The
mayor
of
Greater
Manchester


has
called
for
land
which
has
already
been
bought
for
HS2’s
axed
Phases
2A
and
2B
to
Crewe
and
Manchester
to
be
safeguarded.

The
government
has
said
the
land
will
be
resold,
but
Andy
Burnham,
who
was
speaking
at
a
fringe
event
during
the
Labour
Party
conference,
said
the
short
timetable
for
a
sell-off
was
‘not
acceptable’,
and
that
the
Prime
Minister’s
decision
to
abandon
the
route,
announced
six
days
ago
at
the
Conservative
Party
conference,
‘mustn’t
be
allowed
to
stand’.

He
continued:
‘We
need
to
safeguard
the
land.
We’ve
been
told
that
the
Birmingham
to
Manchester
land
is
protected
for
a
matter
of
weeks
but
that
protection
will
be
lifted.

‘That
does
not
give
Andy
Street
[mayor
of
the
West
Midlands]
or
me
or
Tracy
Brabin
[mayor
of
West
Yorkshire]
or
anyone
else
the
time
to
look
at
whether
that’s
viable.

‘We
need
to
actually
work
together.
There
should
be
a
clear
message
that
time
should
be
allowed
to
look
at
Birmingham
to
Manchester
to
see
if
we
can
come
up
with
an
alternative
solution.

‘When
will
Birmingham
to
Manchester
ever
get
a
good
railway
line
if
we
throw
away
all
the
work
that’s
been
done
in
the
last
15
years?’

Delegates
at
the
Labour
conference
backed
a
motion
last
night
calling
on
the
party
to
build
HS2
in
full
if
it
is
elected.

Although
leader
Sir
Keir
Starmer
has
declined
to
commit
himself
to
rescuing
the
high
speed
project,
Labour
is
promising
to
create
‘a
comprehensive
and
well-developed
plan
by
the
next
election’
for
railways
in
the
north
of
England
that
can
be
ready
‘from
day
one’.