While I’m posting about NIMBYism and Brexit, I’ll go for another controversial thing: HS2. Guaranteed to upset the posh NIMBYs in Staffs and Warks, guaranteed to upset the environmentalists, and in no small measure upsetting plenty of others, from the (in?)famous Taroni dynasty in Brum to ordinary people who got a compulsory purchase order.

As I’ve exhausted Darknet Diaries, when I chanced upon a podcast discussing the impact of HS2 on Brum and the surrounding area I thought it might be worth a try (as usual, I’m well behind the curve, discovering podcasts a mere decade behind everyone else…).

First, I had to struggle to find it easily downloadable rather than needing an app or playing in a browser: Note for podcasters- some of us might want a standard, downloadable format for the car, or legacy players. Eventually, I found this RSS feed (remember those?) that freed me from phone app hell and got me the files.

On to the programme. The first episode covered H W Taroni, noted Birmingham scrapyard metal recycler and subject of jokes back when I worked nearby:

Where did you get that car from, Taroni’s?

Taroni’s is a Birmingham institution, and a pretty big business, doing pretty well. They had part of their yard subject to compulsory purchase, and according to the spokesman, they couldn’t afford to move without at least part payment. I’m perfectly prepared to believe HS2 Ltd made the process much harder than it should be, but I’d have thought such a well-established company with a long history could raise funds?

The happy story is that perhaps the media exposure worked; soon after, it was all resolved. Taroni’s will move, HS2 get their yard, but it’s been a bitter process.

The real surprise was episode 2 where even with my political views, I found myself agreeing with Andy Street, a man I usually shout expletives at the TV about, as the West Midlands Mayor explained that HS2 was essential for the whole region, that it wasn’t just about journey times to London (which, let’s face it, is not a good reason to implement a hugely expensive railway) but about capacity, a view repeated by the director of the NEC.

In an unusual (for Mr Street) moment of clarity and direct speech, between them, they explained about freeing capacity on existing lines, about not having express trains caught behind local ones, about it becoming part of a better network, and about bringing investment.

There is one of the major oppositions answered: the line has been sold on the basis of faster times to London, and most people have said that that doesn’t seem worth the huge cost. It probably isn’t. Journey time from Birmingham to London is already quick. If you’re wealthy, a commute of that daily is actually practical.

The problem is, sometimes, the line is blocked. Other times, services contend for slots, and there aren’t enough to run all the local trains. So, HS2 gives us a new line, dedicated to express services. It wouldn’t matter if it was actually no faster than the existing- just that it is there: the extra speed is a bonus.

Episode 3 dealt with the emotional cost to householders who also got kicked out. I think that it is here:

a pretty poor area of Birmingham, and to be the site of servicing yards. The Google street view at time of writing is from 2015, and shows houses that have gone now; the owners spoke of the loss of community as well as their financial losses.

Next on the list is the environmental cost. Here, again I was unsure; I’m sure that given the size of the project, cock-ups and decisions that on the surface seem to be uncaring, unwise, insane even (like cutting down ancient woods when the project was still in jeopardy), but in the words of Ben Goldacre “I think you’ll find it’s a bit more complicated than that”. If you want to build a motorway or railway, it’s little use starting doing so until your route is planned purchased, and secured, for a start.

The final episode was the one that had led me there: Pubs. 3 pubs, all of which were under threat at one point around what is to be the terminus at Curzon St: The Woodman, lovingly refurbished, doing well, and to be left standing, The Eagle and Tun, re-opened after The Woodman, but to be flattened, despite local listing (though we all know that means fuck all) and plans at one time before it re-opened to incorporate it into the station, and the Fox and Grapes, derelict for some time, set on fire, then demolished. Looking at it, despite the interviewee’s sadness, and assertion that “the council” “tore it down”, was probably beyond saving, and you have to ask why it was empty for so long? He lamented its loss, but had never been in, and also lamented the loss of other great buildings, which I have to say is sad, but I’ll return to that in a monent.

The Eagle and Tun is an odd one too: it spent ages boarded-up, re-opened in 2015, before which the incorporation into the HS2 terminal had been mooted, spent the last few years being well thought of, then closed earlier this year. The re-opening felt a bit bargain-basement to me, too; nice enough, but where they clearly chucked a heap of cash at The Woodman, I never got that impression here. I do wonder what happened to the value of the pub in that timeframe, but I’m not going to speculate.

So then, where am I going with this? This post is in danger of becoming a misty-eyed whiff of nostalgia and sentiment for the past, as was the podcast in places; but we shouldn’t keep looking to the past: there’s a good amount of collateral damage, a huge amount of bureaucratic uncaring, and (let’s not forget) a huge amount of money that we now know is to be (and has been) spent- though of course some of that has been compensating people.

Returning to the old buildings: it is no good retaining old buildings without a use for them, and a use that is viable and in some way justifies the cost of them: it would be lovely if (as discussed in the episode) Island House could have been a community centre, The Fox & Grapes was still a thriving pub, and The Eagle and Tun could be dismantled and rebuilt at a museum, but community centres aren’t valued by our government, The Fox and Grapes had been empty for years and was literally falling down, and the Black Country Living Museum already has a pub, even if they had the spare cash. The Woodman has survived by luck of not being in the way, and by having people see its potential and invest, and do it right.

We now know that HS2 is to go ahead. This was announced by Alexander Boris de Pfeffel “Liar” Johnson recently, though as his record on truth-telling and actually delivering infrastructure projects (the man has promised a bridge from Scotland to Ireland, when he spent £52 million on not delivering one from London to London) is less than stellar, we probably shouldn’t hold our breath.

When it does arrive, assuming I haven’t actually died first, I think it will be a good thing, despite the huge cost. No, it isn’t all about 20-30 min faster journeys to London. It’s about building a railway that isn’t Victorian in origin. We might be going backwards to the 50s (or even earlier) in many ways, but lets hope we can at least do one thing right for change. Compensate the people who suffer, help them to move on, and actually deliver something. It’ll be over budget my many times, of course, and not as good as promised (because this is the UK), but maybe if we control our British urges to fuck it up, and we’re not fighting each other for the last rat to barbecue post-Brexit, we might get something worthwhile.