A LEGAL challenge has been launched in a bid to stop the ‘devastating’ impact of the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.
As reported in the Mail, ‘Corridor B’, which would pass either to the north-west or south-east of Oxford, then north to Bicester and beyond, had been selected out of three possible options.
Whilst campaigners were pleased wildlife at Otmoor would be protected, they have slammed a lack of clarity over road, which could cost around £3billion.
A host of groups have joined together to form the No Expressway Alliance – but now local wildlife trusts have launched a legal challenge.
Berks Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust (BCNWT) have threatened High Court action over the controversial road.
Earlier this year the two trusts made a submission to the Highways England consultation in which they detailed concerns about the potential environmental impact of the three ‘corridors’ that were then being proposed, and said ‘Corridor B’ was the worst option.
The trusts say Highways England failed to commission a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) or a Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) as part of the process of selecting a corridor. This is required under European Law for schemes that impact on the environment such as this.
This, the trust says, means the ‘true environmental effect has not properly been considered and the public has been denied the opportunity to fully scrutinise the comparative economic, societal and environmental impacts of the options.’
A pre-action protocol letter has been sent to the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling.
The trusts say that if there is no satisfactory response, a claim will be made in the High Court before the end of October.
It is anticipated that there will be a Judicial Review hearing before the end of 2018.
Estelle Bailey, chief executive officer of BBOWT, said: “Earlier this year we told Highways England that the potential impact on biodiversity of Corridor B is so serious that the route should have been discounted entirely, and pressed them to conduct a Strategic Environmental Assessment. They ignored us. Today we challenge the Secretary of State for Transport to address the government’s failure to take the environment into account in its decision.”
BBOWT’s most serious concerns are for the designated sites and nature reserves in Cothill Fen, Oxford Meadows, the Otmoor Basin, Upper Ray Valley and Bernwood Forest.
This article originally appeared on BanburyCake
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