CHANCELLOR and Tatton MP George Osborne is happy to claim HS2 Phase 2 will be an engine for growth, ignoring the fact that HS2 and its supporters are railroading their way through all objections, and very soon the countryside, and, in so doing, blighting the lives and prospects of thousands who had imagined they lived in idyllic locations but who will now be simply ridiculed as NIMBYs.

Mr Osborne is also happy to tell the world that he is not a NIMBY because the line runs through his constituency, albeit round the edges, and where he has no roots!

Knutsford people should be wary, however, as the Transport Secretary has pointed out that the published plan is the initial preferred route.

When logic sets in and the route is revised, Mr Osborne will be able to say he did his best for the town.

Mancunians and an army of civil engineers will love HS2 – and who could blame them – with the former getting an unobtrusive seven-mile tunnel into the city (no NIMBYs here) and the latter a 20+ years’ construction project involving lots of interesting challenges.

Clr Michael Jones, Cheshire East Council leader, in his submission of July 2012 – gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/68953/from-rail-town-to-high-speed-rail-city-a-vision-for-crewe.pdf – declared his support for the scheme, emphasising the Crewe hub, with which the Government has complied, at least initially. Excellent for Crewe, if you live well away from the rail lines, but the existing lines from Manchester to the south will become virtually redundant unless there is a significant price differential – currently not planned.

Places to the east of the HS2 line such as Stockport, Macclesfield and Stoke will lose some, if not all their through services to London but will, by 2032+, depend on feeder services to Manchester or Crewe for a (possibly) faster service than they presently enjoy.

MC HOLLIDAY Knutsford