Community Forums

Spelling help

The plural of forum is usually spelled forums; the plural fora (as in the original Latin) is chiefly used when talking about a public square in an ancient Roman city.
( Online OED )


Documents for Forums 8, 8A & 9 ( Chalfonts to Wendover )

Bucks CC position

  • First, the County Council believe that Community Forums should be delayed until after our summit on 19 April so that arrangements for them can be properly considered and that they will be effective and of benefit to residents. We have written to HS2 ( see below ) to advise them of this;
  • Second, we will not be supporting the forums until appropriate terms of compensation have been agreed with HS2, regarding officer time and resource spent on engagement, provision of technical information and survey activities, in order that scarce council resources are not diverted away from essential services.

 

We will be contacting the other 51m authorities with a view to agreeing a consistent approach to engagement and compensation and we will undertake to keep residents up to date with this activity through the 51m website

We encourage you to respond to HS2 in support of our position on delaying the meetings, and to attend our summit on 19th April, details of which will follow shortly. We would like to use the summit as an opportunity to set out how we see the process working and agree a common  approach with you which can be presented to HS2

Letter to HS2

"Firstly, it goes almost without saying, that Buckinghamshire County Council remains implacably opposed to the HS2 project as currently proposed and will continue to campaign and lobby against it.  Notwithstanding that we are however prepared to engage with HS2 Ltd and The Department for Transport in the interests of our residents and to mitigate some of the worst impacts of the scheme should it eventually proceed. "

Community Fora

"With regard to the Community Fora, we are disappointed that HS2 Ltd has not agreed to our request for a short delay in the commencement of these meetings.  This delay was intended to allow us to prepare properly for them.  For example we have only just identified a suitable officer to lead on our behalf.  We would also as the County Council, have preferred to have been given the opportunity to identify and employ suitable experts to help us engage to maximum effect and benefit (subject to agreement on appropriate cost reimbursement - see below).  This is also the reason that we propose to host an 'HS2 Engagement Summit' in Aylesbury during April. "

Construction phase

The conditions governing the contracts to construct HS2 will presumably be the same all along the line, & set by some higher level body.... but here are some items for consideration -