HS2 – SIMONICITY

Drive Time

Turbulent times as the Conservative party desperately looks to position itself for the next general election, still mindful, it seems, of its narrow, anti-ULEZ fuelled, win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election in July 2023.

I wonder if the prime minister has recently read chapter 9 of the NPPF (“Promoting Sustainable Transport”)?

I wonder if the prime minister recalls that since 1 June 2023 a new Government quango, Active Travel England is a statutory consultee on all large planning applications to “to help planning authorities in their work to implement good active travel design – for example, by ensuring developments include walking, wheeling and cycling connectivity to schools and local amenities. This will help improve public health, save people money and reduce harmful emissions.” ATE’s framework document may be seen as dangerously woke in this new political climate, aiming to deliver increases in active travel to 50% of all journeys in urban areas.

I wonder if the prime minister recalls his Government’s Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener with commitments such as:

“End the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030; from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emission at the tailpipe.” (long gone)

“Increase the share of journeys taken by public transport, cycling and walking.”

“Invest £2 billion in cycling and walking, building first hundreds, then thousands of miles of segregated cycle lane and more low-traffic neighbourhoods with the aim that half of all journeys in towns and cities will be cycled or walked by 2030. As announced in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we will create at least one zero emission transport city.”

The party’s Manchester conference saw two major policy announcements by the Government on transport (neither made first to Parliament as convention requires):

The Plan for Drivers (2 October 2023)

Network North: Transforming British Transport (4 October 2023)

From the foreword to the Plan for Drivers, the car is king again:

“There’s nothing wrong with driving. Most of us use a car and, for many, life would not be liveable without their car. For those in rural areas, it is a lifeline. A car can hugely expand the independence of a younger person, as well as keep older people connected to key services and their families.”

There is the rather grudging nod to other modes of transport, but whatever you do, don’t vilify the private car:

“Walking, cycling and public transport are necessary in a multi-modal transport system and we support their continued growth, but they are not the right choice for everyone’s journey. Being pro-public transport does not mean being anti-car. The easy political choice is to vilify the private car even when it’s been one of the most powerful forces for personal freedom and economic growth in the last century. Used appropriately and considerately, the car was, is, and will remain a force for good.”

That first sentence is somewhat mealy mouthed in the face of what follows. The Government apparently intends to:

“update guidance (in England) on 20mph speed limits. While 20mph zones are an important tool in improving road safety in residential areas, over-use risks undermining public acceptance, so we are clear that 20mph zones should be considered on a road-by-road basis to ensure local consent, not as blanket measures
stop local authorities using so-called “15-minute cities” to police people’s lives. We will consult on measures including the removal of local authorities’ access to DVLA data to enforce such schemes by camera
following the LTN review, consider new guidance on LTNs with a focus on the importance of local support, and consider as part of the LTN review how to address existing LTNs that have not secured local consent”

Local authorities policing people’s lives via “15 minute cities” enforced by cameras? Bizarre.

There will be restrictions on the operation of bus lanes, measures to make parking easier, discouragement of penalty charge notices. And so it goes on.

And then today we had, to accompany the prime minister’s party conference speech, Network North – serving as the political cover for today’s decision to scrap HS2 north of Birmingham. Regardless of the noise about monies being diverted to other transport projects (many of which, worryingly for our climate change targets, are of course road projects), the cancellation decision is disturbing – not just for people and businesses who would have benefited from the longer route – but of course hugely upsetting also those whose properties have already been taken, as well of all of us whose money has been spent, irreversibly changing the environment including areas of outstanding natural beauty and ancient woodlands, on the basis of asserted public benefits that will now never be fully realised. In retrospect, today’s decision raises question marks over the initial decision by David Cameron’s government to proceed – as well as subsequent governments’ decisions to continue.

I was at least pleased to see that the Government has at re-committed to the line actually reaching Euston:

“We are going to strip back the project and deliver a station that works, and that can be open and running trains as soon as possible, and which has the leadership in place to deliver maximum value to the taxpayer. We will not provide a tunnel between Euston and Euston Square underground station or design features we do not need. Instead we will deliver a 6-platform station which can accommodate the trains we will run to Birmingham and onwards and which best supports regeneration of the local area. That is how we properly unlock the opportunities the new station offers, while radically reducing its costs.

We will appoint a development company, separate from HS2 Ltd, to manage the delivery of this project. We will also take on the lessons of success stories such as Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms, which secured £9 billion of private sector investment and thousands of homes. So we will harness the future growth that the station will unleash to support its development, to ensure we get the best possible value for the British taxpayer – and ensure that funding is underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses its development supports. At the same time, we are considerably upping the ambition of the Euston redevelopment, where we will be looking to establish a Development Corporation to create a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ – potentially offering up to 10,000 homes.”

It will be interesting to see what ensues.

Foot to the floor, election ahead….

Simon Ricketts,4 October 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Detail from one of the first records I ever owned…

Euston We Have A Problem

I have been commuting into Euston station for over twenty years, experiencing increasing frustration: at the past we have lost; the future that we are losing, and at the tatty and graceless perma-temp arrangement we have today.

I’m not sure that this week’s Public Affairs Committee report, HS2 Euston (7 July 2023), has yet had the attention it deserves and I’ll come back to that. But first:

The past

The beauty of transport blog is good on the subject of the original 19th century station; see Lost Beauty #9: Hardwick’s Hall (the Old Euston Station, London, UK) with these wonderful images:

It must have been quite something.

But then so was the 1968 modernist version of Euston when it opened:

This 1968 British Rail brochure gushed with excitement at the wonders of the grill room, party catering room, “high class toilets with showers and baths” and underground car park, showing no regret for the previous building that had been swept away.

Since then, the modernist lines of the new station have of course long been lost by way of multiple interventions. It’s frankly a mess. And for the last few years, as you pull into the station by rail, to the right is a swathe of HS2 construction activity. If you walk out of the station towards Euston Square, via that unsignposted corridor past the left luggage place, through the door into the between the bicycle racks area, across Melton Street you have hoardings either side as you walk past where businesses have been acquired and demolished at the eastern end of Drummond Street – this really is HS2World.

Screenshot courtesy Google

The future

HS2 was going to be the future. Just as those in the 60s were seduced by the clean lines, the white heat of technology, the chance to wipe away the inefficiencies of the past, we were seduced by the idea of high speed rail, with Euston as its southern terminus.

From the Department for Transport’s March 2010 High Speed Rail command paper (foreword by then prime minister Gordon Brown and then Secretary of State for Transport Andrew Adonis):

“… HS2 Ltd’s recommended route for a London-Birmingham high speed line (‘High Speed Two’), which would run from a rebuilt Euston station in London to a new Birmingham City Centre station at Curzon/Fazeley Street, is viable, subject to further work on reducing specific impacts on the local environment and communities.”

“…effective integration with London’s current and planned transport networks is crucial, and that this is best delivered through the combination of a Euston terminus and a Crossrail Interchange station sited between Paddington and Heathrow, which would also provide a link to the Great Western Main Line.”

“…the new British high speed rail network should be connected to the wider European high speed rail network via High Speed One and the Channel Tunnel, subject to cost and value for money. This could be achieved through either or both of a dedicated rapid transport system linking Euston and St Pancras and a direct rail link to High Speed One. HS2 Ltd will carry out further work to assess the viability and cost of each of these, including a full assessment of the business case, prior to any public consultation.”

From the coalition Government’s the Government’s January 2012 white paper, High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future – Decisions and Next Steps:

“The HS2 Y network (so named due to its shape) will provide direct high capacity, high speed links between London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, with intermediate stations in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.”

“The network will also provide improved links from the Midlands and the North to Heathrow Airport and the Channel Tunnel (via the existing High Speed 1 line). HS2 passengers will be able to travel directly to Heathrow and the Channel Tunnel without having to change trains.”

“Having reviewed the options again the Government’s conclusion remains that Euston is the right site for a London terminus, best serving passenger requirements and offering greater access to alternative onward travel networks than either Old Oak Common or Stratford. Any terminus other than Euston would offer a worse overall balance of costs and benefits.”

