IT is an issue that has split the country, and is set to divide much of Cheshire’s landscape.

Phase 2b (western leg) of HS2 – the high speed rail project estimated to cost tens of billions of pounds – is planned to travel from Crewe up to Manchester, slicing through acres of countryside on its way.

Ever since plans for mid Cheshire were first unveiled early in 2013, campaigners to stop the scheme have been locked in a battle with HS2 Ltd, leading to regular changes and alterations until a ‘final’ route was confirmed last July.

With this came vocal concerns about Cheshire’s notorious subsidence, the severing and cutting off of farmland, and lengthy battles for home and business owners vying for compensation.

The first HS2 services to reach Manchester won’t do so until 2033 at the earliest, following on from HS2 reaching a new Crewe ‘hub’ six years earlier, but nevertheless campaigners in Cheshire are backing the national fight to shut down the premise altogether.

Ewen Simpson, of Mid Cheshire Against HS2, said: “HS2’s ability to create a jobs nirvana is as illusory as the economic benefits. It is our view that the economic future of Northwich will be blighted. Access to HS2 will be locally non-existent – the prospect of access at Crewe is highly questionable.

“Most are totally unaware that to build a twin track railway will require a construction corridor between 200m and 400m wide. Nowhere has this been publicised by HS2 Ltd. Nor has the fact that our area would be disrupted for at least two years during the construction of this white elephant, with over 54,000 HGV movements to and from the construction site. Imagine the effect this will have.

“The A556 will have to be re-aligned, as will many other roads in the area, affecting many more people than the 2016 route. Many appear to be ‘sleepwalking into HS2. To us HS2 is a nightmare.”

From the 4km-long ‘rolling stock depot’ for maintenance at Wimboldsley to the realignment of the A556 – and the years of work that comes with it all – HS2 is an issue that impacts everyone.

The frustration among residents stems from the lack of assistance they feel they have received, that comments they made during the consultation they feel have been ignored, and the minimal benefit-cost-ratio (BCR) for those who will actually be impacted and displaced by the route’s construction.

Cllr Kathy O’Donoghue, of Lach Dennis Parish Council, said: “It’s a really close-knit community where people support one another. HS2 is slowly eroding that, buying up properties and leaving rented houses and empty houses.

“Not only are they wasting taxpayers money, they’re eroding communities up and down the country.

“Since 2013 we have had hundreds of meetings with HS2 – a waste of time. They are not proactive at all.”

As well as passing through houses and forcing roads’ realignment, HS2 will have the undulating landscape of Cheshire to deal with when the track comes to be laid.

Geologist Ros Todhunter, said: “You have got an ancient river valley buried under the surface, full of sand and gravel, and it flows down towards Northwich. You are still getting active subsidence here. When the land subsides – because it’s virtually 300m in various thick beds – you get undulations where the salt has dropped. HS2 is crossing this linear sinkhole.”

For some, the amount of catching up still to be done doesn’t equate to value for money. Lostock Green resident Michael Coultas said: “The construction of HS2 along the A556 is going to cause considerable disruption to the businesses based in and around Northwich and I think many of them will move away before the construction begins.

“What Northwich and the north of England needs is an upgrade of the current rail structures to allow commuters to get to and from work in the northern cities. Travelling to London takes an hour and 28 minutes from Crewe – why spend in excess of £60 billion just to cut 20 minutes off that?”