Campaigners hoping to prevent a high-speed rail link being built through north Oxfordshire are launching a legal challenge against the Government's decision to push on with the scheme.
Last month Transport Secretary Justine Greening MP gave the green light to the £33bn HS2 project, which is expected to be up and running from 2026. The scheme includes the construction of a new, 140-mile line between London and Birmingham that the Government says will increase the number of passenger seats and reduce congestion on the existing network, as well as road and air routes.
But campaigners argue the business case for the route, which will affect Finmere, Mixbury, Newton Purcell and Godington in Cherwell, is unproved and will be damaging to the environment. The Stop HS2 campaign group said it was appealing for information to prove the decision was flawed, and would seek for a judicial review.
The group has launched an appeal for funds to pay for a challenge, which would have to be launched by April. Stop HS2 campaign co-ordinator Joe Rukin said: “A judicial review can be launched under three different grounds, that the decision to proceed was illegal, irrational or the procedure itself was flawed.
"We obviously believe that the consultation process was completely flawed and the decision to go ahead was totally irrational and are certain there are thousands of people who share those views. However, to be able to prove either of those facts in a court of law, we need evidence. Obviously the campaign and the other organisations have collected a lot of evidence, but we want to make sure no stone is left unturned.”
Stop HS2 represents a number of smaller protest groups across the country including VoxOpp (Villages of Oxfordshire Opposing HS2), whose spokesman Mark Barton described HS2 as "ill-conceived and not thought through properly."
The Government has said the project will increase jobs and growth, and cut a journey between London and Birmingham from one hour and 24 minutes to 45 minutes. But both Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council opposed the plans, and Stop HS2 members are set to talk to different authorities and groups about helping with the review appeal.
However Lucy James, a spokesperson for the Campaign for High Speed Rail group, said a judicial review would be a "colossal waste of time and money".
“The Department for Transport received and considered nearly 60,000 submissions during the course of their public consultation, and as a result they implemented changes to their original plans which are clearly visible in the alterations they made to the final route," she said. “Instead of a long drawn-out process through the courts, people from both sides should be working together to ensure that we build the best high-speed railway possible.”
Speaking in December, Justine Greening MP said: Justine Greening MP said: “A new high speed rail network will provide Britain with the additional train seats, connections and speed to stay ahead of the congestion challenge and help create jobs, growth and prosperity for the entire country.
“HS2 will link some of our greatest cities – and high speed trains will connect with our existing railway lines to provide seamless journeys to destinations far beyond it. This is a truly British network that will serve far more than the cities directly on the line."
