News on HS2 in Bucks & Oxfordshire

The funds will be used to make improvements to the Paccar County Campsite in Chalfont St Peter which is open to all organised youth groups and serves 45,000 young people from across Buckinghamshire and West London each year. The improvements will include a new state-of-the-art climbing facility to suit a wide range of abilities, replacing the existing dilapidated climbing wall at the campsite. This comes at an exciting time as climbing will be a new sport in the now postponed Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. An artificial caving complex will also be built under the wall which will be used to provide a realistic, challenging and safe experience of caving for young people who use the campsite. The project is scheduled for completion in early 2021.

The funding has come from the HS2 Community and Environment Fund (CEF), part of a combined total of £40million in funding available to local communities and businesses that are demonstrably disrupted by the construction of Britain’s new high speed railway between London and the West Midlands. The project will join the other 113 projects along the route that have also benefitted.

39 projects in Buckinghamshire received support since the funding programme opened for applications in March 2017. £55,000 has also been announced today for Amersham Town FC to rebuild their clubhouse. Last month, a £250,000 award for the National Paralympic Heritage Trust in Stoke Mandeville was made, which will be used to develop a number of events, activities and resources designed to tell the story of the Paralympics and challenge attitudes to disability. Other projects include two that have received grants from the Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF) including £120,303 for the ‘Open for Business’ project run by the Chilterns Conservation Board which aims to promote tourism in the central Chilterns corridor, and £75,000 for Buckinghamshire Business First for their Visit Buckinghamshire Business Advisory Service.

A series of videos and case studies about projects that have received HS2 funds can be found here.

The independent administration of these funds is managed on behalf of HS2 Ltd by the charity Groundwork who will ensure both funds remain available for applications throughout the construction of Phase One. Read the Groundwork annual review.

Community and business groups interested in applying for the fund can find out more at www.hs2funds.org.uk