HELLO Hillingdon - back blogging after a refreshing summer break with the kids. And what an eventful summer it was too.

Whilst the nation enjoyed the climax to the Harry Potter series, the HS2 lobby rolled out a hairy trainspotter called Pete Waterman. Apparently the HS2 big guns were unavailable, such as the MPs and handsomely rewarded mandarins who are pushing this unpopular proposal.

So it was left to a legendary record producer to tell us how lucky, lucky, lucky we'll be on Channel 4 prime time news. Pete used to knock out number ones by the bucket load. Unfortunately he's now reduced to spouting number twos. His most telling contribution to the short TV debate - apart from shouting, that is - was to concede that there is no economic or business case but we should build it anyway. Hmm, OK Pete ...

Funnily, the usually accomplished presenter Jon Snow didn't seize the opportunity to jump on this admission. Perhaps because he doesn't care much about HS2 now that his Primrose Hill home is safe, or is that just coincidence?

Meanwhile Stop HS2 continued touring with the huge, inflatable white elephant to highlight the ridiculousness of it all. And this tireless work has contributed to this revealing statistic: The StopHS2 petition (at GoPetition.co.uk) has now attracted over 50,000 individual computer signatures.

In comparison, the YesToHS2 petition (also at GoPetition.co.uk) has attracted less than 500 supporters - an embarrassing ratio of 100:1 against. Not surprisingly that ratio nicely corresponds with the proportion of people who would benefit from long distance high speed rail, about one per cent of daily travellers.

This is all the more embarrassing because the YesToHS2 campaign was set up by a professional lobby group in the heart of Westminster, and fronted by some of the most prominent HS2 lobbyists such as Professor David Begg. These were the architects of the insulting 'their lawns or our jobs' campaign.

It is a funny coincidence how someone who bears such a striking resemblance to Oscar the Trash Can Grouch (from Sesame Street) can effortlessly produce garbage like that.

But the battle has only just begun and we need your support. This is not just about a few homes or green fields - this is about national priorities, democratic processes and the local and regional transport improvements that the majority of people clearly want (and don't want).

If there's any doubt about the fight ahead, Hillingdon residents should stand up and take notice that another proposed rail route into Heathrow (from Wales) has now surfaced. There should be no doubt whatsoever that this is related to this worrying fact: High Speed 3, High Speed 4, High Speed 5 and High Speed 6 have already been registered at Companies House.

This really is only the beginning for Britain, the taxpayer and Hillingdon.

There is now a new petition (and that's another story). Please sign it at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/353 and encourage everyone you know to write to their MP in less than five minutes, using this website - www.highspeedrail.org.uk

And of course visit our website - www.hillingdon-against-hs2.com

Keri Brennan