HS2 campaigners say local people may have to wait until the autumn of 2015 to find out “where we stand in Cheshire.”

That is the view of Mid Cheshire Against HS2, which was reacting to this week’s confirmation of Crewe being the preferred location for a full HS2 Hub Station, rather than Stoke on Trent.

The confirmation came in a report on Monday from Sir David Higgins, the executive chairman of HS2 Ltd, during a speech at Leeds.

“The Hub Station will in fact be some way south of Crewe at Basford,” said Graham Dellow from Mid Cheshire Against HS2.

“If the station is built at Basford it will create local jobs in that area, albeit a large percentage will be temporary construction jobs.

“Sir David’s report contained very little else about HS2, preferring to concentrate on the embryonic HS3 plans.

“We learned very little on Monday, and will probably have to wait until after next year’s General Election, and probably as late as the autumn, to find out exactly where we stand in Cheshire.

“In the meantime people’s lives continue to be blighted, property values continue to be depressed and some properties remain almost impossible to sell.”

Mr Dellow said that neither HS2 or HS3 addressed the real need, to “improve journey times and comfort from places such as Northwich and Knutsford to Manchester.”

“If there are any, as yet unidentified benefits for Cheshire from HS2, they will not become evident until 2033 at the earliest, which is too long to wait for a return on a £50 billion-plus investment,” he said.

“Our campaign to stop HS2 will continue unabated – nothing has changed, HS2 is still a blatant and unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money, and will be an environmental disaster for Cheshire.”

For more information on the campaign visit mid-cheshire-against-hs2.co.uk The group is part of All Cheshire Against HS2.