Princess Road residents received letters from HS2 Ltd. Pictured, clockwise from left: Phil Cowan, who lives in Regent’s Park Road, Mary Portas and Joan Bakewell

Published: 3 January, 2014
by TOM FOOT and PAVAN AMARA

HS2 bosses have caused uproar in one of the wealthiest areas of London after sending letters to more than 200 homes and businesses warning they may “acquire or use” their land.

Residents in Princess Road, Chalcot Square, Chalcot Road and Regent’s Park Road say they are suffering a “great deal of anxiety” after receiving the letters shortly before Christmas.

Retail guru Mary Portas and the former television presenter Baroness Joan Bakewell are among those “whose land and property may be compulsory purchased or acquired or used”, according to the legal notices.

Historian Martin Sheppard, who is organising a large-scale public meeting on HS2 later this month, said: “These letters arrived as bolts out of the blue, without an explanation of what they may actually mean but causing a great deal of anxiety. People have been ringing up in panic asking me whether they are going to have to leave their homes and how long their road will be closed off.”

The threat of compulsory purchase is part of so far unspecified proposals to re-route a Victorian sewer network to make way for a giant tunnel beneath Primrose Hill and towards a new terminus in Euston.

HS2 Ltd, the company responsible for the £50billion project, say they currently have “no intention” of buying or using any of the homes for the works but now have a legal right to in the future. Primrose Hill Primary School is in Princess Road which includes a parade of independent shops, restaurants and The Albert pub. The mother of Labour leader Ed Miliband – a keen supporter of HS2 –  also lives nearby.

Alice Gray, who has lived in Princess Road since 1962 and is a governor at Primrose Hill Primary School in the same street, said: “It’s all so haphazard, the first letter they sent to us had the wrong property details on it. They’ve told us nothing, which makes us very nervous. The school has been told nothing. It’s an outstanding school that has children from every class and background, and that could be gone. How will they concentrate with years of drilling noise?”

John Telford, who has lived in the road since the late 1950s, said: “We came here when Primrose Hill was the sort of place that would cover you in black soot. We are property rich and cash poor, but the letter informed us that if we want to object to this we have to pay £20 per petition. I really can’t afford that, and I don’t understand anything the letter says anyway.”

Phil Cowan, a former trader who lives in Regent’s Park Road, said: “It’s another battle for Primrose Hill businesses. The constant noise and disruption will put people off coming here.”

An HS2 spokesman said: “In order to meet the legal require­ments of the Parliamentary Stand­ing Order, we are required to noti­fy the property owners about the proposed works. HS2 Ltd does not intend to acquire or gain access to the cellars. However, the powers in the Bill would allow us to do so if required.”   

>>NEW JOURNAL COMMENT: 'It’s time the so-called visionaries of HS2 faced the public' (click here)