Five legal challenges against HS2 to be heard in December

摘要

Five legal challenges to the government's proposed £16.3bn high-speed rail line (HS2) will be heard together in the High Court on 3 December, a judge has announced. HS2 Action Alliance (HS2AA), a national voluntary organisation working with more than 70 local groups, is bringing two of the judicial reviews. Its main argument is that the Department for Transport (DfT) failed to conduct a full strategic environmental assessment (SEA) before consulting on phase one of the controversial scheme, a 140-mile line between London and Birmingham. This breaches the requirements of EU SEA Directive 2004, it says. Heathrow Hub, 51M (an alliance of councils) and Aylesbury Golf Club are the other three parties bringing judicial reviews.