HS2 court ruling

HS2 an 'egregious breach' of European Environmental law concludes top Environmental and Planning Judge

On Wednesday 24 July, three Court of Appeal judges handed down their decision dismissing the Appeals brought against the Department for Transport's decision to progress with High Speed 2 (HS2) by an alliance of 15 local authorities, HS2 Action Alliance and Heathrow Hub Limited.

Most significantly, there was a split decision by the three Judges on the first ground that a full Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should have been carried out to assess the effect on the environment of both HS2 and its alternatives.

Whilst The Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Richards supported the Department for Transport's contention that no SEA was required as HS2 was not a 'plan or programme', Lord Justice Sullivan- one of the country's leading environmental and planning judges - disagreed.

Lord Justice Sullivan said in his judgement: “If, as I have concluded, an SEA is required and there has not been substantial compliance with the SEA Directive, it would be difficult to think of a more egregious breach of the Directive given the scale of the HS2 project and the likely extent of its effects on the environment."

The local authorities have asked for permission to Appeal to the Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land on the SEA ground and an additional, and related, ground that the Hybrid Bill process is incompatible with another aspect of European law, the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.