These aspirations weren’t properly tested. The Supreme Court held in R (HS2 Action Alliance) v Secretary of State for Transport (22 January 2014) that the white paper was not subject to any requirement for strategic environmental assessment as it was not a plan that “set the framework” for subsequent decision making. This is still one of the most disappointing litigation outcomes of my career and indeed the court’s consideration of Parliamentary sovereignty versus the effect of EU Directives was a forerunner of much of the subsequent debate over Brexit. I’m not sure that Parliamentary sovereignty has helped us achieve a good outcome on HS2…

I re-read yesterday the House of Commons second reading debate (28 April 2014) in relation to what was at that point the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill (short title: “A Bill to make provision for a railway between Euston in London and a junction with the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre in Staffordshire, with a spur from Old Oak Common in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to a junction with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at York Way in the London Borough of Islington and a spur from Water Orton in Warwickshire to Curzon Street in Birmingham; and for connected purposes.”) . Patrick McLoughlin (now Lord McLoughlin) was Secretary of State for Transport:

“…it is time to connect great cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds. It is time for better links between north and south and between east and west, and time to connect to world markets to make the most of their skills and talents. It is time for HS2; time for a new north-south railway line.”

With the benefit of hindsight, the two “on the money” contributions to the debate were from MPs from different sides of the political divide, now both sadly deceased, but both superb representatives of their constituents and true Parliamentarians:

Cheryl Gillan, then Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham, focused on the implications of the choices as to route and extent of tunnelling for the Chilterns area of outstanding beauty, alternative horizontal and vertical alignments having been rejected for reasons which in my view would not have stood up to proper independent scrutiny (I’ve already mentioned the lack of strategic environment assessment at the white paper stage; the other issue was the Select Committee process for testing the detailed proposals in the Bill – see my 30 July 2016 blog post, HS2: The Very Select Committee)

Frank Dobson, then Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras, focused on the implications for the area surrounding Euston station:

“I should point out the ridiculous situation whereby the hybrid Bill before the House proposes major works in my constituency, none of which the Government now intend to carry out. The Bill also provides for a link from HS2 to HS1. That ridiculous proposal has been abandoned altogether. The Bill provides for the option 8 design of the station at Euston. That ridiculous proposal, we are told, is shortly to be abandoned, but the design, cost and construction timetable for the alternative to it have not yet been worked out, so there’s nowt to vote on.

The neighbourhoods to the east and west of Euston station and its railway approaches are densely populated with a variety of uses. Most of the streets are overwhelmingly residential. They are home to large numbers of residents living in high densities in settled and varied communities, with a wide range of incomes, housing tenures, jobs, ethnic origins and religions. Most of those residents want to continue to live there. They rightly resent patronising references to their neighbourhood by the much lauded chair of HS2 Ltd and have asked me to remind him and everyone else that where they live is not like the Olympic site. It is not a brownfield site, ripe for redevelopment.

The HS2 project as now proposed would wreak havoc on those neighbourhoods. It would expand Euston station by 75 metres to the west, demolish the homes of 500 people and subject 5,000 more to living for a decade next to the construction site or beside roads that will be made intolerable by the heavy goods vehicles servicing the main site and the 14 satellite construction compounds. No consideration has been given to the cumulative harm that all this would do to the quality of life of my constituents. The proposed working hours regime enables work to proceed at any hour of the day or night. Every little park and play space near the site is to be taken over. Small, locally owned and locally staffed businesses, especially cafes, shops and restaurants in Drummond street, face financial disaster. Between 40% and 70% of their business is passing trade from pedestrians going to and from Euston station, which, for the duration of the works—10 years—will be cut off by a solid, 3.6 metre-high security fence.

The people I represent believe that HS2 should not go ahead. Failing that, they believe that HS2 should terminate at Old Oak Common, at least temporarily, to test its capacity and permit the assessment of any capacity needed at Euston to be based on experience rather than the guesswork used so far.”

Of course the Bill was passed in due course. There have been successive plans unveiled for Euston Station and then effectively abandoned:

Department for Transport’s press statement, HS2 plans can unlock Euston potential (8 September 2015) unveiled Grimshaws’ “pringle” design.

Updated plans were then unveiled in March 2022 of a revised concept design by a design consortium made up of Arup, WSP, Grimshaw Architects, Haptic, and LDA Design, alongside HS2’s Station Construction Partner, Mace Dragados JV.

Despite nearly all of the disruption feared by Frank Dobson already having been caused by the construction works around Euston that are now well underway, Mark Harper, current Secretary of State for Transport, released a press statement on 9 March 2023, pausing new construction work at Euston for two years:

“The Government is prioritising HS2’s initial services between Old Oak Common in London and Birmingham Curzon Street to provide delivery of passenger benefits as soon as possible. We remain committed to delivering HS2 services to Euston, and will address affordability pressures to ensure the overall spending profile is manageable. We will therefore take the time to ensure we have an affordable and deliverable station design, delivering Euston alongside high-speed infrastructure to Manchester.”

There was then Transport minister Huw Merriman’s written statement on HS2 (19 June 2023)

“We remain committed to delivering HS2 services to Euston. We have decided not to proceed with construction at Euston over the next 2 years both to reduce expenditure during that period and to address the affordability challenge set out in the recent National Audit Office report. We will use this time to develop a more affordable scheme design that delivers for passengers, the local community and taxpayers.

The government will not be proceeding to construction on Phase 2a (West Midlands to Crewe) in the next 2 years to reduce expenditure. We will use the time to develop mature designs and delivery approaches to ensure that this section is delivered in the most cost-effective way.”

“As reported in the recent National Audit Office report on Euston, the latest proposed target price from the construction partner (Mace Dragados joint venture) is £4.8 billion – around £2.2 billion over HS2 Ltd’s budget and a higher cost than the previous design.

I visited the Euston site on 5 April 2023 and saw for myself the challenges of constructing a complex station in a dense urban environment that will integrate with the existing conventional station and London Underground and local transport, as well as enabling oversite development.

Nonetheless, the station is not affordable at this cost, nor in any case, does the government have the financial headroom to proceed with the construction over the next 2 years. We will, therefore, use the time to look again at the Euston station design to ensure it delivers for passengers, the local community and taxpayers. This will include considering how we might partner with the private sector to capture benefits for customers. It will require careful prioritisation of requirements and a willingness from stakeholders to compromise.”

It’s way over budget and they don’t know how to build it. And what delay do we think “two years” will turn into? Bodes well doesn’t it?

Which takes us to yesterday’s excoriating Public Accounts Committee’s report, HS2 Euston (7 July 2023).

Its summary:

“Despite being eight years into planning the High Speed 2 station at Euston, the Department for Transport (the Department) still does not know what it is trying to achieve with the station and what sort of regeneration it will support. It is clear now that the £2.6 billion budget HS2 Ltd set for the project was completely unrealistic, even before the impacts of inflation are considered. The Department will now need to reset the project for a second time in order to find a design that is realistic, affordable and provides value for money.

The Department does not know what the additional costs and impacts will be from its decision to pause construction at the station for two years. Working alongside HS2 Ltd, it now has a big task to identify what these costs and impacts are, including the impact on the supply chain and on local residents. It is essential for the Department to collect this information both to help it and HS2 Ltd manage the additional costs effectively and also to better inform any decisions in the future on whether to pause major projects.

Disappointingly, HS2 Euston station is yet another example of the Department making the same mistakes and failing to learn lessons from its management of other major rail programmes. Parliament has also not had the full transparency it needed on the likelihood of cost increases at Euston, despite the improvements the Department and HS2 Ltd have made in reporting on progress.”

My 27 November 2021 blog post Integrated Rail Plan, Unplanned? covered the downgrading of proposals to the north.

In the words of Johnny Rotten, ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? This tax paying Euston commuter does.

Simon Ricketts, 8 July 2023

Personal views, et cetera

Integrated Rail Plan, Unplanned?

Wouldn’t it be good if Government plans were proper plans, subject to detailed assessment of their environmental effects, including formal assessment of reasonable alternatives and with the requirement for further assessment of material changes? But we lost that argument a long time ago, in R (HS2 Action Alliance) v Secretary of State for Transport (Supreme Court, 22 January 2014). The Supreme Court held that the Government’s January 2012 white paper “High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future – Decisions and Next Steps” was not subject to any requirement for strategic environmental assessment as it was not a plan that “set the framework” for subsequent decision making.

As per the judgment press summary:

“DNS is an elaborate description of the HS2 project, including the thinking behind it and the government’s reasons for rejecting alternatives. However, it does not constrain the decision-making process of the authority responsible, which is Parliament. Formally, and in reality, Parliament is autonomous, and not bound by any “criteria” contained in previous Government statements.”

So we were to take it all with a pinch of salt, including images such as this, showing the proposed “Y” route, to Manchester (and ultimately Glasgow) and Leeds (and ultimately Edinburgh via Newcastle):

Bear all this in mind when you read the Department for Transport’s Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands published on on 18 November 2021. The plan “confirms” £54bn of spending on rail and local transport in the Midlands and North in addition to the £42bn already included for HS2 Phases 1 and 2a between London, the West Midlands and Crewe and has these images showing the journey time savings proposed:

What an opportunity to make good promises as to Levelling Up and Building Back Better.

