HIGH SPEED RAIL - INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS WELCOMED - THOUGH THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT ROUTE

9.00.00pm GMT Thu 11th Mar 2010

Nigel Rock, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Kenilworth and Southam, has responded to the government's proposals for a new High Speed rail link between London and Birmingham.

'The Liberal Democrats have been calling for some time for major improvements in public transport and in particular for investment in more environmentally-friendly rail travel so of course I welcome any proposals to improve the national rail network in principle' said Nigel Rock.

'However, looking at the proposed route as it drives straight through the new constituency of Kenilworth and Southam, close to a number of villages, I am very concerned for the many hundreds of local people who will now face years of property blight and legal wrangling over the homes and farms in the proposed route, and the even larger number of constituents who will have to put up with enormous disruption to traffic for a couple of years while the work is completed.'

'It would be easier to persuade the people of Kenilworth and Southam to welcome the proposals if they could see some direct, personal benefit from the new rail line, but they won't. It would help if the plans included a new local station, perhaps near Banbury, so that local people and the local economy, not just Birmingham, could benefit, and I'll be pressing for this to be included. And I shall want to question the planners very carefully indeed to ensure that the route creates as little disruption as possible in mid Warwickshire.'