HS2 court result due at any time now

9:56am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News By James Nadal

An artists impression of an HS2 train An artists impression of an HS2 train

A RESULT in the legal fight with the Government to stop High Speed 2 is due any time now.

The outcome of the Judicial Review, led by the 51m alliance, is set to be declared by the High Court at any moment, head campaigner Martin Tett says.

Over a week of legal proceedings took place before a judge in December.

Mr Tett, who is chairman of 51m and leader of Bucks County Council, told the BFP: “We were told there would be a result at the end of January, there wasn't.

“This probably shows the complexity of the issues that the High Court judge is having to deal with here. We are expecting one any day.

“We don't know if it will be in our favour, against us, or more likely somewhere in the middle.

“Then we have to take a view pretty quickly whether we appeal or not.”

The 51m legal team will have 24 hours in advance to check the legal accuracy of the decision.

Cllr Tett defended spending taxpayers' cash on the legal bid.

Last year the BFP reported nearly £400,000 had been pumped into the fight against Hs2 by the alliance of 18 councils along the route.

Cllr Tett said: “I make no apologies for that. I think it's cost the equivalent of 9p for every taxpayers along the route who is part of the challenge.

“Anyone who objects, I'm sure I could refund their 9p. I've had a minuscule number of people who have complained, probably less than a dozen, whereas I've had hundreds and hundreds who've said fantastic.”

On the flipped side of the coin, campaigners against an incinerator in Calvert, north Bucks, have instigated their own Judicial Review against the council.

In the 2013/14 budget for the county council, £200,000 has been earmarked for legal costs.

Cllr Tett said: “I'm well aware that having instituted a JR against the Government I couldn't be hypocritical and turn around and say to residents you shouldn't do it for local interest.

“I've never done that. All I've pointed out is that every month's delay is costing cumulatively millions of pounds a month, not to me, to taxpayers.

"It's right that they have the opportunity to challenge, but I just draw to their attention that there's a significant cost to the taxpayer doing so.”

Comments (4)

11:26am Tue 12 Feb 13

miccles says...

Cllr Tett gives me the impression he likes to blow his own trumpet, pat himself on the back and say "well done Martin".

On my way to work this morning, i was looking and feeling how bad and disgusting the countys roads are, with no enthusiasm from the council to do anything about it.

I couldn't care, and quite honestly as said in another post, i'm bored of the cat fights to do with HS2, and i do detest taxpayers money being spent opposing this, its not there for that, its there for public services ie roads.
Cllr Tett gives me the impression he likes to blow his own trumpet, pat himself on the back and say "well done Martin". On my way to work this morning, i was looking and feeling how bad and disgusting the countys roads are, with no enthusiasm from the council to do anything about it. I couldn't care, and quite honestly as said in another post, i'm bored of the cat fights to do with HS2, and i do detest taxpayers money being spent opposing this, its not there for that, its there for public services ie roads. miccles

8:36pm Tue 12 Feb 13

YorksDavey says...

up to £60,000 on a pointless fight? Nice. Meanwhile I'm swerving left and right to avoid all the potholes, waiting at bus stops where the electronic info boards have failed and walking along filthy footpaths.
up to £60,000 on a pointless fight? Nice. Meanwhile I'm swerving left and right to avoid all the potholes, waiting at bus stops where the electronic info boards have failed and walking along filthy footpaths. YorksDavey

12:23pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Voyeur says...

Does BucksCC still have the policy of road repairs by asking each councillor to nominate a limited number of roads in their constituencies for attention? Repairs not according to need but according to rationing?
Does BucksCC still have the policy of road repairs by asking each councillor to nominate a limited number of roads in their constituencies for attention? Repairs not according to need but according to rationing? Voyeur

1:33pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Malc London says...

miccles wrote:
Cllr Tett gives me the impression he likes to blow his own trumpet, pat himself on the back and say "well done Martin". On my way to work this morning, i was looking and feeling how bad and disgusting the countys roads are, with no enthusiasm from the council to do anything about it. I couldn't care, and quite honestly as said in another post, i'm bored of the cat fights to do with HS2, and i do detest taxpayers money being spent opposing this, its not there for that, its there for public services ie roads.
It's money well spent and considerably less than the Government are spending on your behalf supporting the HS2.

The costs may even be reclaimed from the Government when project is binned.

We don't need HS2. We need a localised rail network that people can use, that's gets them from A to B safely and which is affordable to use.

That's what the plans for future of the rail network should be.
[quote][p][bold]miccles[/bold] wrote: Cllr Tett gives me the impression he likes to blow his own trumpet, pat himself on the back and say "well done Martin". On my way to work this morning, i was looking and feeling how bad and disgusting the countys roads are, with no enthusiasm from the council to do anything about it. I couldn't care, and quite honestly as said in another post, i'm bored of the cat fights to do with HS2, and i do detest taxpayers money being spent opposing this, its not there for that, its there for public services ie roads.[/p][/quote]It's money well spent and considerably less than the Government are spending on your behalf supporting the HS2. The costs may even be reclaimed from the Government when project is binned. We don't need HS2. We need a localised rail network that people can use, that's gets them from A to B safely and which is affordable to use. That's what the plans for future of the rail network should be. Malc London

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