A week of radio programmes on HS2
The Annie Othen radio programme on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire was broadcast live from Cubbington village hall on the morning of Tuesday 8th October. This was the second in a full week of “HS2 specials” presented by Annie.
Environmental and economic matters
The three-hour programme, which concentrated on the environmental impacts of HS2 and the economic benefits that have been claimed, gave residents from the area the opportunity to have their say. In addition, there were contributions down the line from Richard Wellings of the Institute of Economic Affairs, BBC Newsnight reporter David Grossman and local business owner Peter Healey (Greenleaf Nursery). Also Stephen Trotter of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Oliver Newham of the Woodland Trust were in the village hall to offer expert opinions on the environmental issues.
The programme included a recorded item reporting on a visit that Annie Othen had made the previous afternoon to South Cubbington Wood in the company of Rosemary Guiot and Peter Delow of the Cubbington Action Group against HS2.
Lively debate
Annie Othen is a seasoned broadcaster, and it was hard not to admire the professionalism of her and her team as they put the programme together. She managed a very lively debate, with some strong, and passionately held, views against HS2 being expressed. Amongst a host of contributions we were particularly fortunate to hear from three of our local farmers, although what they had to tell us about the impact that HS2 would have on their farm business was not easy listening. Also our vicar, Revd Graham Coles, told us about the human toll that the threat of HS2 is having on his parishioners and Professor Mike Geddes gave us an expert view on the economic arguments.
It was hard to believe when Annie said “thank you and goodbye” that three hours had passed.
Your action group would like to extend a big thank you to all who took part.
