A BID to throw out 'damaging' plans for a number of HS2 lorry routes through Buckinghamshire has been quashed by the High Court.

Buckinghamshire Council put forward appeals against the routes, proposed by HS2 Limited in 2021, claiming them to be 'environmentally damaging'.

The routes in question are: 

  • Small Dean Lane, Wendover to the Strategic Road Network
  • Small Dean Viaduct, Wendover to (as above)
  • Chiltern Tunnel North Portal to the Strategic Road Network
  • Three sites at Little Missenden, Chesham, and the North Portal to (as above)

At the High Court on July 21, Sir Duncan Ouseley dismissed the appeals by the authority to quash decisions made by the planning inspectors.

Bucks Council cabinet member for transport Steven Broadbent said: "We are bitterly disappointed with the result but the decision to go ahead and take these appeals to the High Court was always the right thing to do for our residents and communities.

"Following robust Counsel advice, we believe we had strong and very valid reasons to challenge the decisions of the Inspectors in allowing lorry routes to be used which will have an enormous and detrimental impact on our local roads."

The councillor said the authority and others are 'limited in our overall influence and control on much of the HS2 scheme'.

Adding: "[The] High Court decision puts a further financial burden on us to provide more and more evidence when challenging anything HS2 does in our area.

"This is so unjust when our residents are already covering the cost of a huge infrastructure project whose construction is causing disruption to a wide swath of Buckinghamshire."

The authority has said to have met with a legal team to discuss the next steps and as a result decided not to appeal the decision.

Councillor Broadbent added: "I want to assure residents that we will fully use the limited powers we have.

"We will hold HS2 Limited and their contractors to account, and continue to work tirelessly to mitigate the impact of the construction and the project on our local communities, environment and infrastructure – doing whatever we can to influence the design of the railway, the lorry routes and traffic management to reduce the impact of the scheme.”

In response the the decision, a spokeswoman for HS2 Ltd said it welcomed the judge's decision 'to reject and dismiss these claim'.

Adding: "This important result means that the decision of the Planning Inspectors to approve the HS2 lorry routes at the planning appeal stage will continue to stand. The lorry routes in question have been in operation for many months now with no major complaints or problems, and we are pleased we can continue to use them. 

“HS2 Ltd is working hard to reduce disruption for local communities during the construction of the railway. In Buckinghamshire, this includes creating our own temporary internal access roads, using freight trains to deliver materials, and delivering a programme of junction improvements across the county, including making a £3.9m road safety fund available to the council.”