Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/hs2-government-to-give-high-speed-rail-line-the-go-ahead.200154
I found Michael Heseltine's interview on PM two weeks ago most interesting. He pointed out that with projects of this nature, huge benefits accrue in time that cannot possibly be quantified in advance, and he quoted the development of Canary Wharf as an example.
Again the costs were huge and it bankrupted the developer (Olympia and York) and required Government support to complete, and of course it had huge opposition with the usual critics saying the money should be spent on hospitals/schools/ social housing/you name it - but once built it became the springboard for the redevelopment of the whole of Docklands and then the rest of the old East End culminating in the hosting of the Olympics in Stratford of all places - which would have been a Music Hall joke if not for the blue touch paper of the earlier strategic development.
So it will be with HS2 - construction costs can be estimated but the indirect benefits of regeneration cannot - so PR becomes vitally important to get the message across.
Heseltine made one very good point that HS2 Ltd are perhaps not competent to be the Maitre D'Ouvre of the whole project, being overly focussed on the construction itself rather than the wider business opportunities.
He pointed out that places like Curzon Street are not just stations but huge inner city redevelopments that would be major projects in their own right, and need to be part of an overarching strategy and that also includes a far more savvy approach to publicity and public relations to get people genuinely excited by all this.
I don't think anybody could argue for a second that HS2 Ltd have been any good in this area at all - they have been shouted down by just about every uninformed amateur in the country. Chris Packham for Gods Sake! Engineers do not make great Project Managers.
I found Michael Heseltine's interview on PM two weeks ago most interesting. He pointed out that with projects of this nature, huge benefits accrue in time that cannot possibly be quantified in advance, and he quoted the development of Canary Wharf as an example.
Again the costs were huge and it bankrupted the developer (Olympia and York) and required Government support to complete, and of course it had huge opposition with the usual critics saying the money should be spent on hospitals/schools/ social housing/you name it - but once built it became the springboard for the redevelopment of the whole of Docklands and then the rest of the old East End culminating in the hosting of the Olympics in Stratford of all places - which would have been a Music Hall joke if not for the blue touch paper of the earlier strategic development.
So it will be with HS2 - construction costs can be estimated but the indirect benefits of regeneration cannot - so PR becomes vitally important to get the message across.
Heseltine made one very good point that HS2 Ltd are perhaps not competent to be the Maitre D'Ouvre of the whole project, being overly focussed on the construction itself rather than the wider business opportunities.
He pointed out that places like Curzon Street are not just stations but huge inner city redevelopments that would be major projects in their own right, and need to be part of an overarching strategy and that also includes a far more savvy approach to publicity and public relations to get people genuinely excited by all this.
I don't think anybody could argue for a second that HS2 Ltd have been any good in this area at all - they have been shouted down by just about every uninformed amateur in the country. Chris Packham for Gods Sake! Engineers do not make great Project Managers.
Last edited by a moderator:
