With HS2 facing public backlash, due to increasing costs, delayed completion dates and environmental issues, I decided I would create a project about the high-speed network. Having lived in and around Birmingham my entire life, I have seen the city grow into what it is today, watching it become modern day powerhouse of a city within the UK. In recent years, I have followed the progress of HS2 in the city, seeing the site on Curzon Street develop since it opened in 2017.
However, throughout this time, I have felt that the stories the media focused on were that of the larger issues with the project. Although these are huge topics of conversation, there are many people out there that have felt the impact more than anyone else, but haven’t been given the opportunity to speak publicly and make their stories known. Due to this, I set out to give these people the platform they deserve, and allow them to speak freely on the problems HS2 has caused them since it was proposed in January 2009.
The project consists of video interviews with some of the parties involved, as well as showing drone footage of the sites in question, and the areas that people have had to leave behind due to compulsory purchase orders being imposed on them. I hope that through creating this, I am able to bring attention to them, and give them some form of closure on the situation.
John Barnes
Packington Moor Farm, Lichfield
Ben Wilkes
Border Collie Trust, Rugeley
