For nearly seven years Justine and Trevor Palin, from Knutsford in Cheshire, have been trying to achieve a fair, open market price for their blighted family home, which is due for demolition to make way for the Crewe to Manchester spur of HS2.
During 2018 the beleaguered couple made contact with the Rt. Hon. Esther McVey, their local MP, who was extremely sympathetic with the injustice of their situation — the sale of their house, according to the government’s own guidelines, should have completed in a few months and a fair price should have been offered.
HS2 consistently made offers well below independent market valuations, which the Palins had been put under pressure to accept. Towards the end of 2018 a legal team appointed and the couple were able to start to build a case against HS2 and following a successful CrowdJustice funding campaign, the Palins were able to take advice from one of the UK’s leading compulsory purchase barristers, Barry Denyer-Green, who confirmed that there are very strong grounds for a case to be brought against HS2.
Ms McVey had asked to be kept up to date on the progress of the Palins’ house sale and on Tuesday 9 April a further meeting took place at her constituency office.
Commenting on Esther McVey’s support, Justine Palin said: “We are absolutely delighted that our MP has agreed to take up our long-running case against HS2. After seven long years — during which time Trevor has suffered a breakdown and family life has been turned upside down — it is such a relief to know that someone, who can make a real difference, is on your side.
“We know we still have some way to go to settle our case, but with Esther’s help we both feel that we can now see the light at what has been a long and very dark tunnel.”
Trevor Palin added: “All we want to do is to get a fair price for our home so we can move on, put this behind us and get back to being a family. The sad reality is that there will be many hundreds of people that have been similarly affected by HS2 and don’t know where to turn. As much as we want to move on, our CrowdJustice campaign continues to raise funds so that we can help support those who are lost in HS2’s maze.”
