WORK on the delivery of HS2 in Cheshire East is set to be ramped up.

Ahead of this week’s full council meeting, the authority’s constitution committee has recommended ‘schedule 17 arrangements’ be reviewed on a fortnightly basis by planning officers and committee members.

The reason for this is to ensure such applications are dealt with ‘in a timely manner’, which is essential in order for the borough to remain as a ‘Qualifying Authority’.

Should it lose this status, applications would be referred to ‘the Secretary of State [who] would take all decisions on Schedule 17 Applications’.

Schedule 17 applications lay out the detail in which HS2 Ltd — the company tasked with delivering the railway — can construct the necessary buildings, infrastructure, and ancillary works to complete the project.

The increase in scrutiny comes as another council report found the development of Crewe’s HS2 hub was not ‘viable’ in its current plan.

The environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee report said: “The economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainties about the future commercial development market mean that this scheme would not be viable as business rate revenues would likely be realised much later. 

“In addition, the original scheme would require significant upfront borrowing by the Council and therefore it would need to service the debt out of existing budgets until the business rate revenues were sufficient to cover it.”

At the meeting in which the report was discussed, Cllr Mike Hunter raised concerns that the Crewe hub needed further support from within the county: “We started off by saying how important Crewe is nationally and that is all well and good. HS2 will be like our Manchester Airport, locally.

“The most important connectivity will be from the local areas. Everything that comes from outside is cream on the cake. We have to get people in to Crewe who used to come in.

“I know that that council is taking a chance with the pandemic but let’s be straight about this. If we do not get in the position that we need to be in, when the pandemic is over it is a lose-lose, not a win.”

Instead, the construction could be phased — but HS2 infrastructure is on-track to be delivered in 2025 in the town, leaving ‘a small window of opportunity to do much of the work in a cost effective way through aligning with this ‘core’ HS2 programme’.

Cheshire East’s full council will meet at 11am on Wednesday, October 21.