HS2 officials have said hundreds rather than thousands of construction workers could be housed in a compound in Leicestershire while the multi-billion pound railway is built.
The company has responded to Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton’s suggestion that up to 5,000 people could be based at a ‘small town’ established in North West Leicestershire specifically to accommodate engineers and labourers.
The £50 billion line is set to run non-stop through Leicestershire, along the A42 corridor, as it runs up to a new station at Toton in Nottinghamshire, with construction penned to begin in 2023.
Coun Rushton said it was ‘highly likely’ a compound would be located near a temporary railhead HS2 is proposing to build on the Leicester to Burton line to bring in vast quantities of materials needed to create the track.
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He told the county council cabinet that ‘three, four, five thousand people’ could be ‘dumped’ on the county for seven years and that he was concerned County Hall would have to foot the bill for the vital services they need.
He has said the county council has at times struggled to get information from HS2 to help them prepare for the impact of the construction.
He said: “We keep asking them for information but all they say is ‘feed it into the consultation’ but we need to know because we are going to have to deal with it.”
HS2 has given LeicestershireLive more details about its construction compound proposals.
It has not commented on the actual location of any compound but issued a statement saying: “We do not recognise the claim that 5,000 people could be accommodated in a newly built town near the proposed temporary railhead.
“Some of our main construction compounds along the route of the railway will provide temporary accommodation for construction workers, but this won’t include their families.
“We have published information which outlines that our main construction compounds would typically require approximately nine acres of land and would support up to 370 construction personnel.
“We are still at the early stages of design for Phase 2b of Britain’s new railway and encourage communities to have their say by responding to our latest consultation.”
