Buckinghamshire Council has issued judicial review proceedings against decisions made by the Planning Inspectors in respect of Schedule 17 lorry route approvals submitted by HS2 Limited.
Councillor Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport at the Council said: “The decision to go ahead and take these appeals to the High Court is the right thing to do for our residents and communities. Following Counsel advice, we believe we have a strong reason to challenge the decisions of the Inspector in allowing the lorry routes to be used which will have an enormous and detrimental impact on our local roads.
“The council had sought further information considered necessary to carry out our statutory duty to assess the impacts of the proposed routes.”
HS2 had appealed against the non-determination of 2 of the applications by the council – those relating to Brackley Road and the Wendover Green Tunnel. The appeals were allowed by the Planning Inspector; the council has lodged challenges against these decisions.
A separate Planning Inspector has dealt with the other 4 appeals relating to:
- Small Dean Lane, Wendover to the Strategic Road Network
- Small Dean Viaduct, Wendover to the Strategic Road Network
- Chiltern Tunnel North Portal to the Strategic Road Network, and
- three worksites at Little Missenden, Chesham and the North Portal to the Strategic Road Network
The Planning Inspector again allowed all four of these appeals.
The council has submitted the claims and is waiting to receive leave to appeal, i.e. to take these matters to the High Court to quash the decisions, and the court decision is pending.
