High Court grants permission for fresh legal challenge against controversial A38 Derby junctions road scheme
PRESS RELEASE
High Court grants permission for fresh legal challenge against controversial A38 Derby junctions road scheme
The controversial £250 million A38 Derby junctions road scheme [1] is facing another legal challenge. In 2021 the same road scheme was found unlawful after a successful legal challenge by local residents. Transport minister Grant Shapps failed to consider the cumulative impacts of carbon emissions when approving the scheme. In August this year, new transport minister Mark Harper gave the A38 scheme the green light again.
On Wednesday the 20th Dec 2023 at The Royal Courts of Justice, Mrs Justice Jefford granted the case permission to go to trial after hearing arguments from both Richard Buxton Solicitors representing the Stop the A38 Expansion campaign group [2] and the defendants, the Department for Transport and National Highways.
Justice Jefford granted permission on the ground that the Secretary of State for transport approved the scheme again in August 2023 with an out dated economic assessment from 2019 that did not include recent planning policy changes and the potential increased financial, social and environmental costs of the scheme.
Another ground based on cumulative carbon emissions may be permissible depending on the outcome of the court of appeal case of Boswell vs National Highways. [3]
A refused ground was based on the Government’s own Committee on Climate Change (CCC)’s 2023 report to Parliament [4] which recommended the Government sets policies to reduce traffic by supporting other forms of transport and review road building plans as legally binding carbon reduction targets may be missed. However Justice Jefford said the CCC’s advice is not legally binding planning policy so the transport minister was allowed to ignore it when approving the A38 scheme so this ground was refused permission to go to trial.
No date for the A38 trial has been set but it is estimated sometime in mid 2024.
This is one of many legal challenges the Government is currently facing on climate and environmental policy including the Stonehenge road scheme[5], carbon budget delivery pathways[6] and Rishi Sunak’s decision to delay climate targets such as ban on the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles.[7]
The A38 road scheme involves expanding the road from four to six lanes around the three junctions at Little Eaton, Markeaton and Kingsway and constructing flyovers and underpasses.
The main purpose of the scheme is to reduce congestion, improve the reliability of journey times between Birmingham, Derby and the M1[8] and to allow a minimum of 11,000 new developments close to the A38 Derby junctions area.[9]
The scheme has caused controversy over its negative environmental impacts. It will worsen climate change by increasing carbon emissions both through construction and increased traffic [10] despite many supporters of the scheme believing it will reduce emissions by reducing idling traffic. National Highways planning documents also show 11.38 hectares of trees to be cut down with only 6.40 hectares replanted.[11] A veteran oak tree and many other centuries old trees in and around Markeaton Park will be felled. [12] Derbyshire Wildlife Trust raised concerns about the scheme’s ecological assessment[13] and the complete loss of the A38 Kingsway Roundabout Local Wildlife Site. [14]
Those opposed to the scheme say that it would be cheaper, less disruptive and less environmentally harmful to invest in making local public transport services more reliable, connected and affordable and to plan new developments with good public transport and active travel links to reduce pressure on the road network.
The Secretary of State approved the scheme again and concluded that the negative environmental and social impacts of the scheme are outweighed by the potential economic benefits of increased road capacity. The legal challenge’s main ground is that this decision was made without an up to date economic assessment report.
A Mackworth resident from the Stop the A38 expansion campaign said:
“After the hottest year on record and countless extreme weather events around the world, including recent record breaking flooding here in Derby, it is madness that the Government thinks extra road capacity is more important than action on the climate and nature crises.
Sometimes climate action seems like a lot of effort and change but with the A38 expansion, it’s very simple…cancel it. Let’s keep thousands of trees instead of making a road bigger with even more traffic and pollution just to line the pockets of developers with public money.
There are cheaper and less harmful transport solutions…why not invest the £250 million of public money for the A38 expansion into public transport instead?
We are glad the court gave us permission to go to trial and are now focusing on raising funds for the trial. A huge thank you to all the people who have supported our crowd funded legal challenge. It’s up to people-powered campaign’s like ours to stop our Government ignoring the law and throwing more fuel onto the climate and nature crises.”
– ENDS –
About the Stop the A38 Campaign:
The Stop the A38 campaign is run a group of concerned local residents who want to stop the carbon-emitting, polluting, nature-destroying A38 Derby Junctions road scheme
Legal challenge: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-the-a38-road-expansion-for-good/
Website: https://www.a38derbychaos.org/
Photo description: Local residents supporting the Stop the A38 campaign hold a banner under the threatened veteran oak tree near Markeaton Park’s bridge.
Press contact:
SavetheA38trees@protonmail.com
Footnotes:
[1] A38 scheme and planning documents on National Infrastructure Planning website https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/east-midlands/a38-derby-junctions/?ipcsection=overview
[2] Legal challenge https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-road-building-wrecking-climate-nature/
[3] Court of appeal case of Boswell vs National Highways: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-road-building-wrecking-climate-nature/
[4] The CCC report calls on the DfT in 2023 to “Conduct a systematic review of current and future road-building projects to assess their consistency with the Government’s environmental goals. This should ensure that decisions do not lock in unsustainable levels of traffic growth…” https://www.theccc.org.uk/publicationtype/0-report/02-progress-reports/
[5] Revival of Stonehenge road tunnel plan triggers new legal challenge: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/26/revival-of-stonehenge-road-tunnel-plan-triggers-new-legal-challenge
[6]Net zero: we are taking the Government back to court: https://goodlawproject.org/update/net-zero-ii-launch/
[7] Chris Packham launches legal challenge over UK’s watering down of climate policies: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/04/chris-packham-launches-legal-challenge-over-uks-watering-down-of-climate-policies
[8] Nation Highways website on the A38 scheme: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/east-midlands/a38-derby-junctions/
[9] Page 5 of the Secretary of State’s Decision Letter on the A38 : “The Secretary of State has had further regard to the DCCS that makes a provision for a minimum of 11,000 new homes and 199ha (gross) of new employment land. Without the additional highway capacity provided to these areas the Secretary of State notes that the planned growth would be adversely affected”. https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010022/TR010022-001535-230817%20A38%20Derby%20Junctions%20Decision%20Letter.pdf
[10] The scheme will increase carbon emissions. The construction alone is 131,000 tons of CO2. Then the induced traffic from the extra road capacity will increase CO2 emissions further. The numbers in National Highways own planning documents state this on page 24 of the environmental statement: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010022/TR010022-000456-TR010022_A38_6.1_Environmental_Statement_Chapter_14.pdf
[11] National Highways planning documents show a net-loss of trees: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010022/TR010022-001217-6.1%20ES%20-%20Chapter%208(a)%20-%20Biodiversity%20(Confidential%20Content%20Removed)%20(clean).pdf
[12] National Highways tree felling plans: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010022/TR010022-001230-6.3%20ES%20Appendix_7.2(a)%20Arboricultural%20Impact%20Assessment%20Report.pdf
[13] Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s concerns over the A38 scheme’s impact on wildlife and biodiversity: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010022/TR010022-001217-6.1%20ES%20-%20Chapter%208(a)%20-%20Biodiversity%20(Confidential%20Content%20Removed)%20(clean).pdf
[14] National Highways biodiversity statement: shttps://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010022/TR010022-001217-6.1%20ES%20-%20Chapter%208(a)%20-%20Biodiversity%20(Confidential%20Content%20Removed)%20(clean).pdf