Contractors working for HS2 should give the public more notice about future construction works, the commissioner for the mega rail project has said.
Mark Worthington, independent construction commissioner for HS2, said contractors “are sometimes too cautious about announcements, preferring to make them only when all elements [of a programme] have been put together”.
“This can mean that although local authorities are informed at an early stage, communities can be left behind. I would like to see contractors look more closely at this,” he added in the 29th quarterly independent commissioner’s report, published on Thursday (8 August).
“Contractors must continue to engage with the public actively and clearly. Maximum advance notice should be given of future works even if there is a danger of timescales changing”.
Elsewhere in his report, Worthington said that two parts of HS2 – the link north from Birmingham and the development between Old Oak Common to Euston – had “suffered from great uncertainty” since then prime minister Rishi Sunak paused works last October.
The commissioner said he understood that “major decisions cannot be rushed” and “ministers will want to review their options”, but an “early announcement of intent would be warmly welcomed by those communities most impacted”.
“Delay and uncertainty create enormous difficulties for local residents who remain unclear as to where the project is going. We will all welcome any guidance which the new government can give,” he added.
Construction work at HS2 Euston and on a 4.5 mile tunnel between Euston and Old Oak Common has been paused while the government decides whether to extend the high-speed rail line to central London.
Sunak previously took the development of the Euston site out of HS2 Ltd’s hands, saying that the work could only go ahead if the project received private funding.
Meanwhile, uncertainty remains over how the HS2 network will connect to the North after Sunak’s decision to scrap the HS2 leg from Birmingham to Manchester and what construction works will be required as a result.
HS2 chair Jon Thompson, in a letter published on Thursday and sent a week earlier, said the public client body “recognises that uncertainty about the future of Euston Station is having an impact on residents and local businesses”.
In the letter to HS2 residents’ commissioner Lord Jackson, he said: “We are continuing our engagement with local communities about our ongoing enabling works and are progressing plans with Euston partners to open a community hub later this year to provide an information resource on developments taking place in the wider area.
“We have identified areas within the HS2 Euston site which can safely and temporarily be handed back to the community, to reduce the impact of the pause to construction of the station. The first of these ‘meanwhile use’ sites opened on Hampstead Road in July last year, with several more sites set to open this year.”
