"People still don't know impact of HS2"

A number of people who attended a public meeting of the Bramley HS2 Action Group on Wednesday (Jan 11) had not been to any previous meetings.

There are fears that people still do not realise the consequences of the proposed HS2 rail route before consultation ends in early March.

HS2 wants to build a rail route through Aston, Bramley, Mexborough and the Dearne Valley after dramatically switching its preferred option in July from a route through Meadowhall after Sheffield City Council came out against it.

Chris Matthewman, of Bramley HS2 Action Group, said: “There are still lots of people in the area that are not quite clued up on the implications of this new route.

“We need as many people as we can to send send their thoughts into HS2.”

Mr Matthewman said people at the meeting in Bramley Parish Hall on Cross Street discussed letters revealed recently showing that HS2 favoured the Meadowhall option in 2015 and questioned why that view changed so markedly by last July.

He said there was still a “positive momentum” against the proposed route.

Mr Matthewman said: “We need a much bigger hall because we could not get a lot of people into the meeting. It was a good meeting.”

Mr Matthewman said that consultation forms for people to fill in with their views on the proposed route were handed out and that 5,000 forms have now been distributed in the Bramley and Dearne Valley area.