North West council to launch judicial review over £200m dual carriageway proposal
The Leader of Sefton Borough Council has revealed that it will bring judicial review proceedings against Highways England over proposals for a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley.
The upgrade to the A5036 is intended to improve access to the Port of Liverpool.
Cllr Ian Maher said: “We know that our communities have felt absolutely devastated since the announcement in August by Highways England that their preferred option is to build a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley. The way the whole process has been handled beggars believe [sic] and the more I have thought about it, the more I believe that we have grounds to challenge and are calling for a judicial review on the matter.
“When they first started consultation on their two options to ease traffic on the A5036 – a revamped A5036 Dunnings Bridge Road, which is already one of the busiest roads in the north, or a new £200m road through Rimrose Valley Park in Litherland – we put forward a third option to build a tunnel as an alternative and felt it should have been properly looked at. Yet they completely disregarded this option without any real consideration.”
Cllr Maher added: “It’s just not right that they can do this to the people of Sefton. Their failure to include the tunnel as an option in the consultation process has deprived our residents of the opportunity to express a view – and I think this gives us enough evidence to take legal action.
“We are calling on Highways England to withdraw its ridiculous decision and re-open the consultation, giving people an opportunity to comment on the possibility of a tunnel as another option.”
The planned judicial review has been backed by the Campaign for Better Transport.
Chris Todd, Local Groups Campaigner for Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We welcome this intervention by Sefton Council and its determination to safeguard the future health and well-being of its residents. Whatever the outcome, it is another example of the dissatisfaction around the country at the way Highways England engages local communities. We think Highways England needs to review the way it consults on road schemes to ensure that a full range of options is included.
“The problems faced in Liverpool also point to a failure of strategic planning: expanding a port before working out how to improve access to it without causing massive harm. Other countries plan port expansion alongside rail and road access and spend money to make this access acceptable locally. In particular, Liverpool's port expansion should not have been authorised ahead of any rail upgrade.”
Highways England has been approached for comment.