The accompanying press statement summarises the proposals as follows:

“It is a £96 billion plan that outlines how major rail projects, including HS2 Phase 2b, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Rail Hub, will be delivered sooner than previous plans so that communities, towns and cities across the North and Midlands are better connected with more frequent, reliable and greener services and faster journey times.

The plan confirms that the government will:

• build 3 new high-speed lines including:

• HS2 from Crewe to Manchester

• HS2 from the West Midlands to East Midlands Parkway, enabling HS2 trains to join existing lines to serve Nottingham and Derby city centres (unlike original plans)

• a new high-speed line between Warrington, Manchester and Yorkshire, as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail

• electrify and/or upgrade 3 existing main lines including:

• the Transpennine Main Line between Manchester, Leeds and York

• the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras, the East Midlands, and Sheffield

• upgrading and improving line speeds on the East Coast Main Line

The plan also confirms that the government will progress options to complete the Midlands Rail Hub and spend £100 million to look at how best to take HS2 trains to Leeds, including assessing capacity at Leeds station and starting work on the West Yorkshire mass transit system.”

Piecing together the implications one sees that the previous commitment to build HS2 to Leeds in accordance with that 2012 plan has now become simply an extension to East Midlands parkway with HS2 trains then able to go on existing lines to Nottingham and Derby. The long anticipated “Y” becomes a “\”. As recently as 28 May 2021, New Civil Engineer had reported the Transport Secretary saying exactly the opposite: DfT commits to HS2 eastern leg after months of uncertainty.

There is much else to unpack. Those maps stress journey time reductions (which is of course not the only factor at all in securing an improved rail network) but so much is down to the detail: routes, specifications, delivery timescales and of course (HS2 to Leeds being a perfect example) the risk of elements subsequently simply being lopped off. Any supporting assessment work is simply unavailable (see my opening comments).

Let’s go back to New Civil Engineer: The integrated rail plan is a half-baked plan which fails rail passengers (New Civil Engineer, 22 November 2021 – a piece incidentally which accepts the logic of the decision not to extend HS2 to Leeds).

Then let’s turn to the knowledgable Jonathan Stott at Gateley Hamer: Integrated Rail Plan: Midlands wins by country mile and North West in 2nd as Yorkshire handed mass-transit consolation (22 November 2021).

As Jonathan identifies, Yorkshire is potentially the biggest loser, with also a retreat from the proposals for Northern Powerhouse Rail, a new-build high speed line between Leeds and Manchester. The regional press had a field day:

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has written to Grant Shapps setting out the various failings of the proposals, saying that she and other West Yorkshire leaders “are angry and frustrated by the promises that have been seemingly broken. Our communities feel betrayed”. (26 November 2021).

Transport for the North: Integrated Rail Plan branded ‘woefully inadequate’ (18 November 2021)

The reconsideration (not yet a final scrapping) of HS2 between the East Midlands and Leeds brings little relief incidentally to those whose homes and businesses have long been blighted – safeguarding of the route will remain whilst further analysis is done.

⁃ How HS2 U-turn has sent £115 million down the drain after it was spent buying houses on abandoned route – and we can’t even sell them off yet (Mail Online, 19 November 2021)

⁃ HS2: Housing estate in limbo after eastern leg axed (BBC, 18 November 2021)

Manchester of course still gets HS2, but with proposals for a terminus station there, with an above ground, rather than tunnelled, route – long a cause for concern on the part of Andy Burnham: Government planning ‘to put HS2 on stilts through Manchester’ (Guardian, 19 November 2021). Fat chance incidentally of any extension of HS2 to Scotland any more it would appear. The Transport Secretary hardly oozes sympathy in his reactions to Burnham’s concerns:

“If we spend £6bn or £7bn building the station underground at Manchester, we will take away from Liverpool, Leeds, Hull or some of the other places that are calling for money … Manchester is a principal beneficiary of this entire programme and we wish his constituents well in their new journey times.”

Journey times, journey times.

Meanwhile, whilst London is certainly suffering in terms of the unrelieved financial pressures upon Transport for London (see eg Nick Bowes’ Centre for London 10 November 2021 blog post Mind the gap: What’s next for the funding crisis at the heart of London’s transport system), there is at least finally some good news around the corner: Crossrail starts final testing phase ahead of opening (IanVisits, 22 November 2021).

The integrated rail plan and what it does or doesn’t do for levelling up is going to be the topic for this week’s clubhouse Planning Law Unplanned session. Guest speakers cover all the bases: from Birmingham the aforementioned Jonathan Stott, from Manchester Urbed’s Vicky Payne, from Leeds barrister Stephanie Hall and from London my Town partner Raj Gupta. Join us via this link.

M’lud On The Tracks: HS2

Great Bob Dylan album, almost.

This post collects together in one place some of the recent planning, environmental and compulsory purchase litigation in relation to the High Speed Two rail project.

R (Keir) v Natural England (16 April 2021, Lang J; further hearing before Holgate J, 23 April 2021, judgment reserved)

This is the interim injunction granted by Lang J preventing HS2 and its contractors from varying out works at Jones’ Hill Wood, Buckinghamshire, until either the disposal of the claim or a further order.

The claim itself has Natural England as the defendant and seeks to challenge its grant of a licence under the Conservation of Habitats Regulations 2017 in relation to works that may disturb a protected species of bat.

The question as to whether the injunction should be maintained came back to court yesterday, 23 April, before Holgate J, as well as whether permission should be granted in the claim itself, and he has reserved judgment until 2pm on 26 April.

Secretary of State for Transport v Curzon Park Limited (Court of Appeal hearing, 21 and 22 April 2021, judgment reserved)

This was an appeal by the Secretary of State for Transport against a ruling by the Upper Tribunal on 23 January 2020. My Town Legal colleagues Raj Gupta and Paul Arnett have been acting for the first respondent, landowner Curzon Park Limited, instructing James Pereira QC and Caroline Daly. Thank you Paul for this summary:

The case concerns certificates of appropriate alternative development (‘CAADs’) under the Land Compensation Act 1961. A CAAD is a means of applying to the local planning authority to seek a determination as to what the land could have been used for if the CPO scheme did not exist. Its purpose it to identify every description of development for which planning permission could reasonably have been expected to be granted on the valuation date if the land had not been compulsorily purchased. Importantly, subject to a right of appeal, the grant of a CAAD conclusively establishes that the development is what is known as ‘appropriate alternative development’. This is significant as:

• When compensation is assessed it must be assumed that planning permission for that development(s) in the CAAD either was in force at the valuation date or would with certainty be in force at some future date and

• Following reforms in the Localism Act 2001, where there is, at the valuation date, a reasonable expectation of a particular planning permission being granted (disregarding the CPO scheme and CPO) contained in a CAAD it is assumed that the planning permission is in force which converts the reasonable expectation into a certainty.

There are four adjoining sites, each compulsorily acquired by HS2 for the purposes of constructing the Curzon Street HS2 station terminus at Cuzon Street Birmingham – four different landowners and four different valuation dates (i.e. vesting dates under the GVD process). Each landowner applied for a CAAD for mixed use development including purpose-build student accommodation (PBSA). In the real world, the cumulative effects of the proposed adjoining developments (e.g. including but not limited to the proposed quantum and need for PBSA in light of a PBSA need in the local plan) would have been a material planning consideration. However, Birmingham City Council considered each CAAD application in isolation. The Secretary of State argued that they should have considered the other CAAD applications as notional planning applications and, therefore, as material considerations which would have been very likely to result in CAADs issued for smaller scale mixed-used development being issued leading to a lower total compensation award and bill for HS2. The preliminary legal issue to be determined by the Upper Tribunal and now the Court of Appeal is:

‘Whether, and if so how, in determining an application for a certificate of appropriate alternative development under section 17 LCA 1961 (CAAD) the decision-maker in determining the development for which planning permission could reasonably have been expected to be granted for the purposes of section 14 LCA 1961 may take into account the development of other land where such development is proposed as appropriate alternative development in other CAAD applications made or determined arising from the compulsory acquisition of land for the same underlying scheme’.

