- 'Judicial review' has become increasingly common as a check on the power of Parliament and the Government, fulfilling the need for enforcement of individual rights in a country without a singular, written constitution. [1] for a discussion on this topic by a senior British judge. Parliament would need to repeal the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 in order to avoid it. The oft-derided Human Rights Act may also prevent due process from being circumvented.
- Local authorities have the primary say in planning consent, although they can be overridden on appeal. The Government and public sector contractors must therefore apply for permission just as any other legal entity; building HS2 does not in theory given them any special treatment.
- The 'red tape' isn't there without reason. Although it does indeed prevent some kinds of construction, that is precisely the reason why some of it was introduced. There are powerful lobbying groups for property rights, the environment and conservation just to name a few - these are powerful because many people value these things dearly. The public does not have a infinite tolerance for rash government decision-making either, so any proposed construction must be carefully weighed against its ramifications on government popularity and thus chances of re-election.
I hope I have been able to give a bit of balance to the idea that laziness is any part of government thinking at this point in time.
[1]: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/is-judic...
if parliament legislated to grant the government the ability to do whatever it wanted in regards to HS2 then there would be nothing for judicial review to... review
the government can also override local authorities for planning decisions for e.g. projects of national significance