Solihull Council approved the design for the HS2 green tunnel in Burton Green to cover it with plants and new footpaths to increase biodiversity. The designs respond to community feedback, focusing on bigger and better green spaces around the railway, following public engagement events in October 2019 and March 2022.
The plans for the southern end of the structure have already been approved by Warwickshire District Council, where the railway will travel in a 400-metre green tunnel. The railway will be hidden, and the roof will be covered with landscape planting and new footpaths to sensitively integrate the railway into the surrounding landscape and enhance local biodiversity.
Solihull Council’s approval of the northern section of the structure, where the railway exits the tunnel north portal in a 1.4-kilometre cutting with retained walls, completes the planning approvals for this stretch of HS2.
A key feature for this area is the realignment of the Kenilworth Greenway, which provides a link from Balsall Common to Kenilworth via Burton Green for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. The new Greenway will cross under Cromwell Lane and then cross the roof of the green tunnel and run alongside the railway cutting, with noise barriers further minimising impacts on the local community.
Large-scale planting of native trees and shrubs will provide biodiverse habitats for wildlife, shield the Greenway visibly from the new railway, and re-establish vegetated connections to Black Waste Wood and Little Poors Wood, both areas of ancient woodland.
Alan Payne, HS2’s Senior Project Manager said: “We’re delighted to receive Schedule 17 planning consent for the northern section of the green tunnel from Solihull Council. We’re committed to maximising green space around the new high-speed railway and have worked with residents and authorities to ensure our tunnel design conserves, enhances and transforms the landscape in this area.
“The design for the permanent realignment for the Kenilworth Greenway and the landscape infrastructure created over the green tunnel is central to how we deliver this, linking the local community and railway with the wider landscape.”
The green tunnel in Burton Green was designed by the Mott MacDonald SYSTRA Design Joint Venture working for HS2’s main works contractor for the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), who are constructing 90km of HS2 between Long Itchington in Warwickshire to the centre of Birmingham and on to Staffordshire.
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