The Upper Tribunal had rejected the landowners’ argument that the scheme cancellation assumption (i.e. disregarding the CPO scheme) under the Land Compensation Act 1961 required CAAD applications on other sites to be disregarded. However, critically, the Tribunal agreed with the landowners’ that CAAD applications were not a material planning consideration and that there was no statutory basis for treating them as notional planning applications as the Secretary of State has argued. The Tribunal also disagreed with the Secretary of State that the landowners’ interpretation of the statutory scheme would lead to excessive compensation pointing out that the landowners’ ability to develop their own land in their own interests was taken away when their land was safeguarded for HS2 and from November 2013 when the HS2 scheme was launched until 2018 when the land interests were finally acquired by HS2 any planning permissions for these sites would have been determined in the shadow of the HS2 scheme and safeguarding of the land. The Secretary of State appealed the Upper Tribunal decision and the Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal in July 2020 noting that the appeal raises an important point on the principle of equivalence (i.e. the principle underpinning the CPO Compensation Code) that a landowner should be no worse off but no better off in financial terms after the acquisition than they were before) which may have widespread consequences for the cost of major infrastructure projects.

A judgment from the Court of Appeal (Lewison LJ, Lindblom LJ and Moylan LJ) is expected in the next month or so.

Sarah Green v Information Officer & High Speed Two Limited (First Tier Tribunal, 19 April 2021)

This was an appeal against the refusal by HS2 Limited to disclose, pursuant to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, information as to the potential effect of its works on chalk aquifers in the Colne Valley. The information requested was as follows:

“What risk assessments have taken place, of the potential increased risk to controlled waters as a result of imminent works by HS2 contractors along the Newyears Green bourne and surrounding wetland?

Are any of the risk assessments independent from the developers (HS2) and where are the risk assessment (sic) accessible to the public?”

By the time of the hearing before the First Tier Tribunal, three reports had been disclosed, redacted. The Tribunal summarised the issues before it as follows:

“(1) whether HS2 correctly identified the three reports as being the environmental information which Ms Green requested and whether there was further material held which came within the request;

(2) whether at the time of Ms Green’s request the three reports were “still in the course of completion” or comprised “unfinished documents” and, if so, whether the public interest in maintaining the regulation 12(4)(d) exception outweighed that in disclosure;

(3) whether disclosure of those parts of the three reports which have been redacted in reliance on regulation 12(5)(a) would have adversely affected “public safety” and, if so, whether the public interest in maintaining the regulation 12(5)(a) exception outweighed the public interest in their disclosure.”

The Tribunal found, expressing its reasoning in strong terms, that the public interest in disclosure outweighed the public interest in maintaining any exemption.

“The reports in question in this case concern a major infrastructure project which gives rise to substantial and legitimate environmental concerns. They specifically relate to the risks of contamination to the drinking water supplied to up to 3.2 million people resulting from the construction of the HS2 line. This is clearly environmental information of a fundamental nature of great public interest.”

HS2 appeared to be concerned that “if the versions of the reports current in January 2019 were made public they “… could have been used to try and impact work undertaken in finalising the information”.

“It seems to us that such an approach almost entirely negates the possibility of the public having any input on the decision-making process in this kind of case, which goes against a large part of the reason for allowing public access to environmental information.

The suggestion that public officials concerned in making enquiries and freely discussing options to mitigate environmental problems might be discouraged or undermined by early disclosure of their work seems to us rather fanciful and was not supported by any kind of evidence; the case is not comparable in our view to that of senior officials indulging in “blue sky” thinking about policy options. We accept that the material is “highly technical” but we cannot see why a lack of understanding on the part of the public would have any negative impact on HS2’s work; if a member of the public or a pressure group wanted to contribute to the debate in a way that was likely to have any effect on the decision-making process they would no doubt have to engage the services of someone like Dr Talbot, who would be able to enter the debate in a well- informed and helpful way.”

“HS2’s second main point, that the Environment Agency will be approving and supervising everything, does not seem to us of great weight. Of course the Environment Agency is there to act in the public interest in relation to the environment but its involvement cannot be any kind of answer to the need for public knowledge of and involvement in environmental decisions. The EA is itself fallible and should be open to scrutiny. If the public could simply entrust everything to it there would be no need for the EIR.

HS2’s third main point is that if inchoate information is released it could be misleading and they would incur unnecessary expense correcting false impressions. We were not presented with any specific evidence or examples to illustrate how this problem might have been encountered in practice. It does not seem to us a very compelling point.”

R (Maxey) v High Speed 2 Limited (Steyn J, 10 February 2021)

This was an interim ruling in an application for judicial review, made only nine days previously, of the decision by HS2 Limited to extract the protesters that were occupying the tunnel under Euston Square Gardens and alleging a failure to safely manage Euston Square Gardens in a manner compatible with HS2 Limited’s obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights. It followed a rejection of an application by Mr Maxey for an interim injunction and followed an order made requiring him to cease any further tunnelling activity, to provide certain categories of information to HS2 Limited or others and to leave the tunnel safely, with which he had not complied.

At the hearing, Mr Maxey was renewing his “application for orders requiring (a) the cessation of operations to extract the protesters from the tunnel and (b) to implement an exclusion zone. In addition, the Claimant has expanded the interest relief he seeks to include provision forthwith by the Defendant of (a) oxygen monitoring equipment; (b) a hard-wired communication method; (c) food and drinking water for the Claimant and the protesters; and (d) to make arrangements for the removal of human waste from the tunnel.” He was also seeking to overturn the orders against him.

The judge rejected Mr Maxey’s arguments:

“While I accept that the Defendant is (or at the very least there is a good argument that the Defendant is) currently under a duty to take all reasonable steps to protect those in the tunnel under the site (including the Claimant) from death or serious injury, on the evidence before me there is no realistic prospect of the Court finding that the Defendant is breaching its duty. In my judgment, the claim for interim relief does not meet the first test.

That suffices to dispose of the interim relief application. But if it were necessary to consider the balance of convenience, I would have to bear in mind the strong public interest in permitting a public authority’s decision (here a decision to proceed with the operation and a decision as to the necessary safeguards) to remain in force pending a final hearing of the application for judicial review, so the party applying for interim relief must make out a strong case for the grant of interim relief. The Claimant has not come close to establishing a strong enough case to justify the Court stopping the operations to remove those who are in the tunnel, given the compelling evidence as to how dangerous it is for them to remain there.”

R (Packham) v Secretary of State for Transport (Court of Appeal, 31 July 2020)

I summarised this case in my 9 January 2021 blog post Judges & Climate Change. It was Chris Packham’s failed challenge to the Government’s decision to continue with the HS2 project following the review carried out by Douglas Oakervee, the grounds considered by the Court of Appeal being “whether the Government erred in law by misunderstanding or ignoring local environmental concerns and failing to examine the environmental effects of HS2 as it ought to have done” and “whether the Government erred in law by failing to take account of the effect of the project on greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2050, in the light of the Government’s obligations under the Paris Agreement and the Climate Change Act 2008”.

R (London Borough of Hillingdon) v Secretary of State for Transport (Court of Appeal, 31 July 2020)

This case was heard consecutively with the Packham appeal. It related to Hillingdon’s challenge to the Secretary of State’s decision to allow (against his inspector’s recommendations) an appeal against Hillingdon’s refusal to grant HS2 Limited’s application for approval, under the Act authorising the relevant stage of the HS2 project, of plans and specifications for proposed works associated with the creation of the Colne Valley Viaduct South Embankment wetland habitat ecological mitigation. HS2 Limited had refused to provide Hillingdon with information so that an assessment could be made as to the effect of the proposed works on archaeological remains, HS2 Limited’s position being that it was “under no obligation to furnish such information and evidence. It says that this is because it will, in due course, conduct relevant investigations itself into the potential impact of the development upon any archaeological remains and take all necessary mitigation and modification steps. HS2 Ltd says that it will do this under a guidance document which forms part of its contract with the Secretary of State for Transport which sets out its obligations as the nominated undertaker for the HS2 Project.”

Lang J had upheld the Secretary of State’s decision but this was overturned by the Court of Appeal:

“The key to this case lies in a careful reading of Schedule 17 and the powers and obligations it imposes upon local authorities and upon HS2 Ltd. In our judgment, the duty to perform an assessment of impact, and possible mitigation and modification measures under Schedule 17, has been imposed by Parliament squarely and exclusively upon the local authority. It cannot be circumvented by the contractor taking it upon itself to conduct some non-statutory investigation into impact. We also conclude that the authority is under no duty to process a request for approval from HS2 Ltd unless it is accompanied by evidence and information adequate and sufficient to enable the authority to perform its statutory duty.”

