Residents' relief at end of HS2 restrictions

People living on land previously earmarked for the scrapped HS2 route in South Yorkshire have spoken of their relief that planning protections affecting their homes have been lifted.

The eastern leg of the project linking Birmingham and Leeds, which was cancelled in 2021, was meant to pass through Bramley, near Rotherham, and as a result the route was "safeguarded" by the government.

The safeguarding protections, ended by Transport Minister Heidi Alexander last month, meant it was harder for residents to change or sell their properties as HS2 had to first agree.

Sandra Haith, from Bramley HS2 Action Group, said there was "relief and elation as a community as people have got their homes back".

In a statement, the transport minister said the legal removal of the safeguarding directions for the eastern leg would take away the "uncertainty" that had affected people living near the proposed route.

In Bramley, the proposed high-speed HS2 route would have passed between housing and the M18, with owners of nearby properties facing the possibility of their homes being compulsorily purchased by the government and demolished.

Despite the celebrations, Ms Haith said the nine-year battle had "taken its toll" on members of the action group and local residents.

"I've just turned 72. I have better things to do with my time than fight HS2," she explained.

"For nine years people haven't been able to do what they want with their own properties."

Meanwhile, David Hatfield, another campaigner and a photographer who captured images of the route and of public meetings about HS2, said he felt a "sense of relief and finalisation" knowing the safeguarding protections had finally been lifted and the development would not be resurrected.

But he said his relief was certainly also tempered by the memories of the last nine years.

"I can still remember people coming out of meetings crying because their property was safeguarded, which meant it would be knocked down or taken off them."

On the Shimmer estate in Mexborough, a housing development where construction work got under way in 2011, the mood among people remained sombre following the transport secretary's confirmation that safeguarding protections had ended.

Just five years after work started on the estate, the homes were put under threat when proposals for the eastern leg of the HS2 route were finalised.

The original plans for the route called for the demolition of 16 properties on the estate to make way for a railway viaduct.

In the end, a large number of homeowners on the new estate sold their houses to the government and moved away.

They felt they had little choice after being told the value of the homes had declined to zero and potential new buyers were unable to get a mortgage.

A former local councillor said that today only "two or three" of the original buyers remained on the Shimmer estate.

The remainder of the 212 units there are rented out by the government, often at below market rate.

Former residents declined to talk about the transport secretary's announcement to the BBC, but Sean Gibbons, deputy leader of the Mexborough First party, said: "The damage is done here."

"Most went into negotiation with HS2 and sold their homes. Many felt they didn't get a fair deal," he said.

The transport minister's statement confirming the lifting of safeguarding along the scrapped eastern leg of HS2 referred to a programme to "dispose of" 550 properties no longer required, with the sales of those properties expected to begin in 2026.

She also confirmed that former owners would have the opportunity to buy back their homes at their current value.

But Mr Gibbons said it was "very unlikely" anyone would want to take up the offer.

"If you've been through all the turmoil, you're not going to come back," he said.

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