Buckinghamshire Council has issued judicial review proceedings against decisions made by the planning inspectors relating to lorry route approvals submitted by HS2 Limited.
The council has been trying to restrict the movement of heavy construction lorries through villages but the independent planning inspectorate has sided with HS2 in the dispute.
Councillor Steven Broadbent, cabinet member for transport at Buckinghamshire 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 two 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 four 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.
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