East West Rail safeguarding directions
Safeguarding directions for the East West Rail project for local planning authorities.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Secretary of State for Transport has issued updated safeguarding directions for the land required for the proposed East West Rail project, in line with updated proposals for the project published in the You Said We Did Report in November 2025.
Safeguarding is a formal process undertaken by the Department for Transport that ensures the land required for major projects is protected from conflicting development. Guidance notes for the relevant local planning authorities concerning the safeguarded land have been published alongside the updated safeguarding directions.
The safeguarding directions and guidance notes stipulate that the relevant local planning authorities refer planning applications that include land within the safeguarded area to East West Rail Company for comment.
Safeguarding is a statutory mechanism, which activates statutory blight. Qualifying owner-occupiers of land or property within the safeguarded area are entitled to serve blight notices on East West Rail Company, in accordance with the provisions contained within the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
East West Rail Company has issued letters to those affected by the change to the safeguarding boundary. Further information about safeguarding and contact details for any queries can be found on the East West Rail website.
Updates to this page
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Updated safeguarding directions and guidance to reflect revised East West Rail proposals following the You Said We Did 2025 report.
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First published.