PRESS RELEASE: Local Residents Vow to Appeal after Court Rules in Favour of Government on A38 Derby Junctions Scheme

Written By Guest User

Date: 11:45am Tuesday 27 August 2024

Derby residents from the ‘Stop the A38 Expansion’ group have vowed to continue their fight to stop the polluting, money-wasting and environmentally destructive A38 Derby Junctions Scheme after the High Court today dismissed their legal challenge against it. This comes after the group’s successful legal challenge in 2021 and the Government reapproving the same scheme in 2023. 

The second legal challenge’s main ground was that the road scheme was approved without an up-to-date economic assessment. Mr Justice Mould ruled in favour of the Department for Transport and National Highways, stating that the former Conservative transport minister Mark Harper was legally allowed to greenlight the scheme again in 2023 with an out-of-date economic assessment that was not made publicly available during the scheme’s examination period in 2019. The former Secretary of State also refused to recalculate the 2018 BCR (benefit:cost ratio) for the scheme in line with the latest treasury guidance and the impacts of carbon pricing and inflation on construction costs, instead saying that a full business case would be produced and a final economic decision made once the scheme was beyond public scrutiny and challenge. 

The campaigners criticised National Highways for what they described as "underhanded tactics" during the legal proceedings because National Highways submitted an updated BCR calculation as defence evidence, but then withdrew it after receiving a counter-expert witness report by Professor Goodwin. This report revealed that National Highways’ BCR calculation was flawed and that the scheme’s economic assessment and BCR has missed 50 policy updates since 2018. Professor Goodwin stated that the scheme’s BCR could now even be below 2 which, by Government investment guidelines, is poor value for money. The campaigners speculate that this is why the former Secretary of State and National Highways have refused to do an up-to-date BCR calculation and economic assessment as the scheme makes no economic sense and is a waste of money. 

Mr Justice Mould acknowledged that the scheme's economic assessment and BCR calculation were not up to date but ruled that the former Secretary of State was entitled to approve the scheme on the “basis of his opinion that he had addressed the likely significant effects of the Proposed Development on the environment. That was an opinion that he was entitled [to] rely upon for the purposes of reaching his reasoned conclusion, notwithstanding his decision not to require the provision of a revised BCR calculation to reflect the updated WebTAG and other guidance on the weighting of carbon emissions.”

The former Secretary of State acknowledged, in his decision letter, that the A38 Derby Junctions Scheme has many disbenefits, including:

·        the substantial loss of trees (over 11 hectares), the complete loss of wildlife sites and the loss of public open space

·        the compulsory purchase of private property such as homes, gardens and farmland

·        increased carbon emissions

·        the exposure of more households to increased noise

·        increased air pollution in areas such as Markeaton roundabout near the Royal School for the Deaf due to increased traffic and additional lanes

·        over four years of construction causing traffic delays throughout Derby, with no traffic mitigation plans in place and the likely breach of safe air quality targets

However, the former Secretary of State decided that all these negative social and environmental impacts were outweighed by the scheme’s “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.” 

The campaigners have announced their intention to appeal the decision, arguing that the fight to protect the health of Derby’s community and environment is far from over. They plan to continue raising awareness of the scheme's negative impacts, have launched a new petition to get the scheme permanently scrapped and are seeking further legal avenues to challenge the expansion.

Adrian Howlett from the ‘Stop the A38 Expansion’ group said: “We were prepared for this potential outcome and will be appealing and continuing our campaign to stop this polluting and destructive central Government scheme. We should all be deeply troubled that Government ministers are legally entitled to make development decisions that cost hundreds of millions of public funds and cause huge social, public health and environmental harm with out-of-date planning documents and information based on one minister’s opinion of what is ‘proportionate’. 

“If this scheme goes ahead, it will cause huge environmental destruction, lead to over four years of traffic chaos in Derby due to the roadworks and create potentially illegal levels of air pollution. Even if it’s completed, it won’t lessen air pollution and traffic as many falsely assume. In fact, the planning documents state that traffic will increase, CO2 and NO2 pollution will increase and the residents and students at the Royal School for the Deaf near Markeaton island will be exposed to even more pollution! All this harm will be inflicted on the people and environment of Derby just to enable private developers to maximise profit from greenfield sites around the A38 where they can build more over-priced, sprawling, car-dependent estates. 

“We are in the midst of a climate and nature crisis and urgently need to cut carbon pollution and protect and restore nature to prevent the huge cost to life and the economy caused by extreme weather - such as floods and droughts - and crop failure. £250 million of public money should not be wasted on this destructive, outdated scheme which will only increase traffic and pollution - it should instead be used to invest in sustainable and affordable transport and housing in Derby. National Highways has proposed only destructive roadworks for the A38 Derby Junctions Scheme and has not explored public transport and active travel options to reduce traffic volumes at all.”

Adrian added: "We wish to thank everyone who has volunteered with us, donated to our legal challenges or supported us in any way. To those in Derby who think the scheme will lessen pollution and traffic, we urge you to read the Secretary of State’s decision letter and the planning documents as these show it will lead to an increase in traffic, more carbon and NO2 pollution, more noise, an increased risk of floods and a minimum of 11,000 new developments alongside the A38 to the west of Derby. Traffic, especially at peak times, is the result of a lack of other transport options and too many people being forced to rely on cars. Car ownership has outpaced population growth in the UK as Governments have invested more money into building roads instead of public transport and active travel.”

 

Call to Action:

  1. Support the legal challenge appeal.

  2. Sign the petition to cancel the A38 Derby Junctions Scheme

  3. Share 1 & 2

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Destructive road schemes cancelled! Will the A38 expansion be next?