[Subsequent note: Please also see London Borough of Hillingdon v Secretary of State for Transport (Ouseley J, 13 April 2021), “Hillingdon 2” where on the facts Ouseley J reached a different conclusion, holding that an inspector had not acted unlawfully in determining an appeal without information sought by the council from HS2 Limited as to the lorry routes to be used by construction lorries to and from the HS2 construction sites within its area].

R (Granger-Taylor) v High Speed Two Limited (Jay J, 5 June 2020)

This was a judicial review claim brought by the owner of a listed Georgian building near Regents Park. The property was separated by a large retaining wall, built in 1901, from the perimeter of the existing railway. “It rests approximately 17 metres from the front of the property and the drop from the level of the road to the railway below is approximately 10 metres. Unsurprisingly, given that the substrate is London clay, the wall has suffered periodic movement and shows signs of cracking. The Claimant’s expert says that it is “metastable”.”

The claimant was concerned as to the engineering solution arrived at for that section of the route, which was known as the Three Tunnels design. “This judicial review challenge is directed to the safety of the Three Tunnels design in the specific context of the outbound tunnel travelling so close to the base of the retaining wall. It is contended on the back of expert engineering evidence that this aspect of the design has engendered an engineering challenge which is insurmountable: in the result, the design is inherently dangerous. The risk is of catastrophic collapse of the retaining wall, either during the tunnelling works or subsequently, which would if it arose cause at the very least serious damage to the Claimant’s property. Consequently, the Claimant asserts a breach of section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 because her rights under Article 8 and A1P1 of the Convention have been violated.”

The judge boiled the questions down to the following:

“has the Claimant demonstrated that she is directly and seriously affected by the implementation of the Three Tunnels design, given the risk of catastrophic collapse identified by Mr Elliff? In my view, that question sub-divides into the following:

(1) should I conclude on all the evidence that the Three Tunnels design is so inherently flawed in the vicinity of the retaining wall that no engineering solution could be found to construct it safely? and

(2) have the Defendants already committed themselves to implement the Three Tunnels design regardless of any further work to be undertaken under Stage 2?

After detailed consideration of expert engineering expert on both sides, the judge rejected the claim.

Anixter Limited v Secretary of State for Transport (Court of Appeal, 30 January 2020)

This was a compulsory purchase case, about whether an owner of four units on the Saltley Business Park in Birmingham, faced with compulsory purchase of one of them, had served counter-notices in time such as to trigger its potential ability to require acquisition of its interests in all four buildings. The court ruled that it had not.

It certainly seems an age since R (HS2 Action Alliance) v Secretary of State for Transport (Supreme Court, 22 January 2014) where in a previous law firm life I acted for the claimant, instructing David Elvin QC and Charlie Banner (now QC). The case concerned whether the publication by the Government of its command paper, “High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future – Decisions and Next Steps” engaged strategic environmental assessment requirements and whether the hybrid bill procedure would comply with the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (for more on the HS2 hybrid bill procedure, see my 30 July 2016 blog post HS2: The Very Select Committee https://simonicity.com/2016/07/30/hs2-the-very-select-committee/). The loss still grates. And in consequence of that ruling…

There’s a slow, slow train comin’.

Simon Ricketts, 24 April 2021

Personal views, et cetera

Thank you to my Town Legal colleague Lida Nguyen for collating a number of these cases.

Our clubhouse Planning Law, Unplanned session at 6pm on 27 April will follow a similar theme, so if you are interested in issues relating to HS2 or in wider questions as to judicial review, interim injunctions, access to information or compulsory purchase compensation, do join us, whether to contribute to the discussion or just listen in. As always, contact me if you would like an invitation to the clubhouse app (which is still iphone only I’m afraid).

Detail from Bob Dylan’s painting Train Tracks

Judges & Climate Change

Over Christmas, I finally read Joshua Rozenberg’s 2020 book Enemies of the People? How Judges Shape Society.

The book examines the tension inevitably faced by judges in interpreting the law, particularly in areas of public controversy (constitutional issues; “right to death”; family; discrimination; religion; privacy; access to justice): when should the application of common law principles (i.e. rules developed over time by the courts through the doctrine of precedent, as to matters not resolved by legislation) and changing expectations in society as to minimum rights that we should enjoy (a question legitimised to some extent, and in relation to some issues, by principles of statutory interpretation required under the Human Rights Act) lead judges to “make” law? And can Parliament prevent the Judiciary from constraining the Executive’s actions and decision making on particular issues, by way of ouster provisions in legislation?

Rozenberg:

“Ultimately, the British constitution relies on a delicate balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary: all three powers of the state must demonstrate good judgment if we are to be governed under the rule of law”.

The book is also essential background to the current Faulks review of administrative law (see my 12 September 2020 blog post).

The squeals come from those on the wrong side of rulings (of course with litigation that goes with the territory) or who choose to see the issues in too simplistic terms.

“Enemies of the people” was of course the infamous Daily Mail headline following the Supreme Court’s judgment in Miller (no 1). To my mind the press release by campaign group Plan B following R (Friends of the Earth Limited) v Heathrow Airport Limited (Supreme Court, 16 December 2020) was at least as bad:

“**Latest news – the Supreme Court betrays us all with its treasonous reversal of the Court of Appeal’s judgement.**

The next edition of Rozenberg’s book surely needs to include a chapter on environmental and climate change issues. The Supreme Court was not “treasonous”! It is appalling and Trumpian to suggest it.

Heathrow

I do not consider that the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Court of Appeal’s ruling – holding that at the time the Secretary of State for Transport designated the Airports National Policy Statement in June 2018 the emissions reductions targets in the Paris Agreement had not formed part of government policy on climate change – was at all unexpected. Its conclusion was based on a plain, detailed, analysis of the position as at that date. My 7 March 2020 blog post on the Court of Appeal ruling can now be consigned to the scrap heap but I did, perhaps too politely, describe the ruling as “surprising” and say that it was “not obvious to me that the Court of Appeal’s conclusions would be safe against an appeal to the Supreme Court”! The Supreme Court sided with the initial findings of Holgate J and Hickinbottom LJ, sitting as a Divisional Court, at first instance.

Planning Court liaison judge Holgate J has a central role in this developing area of case law, revolving around the application of emissions reduction targets in the Climate Change Act 2008 – both sitting alone and as part of a Divisional Court (Whilst usually High Court cases are presided over by a single judge, in particularly important or complex cases the High Court can choose to sit as a Divisional Court, with a High Court judge and a Court of Appeal judge sitting together).

HS2

Earlier in the year, Court of Appeal, in R (Packham) v Secretary of State (Court of Appeal, 31 July 2020) , upheld the first instance rejection by Holgate J and Coulson LJ (also sitting as a Divisional Court) of Chris Packham’s challenge to the Government’s decision to continue with the HS2 project following the review carried out by Douglas Oakervee.

The Court of Appeal:

“ground 3b is whether the Government erred in law by failing to take account of the effect of the project on greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2050, in the light of the Government’s obligations under the Paris Agreement and the Climate Change Act 2008.”

“In our view it is impossible to infer from the report any failure by the panel to have regard to the Government’s relevant statutory and policy commitments on climate change. And the Government did not demonstrably commit any such error in making its decision. On this point too, we agree with the Divisional Court. There is nothing to show that the Government either ignored or misunderstood the legal implications of proceeding with HS2 for its obligations relating to climate change, including those arising from the Paris Agreement and under the provisions of the Climate Change Act.”

“… the Oakervee review was not an exercise compelled, or even provided for, in any legislation relating to climate change, in any legislation relating to major infrastructure, or in any legislation at all. It finds no place in the arrangements set in place by the Climate Change Act. Nor does it belong to any other statutory scheme, such as the Planning Act, in which the consequences of major infrastructure development for climate change are explicitly provided for as a necessary feature of decision-making. The same goes for the Government’s own decision on the future of HS2.”

Drax

Following a hearing in November 2020, judgment is yet to be handed down by the Court of Appeal in ClientEarth v Secretary of State, where at first instance Holgate J rejected a challenge to the Drax power station DCO.

Horse Hill

Holgate J handed down judgment last month in another climate change case, R (Finch) v Surrey County Council (Holgate J, 21 December 2020).

This was a challenge to a planning permission granted by Surrey County Council to retain two oil wells at Horse Hill, Hookwood, Horley, Surrey and to drill four new wells, for the production of hydrocarbons over a period of 25 years.

