For Mary Daniel and her husband Andrew, Rishi Sunak's conference speech, in which he confirmed he was scrapping the Manchester leg of HS2, was an emotionally bittersweet moment. Just a few months ago, the couple completed the sale of their home to HS2- after years of agonising.
Mary and Andrew, both in their 60s, say that had it not been for the plans for the new high-speed line, they would never have even contemplated moving from the home where they brought up their children. "It was steaming ahead then it all went very quiet. So when they finally paid us out in May this year, it was a blessed relief" she said "But now we know what we know, we wish we had never sold, because we never have looked to live anywhere else. It's where we brought our kids up.
"It's a massive relief for the business that it's not coming, because quite frankly they have been bloody awful about it all," Mary said. "At one point a lawyer said 'Mr Daniel, 'we don't have to do anything for you. We can come along and build our train track and we don't have to do anything for you.' Which is great isn't it?
"So I was 90 percent pleased when they cancelled it. It was going to devastate the Cheshire countryside. But by purchasing land and farms etc, it's already ruined a lot of people's lives. And it's all been done for nothing. It's very unfortunate and upsetting. And we still don't know what's going to happen now. That in itself is very worrying."
Around five neighbouring properties have already been purchased by HS2, Jeremy says. And, he claims, under the route plans published at the start of this year, HS2 also wanted to take land from his garden without purchasing the property, something the 65-year-old was firmly against. He describes meeting with HS2 chiefs as 'like talking to a wall.' Over the past few weeks there had been a 'heightened expectation' as speculation raged over the project's future, he said.
"So some might have been but I wasn't jumping up and down. Our property still has a safeguarding/compulsory purchase hanging over it. That's going to have to be lifted. This week the Department for Transport said that 'safeguarding' on the cancelled Birmingham to Crewe section of the line, known as Phase 2a, will be lifted 'within weeks' and that safeguarding on the Crewe to Manchester section will be amended 'by summer next year' in order 'to allow any safeguarding needed on the Northern Powerhouse Rail project.