Family reveal nightmare as rail bosses constructed enormous upkeep depot on
- Ingrid Hodges’ family has had woodland ‘stolen’ by contractors for rail project
- Parcel of land was her children’s playground and final resting place for ponies
A family told how their lives have been derailed after HS2 began building a massive maintenance depot on their land.
Mother-of-four Ingrid Hodges said her family had been plunged into a ‘never-ending nightmare’ after bosses seized their farmland in a compulsory purchase order for the controversial high speed rail project.
But Ingrid, 45, told how a bad situation was made worse after contractors ‘unlawfully’ moved onto a seven-acre area of woodland the family still legally owned – before razing it to the ground.
She said the woods had ‘huge sentimental value’ for the family as her four sons used it as a playground and it was where their beloved ponies are buried.
The family insist the forested area – the last remaining woodland on their farm – did not form part of the original HS2 plans passed in legislation and has not been subject to a compulsory purchase.
Ingrid Hodges said her family had been plunged into a ‘never-ending nightmare’ after HS2 bosses seized their farmland
Part of the Hodges family’s farmland was made subject to a compulsory purchase order to make way for the HS2 rail network. But the family told MailOnline that contractors ‘unlawfully’ moved onto a seven acre patch of woodland (pictured) – and razed it to the ground
The woodland – called Dannal’s Wood – holds huge sentimental family for the Hodges because it’s where their four sons played when they were children – and where their horses are buried
The family say they are now fighting through lawyers to stop the works and restore the wood to its original state
The Hodges own Elm Tree Farm in Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire, which produces produces arable crops and has been in Ingrid’s husband Joe’s family for three generations. They shared this photo of their sons and horses in the woods where the horses are now buried
Ingrid told how she found out about the plans after bumping into two men who work for contractors and were wandering around the woods on their farm in Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire.
After chopping down thousands of trees, construction workers are now putting up a huge fence to bar access to the area known as Dannal’s Wood.
The family – who are locked into a compensation battle over the land – have consulted lawyers and have called for an immediate halt to the works and a judicial review.
But they have been warned they face ‘a David and Goliath’ battle in the face of the onslaught from HS2, the Department for Transport and Buckinghamshire County Council.
Ingrid Holmes told of the nightmare that the HS2 project has inflicted upon her family
Ingrid told MailOnline: ‘It’s an outrage. The way they treat you is unbelievable, a complete abuse of process.
‘It’s unbearable. I’m sick to my stomach every single day. My mental health is in tatters.
‘They have dramatically changed our livelihood, our farming income. They have stolen our children’s childhood, inheritance and their futures.’
Ingrid’s husband Joe, 44, runs Elm Tree Farm, which produces arable crops and has been owned by his family for three generations.
They live there along with sons aged nine to 16 and the children’s grandmother and great-grandmother.
The family were ordered to sell a huge section of the farm but insist the wood that was ‘stolen’ from them was not included in plans approved by Parliament.
They say officials got their estimates wrong and have taken nearly 50 per cent of their productive farmland instead of the 15 per cent outlined in an environmental statement drafted before a special HS2 hybrid bill was given Royal Assent in 2017.
The family have been backed by local MP who branded HS2 ‘bad neighbours’ and instead they had plunged to ‘a new low’ in their dealings with the family.
Last year the MP wrote to Rail Minister Huw Merriman saying: ‘This is yet another example of the project’s utter disdain for rural communities and refusal to acknowledge how devastating and permanent the resulting changes really are.’
Ingrid said: ‘We insist upon Dannal’s Wood being returned to us, its rightful owners, in its original state.
‘We only found out about it when I stumbled across ecologists in this wood when I was walking the dogs.
‘They told me what was happening. I had no prior knowledge of it.
‘I just can’t believe they can behave like this.
‘They have circumvented the democratic process. We were completely unaware they were doing this. We were never given the opportunity to discuss their plan.
‘This wood is extremely sentimental. Our family planted it 25 years ago along with two others that they have also destroyed. They have taken a huge area of this land.
‘We used the wood every single day of our lives. We walked our dogs there and rode our ponies.
‘My husband, myself and our four sons lived our entire lives here, we didn’t need to go anywhere else and were happy, rarely leaving the farm.
‘My sons would go there every day. They played in that wood, they built dens in that wood.