The main issue was “whether a developer’s obligation under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017 No. 571) (“the 2017 Regulations”) to provide an environmental statement (“ES”) describing the likely significant effects of a development, both direct and indirect, requires an assessment of the greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions resulting from the use of an end product said to have originated from that development.” Should the environmental statement in relation to the project have assessed the greenhouse gases “that would be emitted when the crude oil produced from the site is used by consumers, typically as a fuel for motor vehicles, after having been refined elsewhere.” Was that an indirect effect of the development?

Holgate J:

“The UK Government’s fundamental objective in relation to climate change is enshrined in s.1(1) of the Climate Change Act 2008 (“CCA 2008”) which, as amended with effect from 27 June 2019, imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for 2050 is at least 100% lower than the 1990 baseline. This is generally referred to as “the net zero target“.

It goes without saying that the extraction of crude oil resulting in the supply of fuel will result in GHG emissions when that end product is used. It is common ground that that is addressed by Government policy on climate change and energy, aimed inter alia at reducing the use of hydrocarbons. The issue raised in the present challenge is whether, by virtue of the 2017 Regulations, it was necessary for the planning authority to go further than apply those policies in its decision on whether to grant planning permission for the development, by requiring those GHG emissions to be estimated and assessed as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) of the development.”

“In my judgment, the fact that the environmental effects of consuming an end product will flow “inevitably” from the use of a raw material in making that product does not provide a legal test for deciding whether they can properly be treated as effects “of the development” on the site where the raw material will be produced for the purposes of exercising planning or land use control over that development. The extraction of a mineral from a site may have environmental consequences remote from that development but which are nevertheless inevitable. Instead, the true legal test is whether an effect on the environment is an effect of the development for which planning permission is sought. An inevitable consequence may occur after a raw material extracted on the relevant site has passed through one or more developments elsewhere which are not the subject of the application for planning permission and which do not form part of the same “project”.

The inevitability that the crude oil to be transported off site will eventually lead to additional GHG emissions when the end product is consumed is simply a response to the defendant’s point that when the oil leaves the site it becomes an indistinguishable part of the international oil market, so that the GHG emissions generated by combustion in vehicles cannot be attributed to any particular oil well or well site. Like the debate between the witness statements as to whether the oil produced on the site would only displace oil production elsewhere or would instead increase overall net consumption, these are forensic arguments about the market consequences of extracting oil at the site which do not address the real legal issues raised by ground 1(a).”

“Although it is not essential to my conclusions on this challenge, I should record in passing that I do not accept the proposition that there are no other measures in place within the UK for assessing and reducing GHG emissions from the combustion of oil products in motor vehicles. The measures include the net zero target in the CCA 2008, and the various matters referred to in [46] to [54] above. The overall responsibility for the economy-wide transition to a low carbon society is the responsibility of the UK Government (Packham at [87]). A range of measures is being pursued to achieve a reduction in the consumption of oil products including road pricing, taxation and future controls on the source of energy which may be used by vehicles. The object of these measures is to reduce substantially the demand for diesel and petrol from UK consumers.

The claimant fairly says that these measures do not affect the consumption of oil products by consumers in other countries. But, on the other hand, the Paris Agreement was signed by many countries throughout the world and it is the responsibility of each such country to determine its contribution to achieving the global target for 2050. Whether these issues are thought to be adequately addressed in other countries, or even in the UK, can provide no guide to the interpretation of our domestic legislation on EIA for the consenting of new development.”

“Essentially, development control and the EIA process are concerned with the use of land for development and the effects of that use. They are not directed at the environmental effects which result from the consumption, or use, of an end product, be it a manufactured article or a commodity such as oil, gas or electricity used as an energy source for conducting other human activities.”

A decision the other way clearly could have had very wide implications – a good example of the boundary between making law and interpreting it.

Campaign groups have of course long used litigation as a means of applying political pressure for change. That is a particular feature of the climate change area, with existing campaign groups such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and ClientEarth, now joined by the likes of Plan B, the Good Law Project and Rights : Community : Action.

NPSs

The Good Law Project had brought legal proceedings seeking to require the Government to review its energy national policy statements to reflect current climate change targets. Whether or not as a result of those proceedings, the Government has now confirmed that it will do exactly that in its Energy white paper, Powering our net zero future (14 December 2020)

“We will complete a review of the existing energy National Policy Statements (NPS), with the aim of designating updated NPS by the end of 2021.

The suite of energy NPS establish the need for new energy infrastructure and set out a framework for the consideration of applications for development consent. We have decided that it is appropriate to review the NPS, to ensure that they reflect the policies set out in this white paper and that we continue to have a planning policy framework which can deliver the investment required to build the infrastructure needed for the transition to net zero. Work on this review will start immediately, with the aim of designating updated NPS by the end of 2021.

This white paper shows that the need for the energy infrastructure set out in energy NPS remains, except in the case of coal-fired generation. While the review is undertaken, the current suite of NPS remain relevant government policy and have effect for the purposes of the Planning Act 2008. They will, therefore, continue to provide a proper basis on which the Planning Inspectorate can examine, and the Secretary of State can make decisions on, applications for development consent. Nothing in this white paper should be construed as setting a limit on the number of development consent orders which may be granted for any type of generating infrastructure set out in the energy NPS. Other restrictions outside the planning regime (in particular the Emissions Performance Standard) mean that no new coal infrastructure projects can come forward.”

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Heathrow case, the Good Law Project’s focus immediately turned to the Airports National Policy Statement. On 18 December 2020 a pre-action protocol letter was sent to the Secretary of State for Transport, requesting that he:

“(i) considers whether it is appropriate to review the Airports National Policy Statement on new runway capacity and infrastructure at airports in the South East of England (NPS) pursuant to section 6 of the Planning Act 2008 (PA 2008); and

(ii) considers whether it is appropriate to suspend all or part of the ANPS pursuant to section 11 of the PA 2008”

in the light, amongst other things, of “significant changes in the science and domestic policy on Climate Change” since the designation of the policy statement in June 2018. A response was requested by 18 January 2021.

In the wake of the Heathrow judgment, Plan B was reported as considering bringing a claim in the European Court of Human Rights. That would in my view be an uphill struggle, particularly at this policy setting rather than development consent stage, although of course it is interesting to see how climate change human rights law has been developing – see for example the Dutch Supreme Court judgment in the Urgenda case (the background is set out in my 28 September 2019 blog post Urgent Agenda/Urgenda written after the Dutch Court of Appeal’s ruling in that case, upheld by the Dutch Supreme Court). Based on articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the court ordered that the state was to reduce greenhouse gases by the end of 2020 by at least 25% compared to 1990.

The Bingham road-map

I’ll end by quoting again from Rozenberg’s book, where he sets out Lord Bingham’s “road-map” of warning signs which should be heeded by judges who are considering making new law:

1. where reasonable and right-minded citizens have legitimately ordered their affairs on the basis of a certain understanding of the law;

2. where, although a rule of law is seen to be defective, its amendment calls for a detailed legislative code, with qualifications, exceptions and safeguards which cannot feasibly be introduced by judicial decisions;

3. where the question involves an issue of current social policy on which there is no consensus within the community;

4. where an issue is the subject of current legislative activity;

5. where the issue arises in a field far removed from ordinary judicial experience.

Discuss!

Simon Ricketts, 9 January 2021

Personal views, et cetera

What Are The Non-Airport Implications Of The Heathrow Ruling?

The Court of Appeal’s approach to the issues in the Heathrow cases last month was certainly a surprise to many.

The court found in the main “Plan B” ruling (27 February 2020) that the Secretary of State had acted unlawfully when, following the procedure in section 5 of the Planning Act 2008, on 26 June 2018 he designated the Airports National Policy Statement. The court’s basis for its finding was that the Secretary of State had not complied with section 5(8):

“(7) A national policy statement must give reasons for the policy set out in the statement.

(8) The reasons must (in particular) include an explanation of how the policy set out in the statement takes account of Government policy relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.”

The question was what was “Government policy” in relation to climate change as at 26 June 2018. The court found that the Secretary of State had acted unlawfully in not taking into account “its own firm policy commitments on climate change under the Paris Agreement”.

This is somewhat surprising given that at first instance the Divisional Court (Hickinbottom LJ and Holgate J, no slouches) had found that this submission was unarguable:

“In our view, given the statutory scheme in the [Climate Change Act 2008] and the work that was being done on if and how to amend the domestic law to take into account the Paris Agreement, the Secretary of State did not arguably act unlawfully in not taking into account that Agreement when preferring the NWR Scheme and in designating the ANPS as he did. As we have described, if scientific circumstances change, it is open to him to review the ANPS; and, in any event, at the DCO stage this issue will be re-visited on the basis of the then up to date scientific position.” (paragraph 648 of the main judgment at first instance, known as “Spurrier” after the then first claimant, who had represented himself at first instance but had dropped out by the time of the appeal, which is why you will hear the appeal ruling called “Plan B” after the lead appellant, campaign group Plan B Earth).

