HS2 and what Cheshire East Council will do next 

We are lobbying for investments for an enhanced HS2 Hub Station at Crewe, with increased HS2 connectivity.

A HS2 Hub at Crewe with enhanced HS2 connectivity will bring about extra benefits, not only for Crewe, but for many of the places it serves. 

It would bring even greater connectivity and support for existing businesses, inward investment and job creation. 

Phase 2a 

HS2 Phase 2a received Royal Assent in February 2021, which granted HS2 Ltd the necessary consents and land acquisition powers to build and operate this section of the route.

Cheshire East Council is a Qualifying Authority for Phase 2a, which means that HS2 has to engage with the council and seek its approval on a number of matters including:

• Construction arrangements
• Plans and specifications
• Bringing into use
• Site restoration schemes.

In addition, as local planning authority and local highway authority, the council is required to approve and consent to a number of works including lorry routes and some highway works.

Phase 2b Western Leg 

On 24 January 2022, the HS2 Phase 2b hybrid bill was deposited in Parliament. 

On 20 June 2022, the hybrid bill had its second reading in Parliament and the petitioning period was launched the following day (21 June). The petitioning period will run until 4 August 2022.

Any individual or organisation directly impacted by the scheme is able to petition the bill to seek changes to the scheme and additional mitigations against its impacts.

In February 2022, Cheshire East Full Council passed a resolution to petition against the Phase 2b hybrid bill.

The council’s petition against the Phase 2b hybrid bill, as well as a separate petition against the first additional provision to the Bill, known as AP1, were submitted in August 2022.

On 13 March 2023, the council withdrew its petition against the Phase 2b hybrid bill, and its petition against the first additional provision to the Bill, known as AP1, after securing a package of commitments from both HS2 Ltd and the Government.

The commitments received by the council from HS2 Ltd are known as ‘assurances and undertakings’ and include:

•  Additional highway junction improvements
• Road safety mitigations
• Active travel improvements
• The installation of adaptive signal technology to improve bus service efficiency on key construction routes
• Assurances relating to environmental, ecology and biodiversity mitigation;
• Assurances relating to the impacts of construction traffic during key events held at Tatton Park.

Critically, the council has secured a commitment directly from Government to fund an extensive appraisal to consider what work is required at Crewe Station to support HS2, which will consider the interventions needed at the station to address both the needs of the passenger and the regeneration potential for the town. 

It has also committed to funding the detailed design work of the interventions recommended as a result of the appraisal. The outcomes of the appraisal are expected to be reported back to the council later this year.

The design work will enable existing planned works at Crewe station to be adapted to support these recommendations and to support future government business cases that would allow these interventions to be delivered as early as possible.

The Government has confirmed that the study will utilise the council’s existing plans and regeneration frameworks so that the authority’s ambitions for a Crewe Hub, which include a new transfer deck to make it easier for people to access platforms and to change between trains at Crewe, are fully considered.

Withdrawing its petitions does not mean that the council has concluded its efforts to secure the council’s shared vision for an enhanced Crewe hub station that can accommodate between five to seven HS2 trains per hour, nor to seek the appropriate mitigation against the negative impacts of the scheme and its construction. 

The council will have further opportunity to influence the scheme and to petition the Bill as it progresses through Parliament and will continue to do this in consultation with local ward members and town councils.

See further details about the withdrawal of the petitions.

Details of hybrid bills and petitioning. 

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Page last reviewed: 15 March 2023