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Latest HS2 delay extends the agony, say villagers

Martin Heath
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Ollie Conopo
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Reporting fromSouth Northamptonshire
Ollie Conopo/BBC Peter Deeley with short white hair wearing brown sunglasses and looking at the camera in a blue and white shirt. He is standing in a grass field with a gate behind him. Beyond that is a wooden fence, behind which a blue lorry marked ANDREWS can be seen on a temporary road. There is a small white hut alongside the road.Ollie Conopo/BBC
Peter Deeley, from Lower Boddington, said air pollution left his car looking like it had been in the Sahara Desert

People living near the route of the HS2 rail project said the latest delay to the scheme "extends the agony" for them.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, told MPs on Wednesday that there was "no route" to meeting the 2033 deadline, although she did not suggest a new date.

She said there had been a "litany of failure" around the project.

Construction work has been taking place in villages in south Northamptonshire since 2019.

Ollie Conopo/BBC A white lorry with a door open and a red van are parked on temporary hardstanding in a grass field. There are red barriers to the right of the vehicles. There is a tree to the right and a construction site behind.Ollie Conopo/BBC
Evidence of construction work can be seen across miles of countryside, including here in Greatworth

The only remaining section of the HS2 project, between London and Birmingham, was originally due to be up and running by 2026, but the deadline got pushed back to 2031 and then to 2033.

The latest announcement means villagers on the route in south Northamptonshire now know they will be facing disruption from the work for at least another nine years.

Ollie Conopo/BBC Doug Brown with short white hair wearing a blue shirt and looking at the camera. Behind him is a metal gate and a metal fence. Beyond that is a field of long grass, with shorter grass and signs of construction in the background. There are rows of trees to the right in the distance.Ollie Conopo/BBC
Doug Brown from Thorpe Mandeville said road closures made commuting difficult

The village of Thorpe Mandeville has been living with disruption caused by work on an access road, a site compound and a viaduct for some time already.

Doug Brown from the Thorpe Mandeville Parish Council said there were more headaches to come with HS2 waiting permission to close a route into the village that is currently controlled by traffic lights.

He said: "It would make it a peaceful village, but for village commuting, it would make getting north damn near impossible."

Ollie Conopo/BBC A white van parked in a temporary car park surfaced with stones. There is a red railing with a gate in the foreground. Behind the car park is a newly-hewn hill leading to a stone overbridge.Ollie Conopo/BBC
Construction activities can be seen from several vantage points in Lower Boddington

As a former parish councillor in Lower Boddington, Peter Deeley has had dealings with HS2 since the idea first surfaced.

He said: "We've had nothing else but problems in regards to noise pollution, we've had inability to get access, we have the situation of air pollution - I cleaned my car yesterday, it now looks as if half the Sahara's desert is on it."

Ollie Conopo/BBC Stephen Adkins with short white hair smiling at the camera and wearing a blue T-shirt with a Greatworth Hall logo on the right. He is standing in a grass field with further fields behind him and a blue sky.Ollie Conopo/BBC
Stephen Adkins from Greatworth Hall said the project delays were "unbelievable"

Not far down the road is Greatworth Hall, where Stephen Adkins' family have been tending the land since 1868.

The construction of HS2 is taking place just yards from his garden.

He said: "The delays are unbelievable and, personally, it just extends the agony."

He said that, if anyone asked him for advice on living near a national infrastructure project, his "advice now would be just get out if you can because it has been miserable".

Carroll Weston/BBC Sarah Bool with long red/brown hair wearing a purple top in a sports hall set out for an election count with tables in rows.Carroll Weston/BBC
Sarah Bool MP said she understood how frustrated residents were getting

The Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, Sarah Bool, said: "I fully understand the frustrations many feel.

"I continue to work closely with affected communities in Radstone, Greatworth and across south Northamptonshire to hold HS2 Ltd to account — pushing for better mitigation, timely communication and proper treatment of those whose lives and land have been upended."

The BBC has contacted HS2 for a statement.

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