‘That was their playground. It was their place of safety and now it’s gone.
Pictured: An aerial view of the patch of woodland before HS2 seized the Hodges’ farmland
Pictured: The seven-acre parcel of land after their land was seized by HS2
Pictured: The place where the children’s therapy ponies were also buried in the wood
The wood acted as a playground for her children and was their place of safety, Ingrid says
Dannal’s Wood was also the final resting place for the children’s therapy ponies, the mother-of-four said
‘Our children’s therapy ponies are buried in that wood.
‘It’s was a huge, huge part of our daily lives and one that we never thought would be taken.
‘I have repeatedly requested they stop all works until a solution can be found but they continue just to steamroll over me and just ignore me.
‘I am in communication with lawyers and I have sent a cease and desist letter.
‘It should make them sit up but I’m sure they won’t. How is a middle-aged mother-of-four supposed to fight the government and everybody else? How can I afford that?
‘We shouldn’t have to live like that should we? What on earth is going on?’
The HS2 project, which has been plagued by soaring costs and delays, will provide a new high speed link between London and Birmingham at a price tag estimated to be up to £65billion.
Last October, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the second phase of the project linking Birmingham with Manchester was being scrapped in a bid to save £36 billion.
HS2 seized the family’s land to build an infrastructure maintenance depot for track, equipment and machines to supply the entire 194 mile-long route.
Ingrid said the wood is on a different part of their farm and was taken to build
a ‘balancing pond’ to reduce the risks of flooding along with an access road.
Ingrid insists it is the latest example of contractors ‘moving the goalposts’ since they first invaded their land with heavy machinery.
She said: ‘What they have been doing is unlawful. They do everything in their power to bully, to harass, to gaslight us.
‘I can’t believe they have not been held accountable. It’s not just us – there are people across the country who have been treated like this.
‘There’s been a whole web of deceit and lies. It’s an incredible way to treat people – it’s just appalling. There’s no words to describe it.
‘It’s horrendous. As farmers your priority is the environment and wildlife and nature. Looking at it being destroyed like this by heavy-handed people who have no understanding of land is heartbreaking.
‘It’s like someone walking into your house. They demand the keys, they want your bank codes and then they just take it all away and everyone keeps walking past.
‘That is the reality – they have taken away our lives.
HS2 seized the family’s land to build an infrastructure maintenance depot for track, equipment and machines to supply the entire 194 mile-long route
After chopping down thousands of trees, construction workers are now putting up a huge fence to bar access to the area known as Dannal’s Wood
Last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed he was scrapping the HS2 section linking Birmingham with Manchester
‘We are living on a construction site. And have been for a long time now.
‘The minute you dare to speak up about what is right they will come at you harder.
‘It’s ruined our lives. It’s ruined our children’s lives and their futures.
‘We can’t leave because we can’t afford to.
‘We’re in a rural community. You could hear the wildlife, you had complete privacy.
‘Now we have massive construction noise at least 12 hours a day. It’s just unbearable. If you stand in my front garden you can’t have a conversation because the noise is so great.
‘It used to be dark at night – now there’s flood lights everywhere.
‘Our livelihood has been dramatically affected. Farmers are not cash rich but you have your land to pass on as an inheritance which is generational but now it won’t be there.
‘With the boys’ needs, farming was something they could have carried on.
‘The boys enjoy riding their ponies which they could do around their own fields but HS2 has taken away our safe farmland.’
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: ‘We have been in regular contact with Elm Tree Farm about our plans for the Infrastructure Maintenance Depot over the last ten years.
‘The area in question has always been required for construction and will be used to create a new balancing pond and landscaping to protect the nearby village of Steeple Claydon as well as space for new wildlife habitats.
‘We now have permission from Buckinghamshire Council for the design of this landscaping and we are confident that we have the legal right to begin work.’
Buckinghamshire Council said: ‘Over the last few years we have met with Mr and Mrs Hodges on numerous occasions to discuss the impact of the HS2 works in Dannals Wood and to see what we could do as a local authority to mitigate these works.
‘Unfortunately the work that HS2 Limited and their contractors are undertaking does comply with the Environmental Statement and the HS2 Schedule 17 planning regime.
‘Under the High Speed Rail Act 2017 we have very limited powers, so there is nothing we can do to stop the works.’
The Department for Transport declined to comment.
