Landowners and farmers affected by HS2 must receive acceptable compensation and appropriate accommodation works must be put in place, the NFU will tell Government next week.

The NFU’s petition, due to be presented to the High Speed Rail Bill Select Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday, also includes demands for HS2 to only take land that is necessary for the construction of the line itself and not to be taking the most versatile agricultural land out of production for the creation of habitat mitigation.

NFU President Meurig Raymond said: “We have worked to ensure that our members are treated fairly in this process, and will continue to do so. Crucially, it is essential that HS2 Ltd. negotiate directly with farmers on the most appropriate location of mitigation habitat, balance ponds and flood areas. It’s important to remember that the prospect of HS2 has already created considerable uncertainty for our members and this will be looming over them for many years to come. Therefore, the NFU will be pushing for prompt and enhanced compensation for dislocation, distress and loss of income to try and minimise that uncertainty.

“There should also be regular and honest consultations with farmers and growers to ensure farms have access to appropriate accommodation works including bridges for access, drainage and water supplies. In addition, they must have access to severed land and further productive land should not be used to simply dump spoil to create large embankments and areas of sustainable placement. In short, farm businesses must be left in a strong and viable condition after HS2’s construction has ended.”

The evidence-giving sessions will be shown live on www.parliamentlive.tv beginning on Tuesday 18 November.

Farmers and landowners who have submitted petitions on their own behalf have been and will be presenting evidence to the Select Committee individually. The NFU hosted a workshop in September to support member petitioners, and to help them understand the process so that they could adequately prepare for their evidence-giving.