work is paused on their land, but see it as a "grace" period.

They hope it will at least provide a reprieve from "the noise, the dust, the lights" as well as the time spent trying to make sure their needs are not overlooked.

Despite the uncertainty of the delay, and the works they have already endured, Ms Fielding still hopes to see the rail line stopped.

"If it is scrapped, I'd be over the moon," she said. "The mental stuff it does to you... It's incredibly stressful."

In a statement about the planned section of line between Birmingham and Crewe, HS2 told the BBC: "The railway will still be built."

It said of compulsory purchase orders: "People can request an advance on their payment and we always endeavour to pay claimants fair and timely compensation.

"We have updated our procedures to improve claimants' experience, including launching a number of schemes to speed up the payments.

"We encourage people affected by compulsory purchase to take professional advice early to support their claims."

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Further down the track, in phase one, villagers in Burton Green, Warwickshire, have previously spoken angrily to the BBC about the impact of HS2 in their area.

Adrian Hickinbottom said a lot of his friends and neighbours had moved away when the railway threatened to bisect the village.

"We were all very anti-HS2 when it was announced, there were a lot of objections to it," he said.

"It has kind of broken the community because a lot of people have moved out and moved on, friends and neighbours moved away."

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Following years of disruption, the tunnel has been built underneath the village between Coventry and Kenilworth and now work has been completed, residents say they feel much more positive.

"It's been a 13-year journey since it was first announced," said Paddy Deeley, who lives near the tunnel's embankment.

"I think we've all moved on from the initial pain and anger and tears.

"Life goes on, a lot of stuff has been mitigated over the years."

An HS2 tunnel in Burton Green has been completed after years of disruption

One of those mitigating factors is a new £2m community centre, built by money HS2 provided.

Ownership has officially been handed over to the Burton Green Village Hall Trust and Mr Hickinbottom hopes it will attract more people to move to the area.

"We have a focal point, a nice new focal point that we're hoping will attract the people that have lived in Burton Green through this, but also the new people that have moved in since they've started construction," he said.

The previous village hall was earmarked for demolition to make way for HS2

Ms Deeley said relationships with HS2 "weren't very good to begin with" but had "improved dramatically over time".

"I would say HS2 have learnt a lot from how they dealt with things in the early says," Ms Deeley said.

"We've just got to get on with it - if they do something we're not happy with, we tell them and things do get changed and they do work with us."