What’s left of the trees in Euston [Simon Lamrock]

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CAMPAIGNERS against HS2 are asking why a series of mature trees were axed in the weeks before construction was officially halted on the mothballed Camden section of the railway project.

The National Audit Office (NAO), in its latest review of the HS2 Euston shambles, confirmed that works have now been completely stopped while another cost-cutting redesign is allegedly being worked-up.

Sources suggest that HS2 Ltd had been slowing works down for several weeks before an official announcement finally came on March 9. Confusion now reins over whether the multi-billion pound project will ever get further than Old Oak Common on the London leg. Despite this, 12 of 14 remaining trees in Euston Square Gardens were axed along with nine along Euston Road in mid-February – leaving rows of stumps.

The area was already one the most polluted areas of the borough.

Dr Susanne Griffin, who lives in Camden Town, criticised the “wholesale environmental destruction and clearance” of the land around Euston.

“Why, oh why did all those extra trees have to go?” she said. Campaigners have for years criticised the felling of mature trees by HS2, particularly at Euston Square Gardens, a site that was occupied by tree-protector activists in underground tunnels in 2020.  At one stage, a vicar chained herself to one of the trunks.

Since those protests, HS2 had secured a High Court injunction that prevented climate activists from trying to save any more trees with peaceful protests in Euston. Other HS2 work which has completely changed the face of the area includes the levelling of the St James Gardens public park, making way for thousands of polluting spewing lorries and construction vehicles to the area since 2017.

Thousands of skeletons were also dug up from a historic burial ground for work which may now not have had any end result at all. Tenants have been forced out of their homes and businesses seized and bulldozed. In a scathing review, the National Audit Office’s report said an attempt to cut costs for building the Euston terminus had failed and instead was now £2.2billion over-budget. Several drafts of what a new station might look like have been canned.

The “pause” in construction at Euston is seeing spending diverted to other sections of the line, between Birmingham and Old Oak Common in west London. Construction firms are threatening workers with redundancies putting them on a collision course with unions. Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “Government is once again having to revise plans for Euston HS2.

Clearly, the 2020 reset of the station design has not succeeded. DfT and HS2 Ltd have not been able to develop an affordable scope that is integrated with other activity at Euston, despite their focus on costs and governance since 2020. Recent high inflation has added to the challenge.”

In response to the released NAO report, Camden’s regeneration chief Councillor Danny Beales said: “Giving up on Euston entirely, or delivering a half-baked station, would be a disaster for Camden and its communities, and destroy the slim credibility HS2 has left. We urge the government to commit to Euston Station and deliver the benefits it promised our communities.”

A HS2 spokesperson said: “The HS2 programme will transform the Euston area and includes a huge scheme to create new wildlife habitat and plant seven million trees and shrubs along the first phase of the line between Birmingham and the capital.”

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