(For a wider summary of the proceedings at first instance see my 4 May 2019 blog post Lessons From The Heathrow Cases).

The Court of Appeal has ordered that the Airports National Policy Statement “is of no legal effect unless and until the Secretary of State has undertaken a review of it in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Planning Act 2008.”

Heathrow Airport Limited has applied to the Supreme Court to appeal from the ruling although the Secretary of State has not (meaning that any appeal could be fairly irrelevant if the Secretary of State decides to review the NPS in any event). Whether permission to appeal is granted depends on whether the Supreme Court considers that there is an arguable point of law of general public importance.

So this is all significant as regards the proposal for a third runway at Heathrow. According to the Planning Inspectorate website the application for a development consent order under the Planning Act 2008 NSIP procedure is/was expected to be submitted in Q4 2020.

The main function of the NPS was to give formal national policy support to the proposal at Heathrow. The way that the Planning Act 2008 works is that, under section 104, the Secretary of State must decide a DCO application in accordance with any relevant national policy statement “except to the extent that one or more of subsections (4) to (8) applies.

(4) This subsection applies if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deciding the application in accordance with any relevant national policy statement would lead to the United Kingdom being in breach of any of its international obligations.

(5) This subsection applies if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deciding the application in accordance with any relevant national policy statement would lead to the Secretary of State being in breach of any duty imposed on the Secretary of State by or under any enactment.

(6) This subsection applies if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deciding the application in accordance with any relevant national policy statement would be unlawful by virtue of any enactment.

(7) This subsection applies if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the adverse impact of the proposed development would outweigh its benefits.

(8) This subsection applies if the Secretary of State is satisfied that any condition prescribed for deciding an application otherwise than in accordance with a national policy statement is met.

(9) For the avoidance of doubt, the fact that any relevant national policy statement identifies a location as suitable (or potentially suitable) for a particular description of development does not prevent one or more of subsections (4) to (8) from applying.”

So the first thing to note is that the NPS would not have given Heathrow Airport Limited a free pass to a consent – in determining the application the Secretary of State would need to determine whether, notwithstanding the June 2018 NPS, the proposal is not in accordance with, for instance, up to date treaty obligations or domestic legislation – exactly the point made by the Divisional Court in the passage I quoted earlier.

This is relevant because the issue in the Heathrow cases very much turned on an historical question – what was the Government’s climate change policy as at 26 June 2018. Legislation and policy has plainly moved on since then, and will continue to move on. I referred in my 10 August 2019 blog post The Big CC to Theresa May’s tightening in June 2019 of the Government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, by making the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment) Order 2019 which changed the duty of the Secretary of State under the Climate Change Act 2008 from being to ensure that the net UK carbon account for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline, to being at least 100% lower, ie net zero. The target does not include international aviation or shipping: paragraph 10.5 of the explanatory notes published with the order states that there is a “need for further analysis and international engagement through the international networks. For now, therefore we will continue to leave headroom for emissions from international aviation and shipping in carbon budgets…” By the time that any Heathrow DCO application is to be/would have been determined, the Secretary of State would have to take into account climate change legislation and international commitments at the time.

It can all of course get messy/political, as demonstrated by former Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom’s approval last year, against her inspectors’ recommendations, of the Drax gas-fired power stations DCO, a decision which is now being challenged in the High Court by ClientEarth (see Drax legal case: We’re taking the UK government to court over Europe’s largest gas plant, ClientEarth, 30 January 2020).

Although it would be a risky strategy to adopt, given it would entail acknowledging loss of any formal statutory policy support for Heathrow as the favoured option, Heathrow Airport could in theory decide to proceed with a DCO application without the support of an NPS (this appears to be Gatwick’s strategy with its proposed northern runway). In the absence of an NPS, section 105 applies:

“(2) In deciding the application the Secretary of State must have regard to—

(a) any local impact report (within the meaning given by section 60(3)) submitted to the Secretary of State before the deadline specified in a notice under section 60(2),

(b) any matters prescribed in relation to development of the description to which the application relates, and

(c) any other matters which the Secretary of State thinks are both important and relevant to the Secretary of State’s decision.”

How even to begin to scope the appropriate approach to decision-making in that situation…

Any wider relevance?

So does this ruling have repercussions away from Heathrow and airports?

People threaten to bring judicial review proceedings, and often end up bringing them for all sorts of reasons. Lord Reed, President of the Supreme Court, made some topical comments to the House of Lords Constitution Committee last week:

“Judges are very well aware of the risk of challenges being brought in what are political rather than legal grounds. They are repelling them and are careful to avoid straying into what are genuine political matters. When this is a matter that is to be considered it should not start from the premise that judges are eager to pronounce on political issues. The true position is actually quite the opposite.” (Law Society Gazette, 4 March 2020).

Since the ruling we have seen these stories:

⁃Environmentalists follow Heathrow ruling by calling on government to end fossil fuel developments (Ecotricity, 4 March 2020) (The Secretary of State has a discretion in section 6 of the 2008 Act as to whether and when to review NPSs, and indeed since June 2019 Government climate change targets have been clear regardless of what the position was at June 2018 – which is surely the only relevance of the Heathrow rulings – if the point made by the prospective claimants is a good one, it has been a good one for some time now).

⁃HS2 legal challenge launched by Chris Packham (Guardian, 3 March 2020) (There is surely no duty on a minister to take into account Government climate change targets in making a decision to continue with the construction of an existing project which has already, phase 1 at least, been authorised by Parliament).

What did it for the Secretary of State in relation to the Heathrow NPS was the specific statutory duty to take into account “government policy” on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Regardless of whether the Court of Appeal was right to determine that Government support for the Paris Agreement (international) targets could be construed as government policy for any particular domestic targets, there is not the same statutory duty when it comes to the Town and Country Planning Act system.

When it comes to plan-making, section 19(1A) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 imposes a statutory duty on local planning authorities that development plan documents must include policies that contribute to mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and this duty is reflected in paragraph 149 of the National Planning Policy Framework, stating in footnote 48 that policies should be “in line with the objectives and provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008”.

There are no specific equivalent requirements in relation to decision making, just the general statement in paragraph 148, stating that the “planning system should support the transition to a low carbon future in a changing climate” and “should help to: shape places in ways that contribute to radical reductions in greenhouse emissions”.

Beware those who wave about the Heathrow ruling as some kind of game changer in relation to the battle against climate change. It is certainly a game changer in relation to Heathrow Airport’s aspirations, as to project timescale at the very least, but, wider than that? The Court of Appeal determined that a specific statutory duty, peculiar to the making of NPSs, was breached. The question of whether there was a breach depended on determining what government policy on climate change was in June 2018, when it was not as advanced as it is now. Finally, it is not obvious to me that the Court of Appeal’s conclusions would be safe against an appeal to the Supreme Court – but of course all that could well be largely hypothetical, depending upon what steps the Government now takes.

The awaited national infrastructure plan, which was to be published alongside the budget on 11 March, is to be delayed but reportedly could still be “before May” (Government delays Budget infrastructure plan, BBC, 5 March 2020). It will be interesting to see whether any hints are dropped in our new Chancellor’s budget statement as to the Government’s direction of travel.

Simon Ricketts, 7 March 2020

Personal views, et cetera

Blue Christmas

Duncan Field, Victoria McKeegan and I were speculating in our 16 December 2019 planorama vlog as to what the new Government’s legislative programme and policy priorities are likely to be in relation to planning, infrastructure and the environment

We now have the blueprint, in the form of the Queen’s Speech on 19 December 2019 and particularly the 151 pages of background notes published the same day.

There is going to be an “ambitious” planning white paper in due course, but what is promised in the meantime in this very blue paper that these notes represent? The government has little excuse not to deliver on what it has set out, given the size of its majority. The most relevant references are as follows:

Housing (pages 48 to 50):

“My government will take steps to support home ownership, including by making homes available at a discount for local first-time buyers.”

● The Government will support people to realise the dream of homeownership. One of the biggest divides in our country is between those who can afford their own home and those who cannot.

● The Government will shortly launch a consultation on First Homes. This will provide homes for local people and key workers at a discount of at least 30 per cent – saving them tens of thousands of pounds.

● The discount on First Homes will be secured through a covenant. This means these homes will remain discounted in perpetuity, supporting people now and in the future who aspire to own a home of their own.

