HS2

The sustainability statement for the planned ‘phase two’ extension of the high speed rail link – which would go from Birmingham further north to destinations like Manchester and Leeds – contains a socio-economic appraisal which makes heavy use of deprivation statistics to claim various local development and regeneration opportunities. The report was carried out for HS2 ltd. by consultancies Temple Group and ERM.

Catchment areas for various proposed HS2 stations are profiled using a variety of indicators including multiple deprivation to promote the potential regeneration impact of the route.

“A station in this area would be expected to support a very significant amount of development and consequently jobs, of significant benefit to the catchment area and the wider region, given the current higher than average levels of deprivation.”

This is a great example of deprivation statistics being used to make the socio-economic case for a large project. HS2 has had its share of controversies and arguing that it has a high regenerative potential is an important part of its ‘case’.