This is the first of two entries looking at the Environmental
Statement (ES) for phase one of HS2.
When the hybrid bill for phase 1 of HS2 is deposited in
Parliament (which is expected next Monday), one of the most
important (and also the largest) documents that will be deposited
will be its ES, running into several volumes and thousands upon
thousands of pages.
A preview of what can be expected can be found in the draft ES
consulted upon earlier this year. This in turn followed on from the
Appraisal of Sustainability published in February 2011 and the
Scope and Methodology Report published in September 2012.
The draft ES comprised a 116 page Non Technical Summary, a 124
page main volume, 26 community forum reports each over 100 pages,
an additional "report 27" on route-wide effects, a 64
page Code of Construction Practice, a Sustainability Policy (just a
single page) and dozens of plans. The final ES is likely to
dwarf the draft, possibly precluding any real
