On Monday, Birmingham Friends of the Earth and Sustainability West Midlands’ eagerly anticipated public debate on the HS2 high speed rail proposal was held in the Banqueting Suite of the Birmingham Council House.
Around 150 people packed in to hear the arguments from our expert panellists and to ask some very searching questions of them. The debate was expertly chaired by Radio WM and 5 live presenter, Adrian Goldberg and we’ve had some very positive feedback from attendees who found it an informative event, even if they didn’t admit to changing their minds when asked whether they had by Adrian at the end. The show of hands showed a majority in the room against the HS2 proposals, but there was a good spread of different opinions there and we achieved our aim of having a very balanced debate to reflect the differing opinions on this very important topic.
You can see some photos from the event below, and some more on our flickr page e’d love to have some more if anyone else took them on the night.
If you’re interested in joining our transport group to push for more sustainable transport in Birmingham, please email campaigns@birminghamfoe.org.uk for more details.