● The Government will also renew the Affordable Homes Programme, building hundreds of thousands of new homes for a range of people in different places. This will help us prevent people from falling into homelessness while also supporting further people into homeownership.

● We will introduce a new, reformed Shared Ownership model, making buying a share of a home fairer and more transparent. This new model will be simpler to understand and better able shared owners to buy more of their property and eventually reach full ownership.

● To deliver on the homes this country needs, the Government is committed to building at least a million more homes over this Parliament. In the coming months we will set out further steps to achieve this, including an ambitious Planning White Paper and funding for critical infrastructure.

● The Planning White Paper will make the planning process clearer, more accessible and more certain for all users, including homeowners and small businesses. It will also address resourcing and performance in Planning Departments.

● The new £10bn Single Housing Infrastructure fund will provide the roads, schools and GP surgeries needed to support new homes. Alongside First Homes, this will ensure local people truly benefit from house building in their area and build support for new developments

● To help those who rent, the Government will build a rental system that is fit for the modern day – supporting landlords to provide high quality homes while protecting tenants. The Government’s Better Deal for Renters will fulfil our manifesto commitments to abolish ‘no fault’ evictions and to introduce lifetime deposits, alongside further reforms to strengthen the sector for years to come.

● The Government is taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. This includes working with the Law Commission to make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, quicker and more cost effective – and to reinvigorate commonhold and Right to Manage.

● The Government will ensure that if a new home can be sold as freehold, then it will be. We will get rid of unnecessary ground rents on new leases and give new rights to homeowners to challenge unfair charges. The Government will also close legal loopholes to prevent unfair evictions and make it faster and cheaper to sell a leasehold home.

● For those in the social rented sector, we will bring forward a Social Housing White Paper which will set out further measures to empower tenants and support the continued supply of social homes. This will include measures to provide greater redress, better regulation and improve the quality of social housing.

● This Government has committed to end rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament. The Government will continue to invest in key rough sleeping interventions, building on the progress that we made last year in reducing rough sleeping numbers. The Government will also continue to support those at risk of homelessness and rough sleeping through the continued enforcement of the Homelessness Reduction Act.

Building Safety Bill (pages 51 to 53):

“New measures will be brought forward…to improve building safety.”

● An enhanced safety framework for high-rise residential buildings, taking forward the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building safety, and in some areas going further by:

○ Providing clearer accountability and stronger duties for those responsible for the safety of high-rise buildings throughout the building’s design, construction and occupation, with clear competence requirements to maintain high standards.

○ Giving residents a stronger voice in the system, ensuring their concerns are never ignored and they fully understand how they can contribute to maintaining safety in their buildings.

○ Strengthening enforcement and sanctions to deter non-compliance with the new regime, hold the right people to account when mistakes are made and ensure they are not repeated.

○ Developing a new stronger and clearer framework to provide national oversight of construction products, to ensure all products meet high performance standards.

○ Developing a new system to oversee the whole built environment, with local enforcement agencies and national regulators working together to ensure that the safety of all buildings is improved.

● We will also legislate to require that developers of new build homes must belong to a New Homes Ombudsman.

Fire Safety Bill (pages 54 to 55):

“New measures will be brought forward…to improve building safety.”

● Clarifying that the scope of the Fire Safety Order includes the external walls of the building, including cladding, and fire doors for domestic premises of multiple occupancy.

● Strengthening the relevant enforcement powers to hold building owners and managers to account.

● Providing a transitional period for building owners and managers (the “responsible person”) and Fire and Rescue Services to put in place the infrastructure for these changes.”

National Infrastructure Strategy (pages 90 to 91):

“My government will prioritise investment in infrastructure…”

● The National Infrastructure Strategy will be published alongside the first Budget, and will set out further details of the Government’s plan to invest £100 billion to transform the UK’s infrastructure.

● The Strategy will set out the Government’s long-term ambitions across all areas of economic infrastructure including transport, local growth, decarbonisation, digital infrastructure, infrastructure finance and delivery.

● The Strategy will have two key aims:

○ To unleash Britain’s potential by levelling up and connecting every part of the country. Prosperity will be shared across all of the UK, and long- standing economic challenges addressed, through responsible and prudent investment in the infrastructure.

○ To address the critical challenges posed by climate change and build on the UK’s world-leading commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

● The Strategy will also provide the Government’s formal response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s 2018 National Infrastructure Assessment, which made a series of independent recommendations to government across all sectors of economic infrastructure (transport, energy, digital, waste, water and flood management).”

Rail reform and High Speed Rail 2 (West Midlands – Crewe) Bill (pages 101 to 103)

● Last year the Government launched a ‘root and branch’ review of the railways led by Keith Williams. The Review is the first comprehensive assessment of the rail system in a generation and is tasked with making ambitious proposals to reform the rail industry.

● The Review is focused on reforms that will put passengers at the heart of the railway, provide value for taxpayers and deliver economic, social and environmental benefits across Britain.

● The Government will publish a White Paper informed by the recommendations next year. Among other things, this will end the complicated franchising model to create a simpler, more effective system.

● The Government has also committed to a number of major investments in the railway, including:

o Midlands Rail Hub, to improve services around Birmingham and throughout the West and East Midlands;

o Northern Powerhouse Rail;

o Reopening a number of the lines and stations closed under the

Beeching cuts in the 1960s; and,

o Significant upgrades to urban commuter and regional services outside London.

● Separate to the wider review of the railway system, the Government awaits the review, of the High Speed Two (HS2) network led by Doug Oakervee which is looking at whether and how to proceed with HS2, including the benefits and impacts; affordability and efficiency; deliverability; and scope and phasing, including its relationship with Northern Powerhouse Rail.

● Without prejudice to the Oakervee Review’s findings and any Government decisions that follow, it is expected that the High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crewe) Bill will be revived in this Parliament. The Bill was first introduced in Parliament in July 2017 and will enable Phase 2a of HS2. The Bill passed through the House of Commons and had completed Second Reading in the House of Lords before the dissolution of the previous Parliament. Following revival it would begin its next stages in the House of Lords.

English Devolution (pages 109 to 110):

“My government…will give communities more control over how investment is spent so that they can decide what is best for them.”

● We are committed to levelling up powers and investment in the regions across England and allowing each part of the country to decide its own destiny.

● This means proposals to transform this country with better infrastructure, better education, and better technology.

● We will publish a White Paper setting out our strategy to unleash the potential of our regions, which will include plans for spending and local growth funding.

● It will provide further information on our plans for full devolution across England, levelling up powers between Mayoral Combined Authorities, increasing the number of mayors and doing more devolution deals.

● These increased powers and funding will mean more local democratic responsibility and accountability.

● We remain committed to the Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine, and Western Gateway strategies.

Business rates (page 111):

“To support business, my government will…bring forward changes to business rates.”

● The Government is committed to conducting a fundamental review of business rates.

● The Government recognises the role of business rates as a source of local authority income and will consider input from the sector as part of the review of business rates. Further details on the review will be announced.

● We are committed to increasing the retail discount from one-third to 50 per cent, extending that discount to cinemas and music venues, extending the duration of the local newspapers discount, and introducing an additional discount for pubs.

● We will also progress legislation to bring forward the next business rates revaluation by one year from 2022 to 2021 and move business rates revaluations from a five-yearly cycle to a three-yearly cycle. This will allow the Government to press ahead with delivering an important reform that has been strongly welcomed by business.

● More frequent revaluations will ensure that business rates bills are more up- to-date reflecting properties’ current rental values. Moving to three-yearly revaluation will make the system more responsive to changing economic conditions.

Environment Bill (pages 112 to 114):

“To protect and improve the environment for future generations, a bill will enshrine in law environmental principles and legally-binding targets, including for air quality. It will also ban the export of polluting plastic waste to countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and establish a new, world-leading independent regulator in statute.”

● Establishing new long term domestic environmental governance based on: environmental principles; a comprehensive framework for legally-binding targets, a long term plan to deliver environmental improvements; and the new Office for Environmental Protection.

● Improving air quality by setting an ambitious legally-binding target to reduce fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the most damaging pollutant to human health. The Bill also increases local powers to address sources of air pollution and brings forward powers for the Government to mandate recalls of vehicles when they do not meet legal emission standards.

● Protecting nature by mandating ‘biodiversity net gain’ into the planning system, ensuring new houses aren’t built at the expense of nature and delivering thriving natural spaces for communities. We will improve protection for our natural habitats through Local Nature Recovery Strategies and give communities a greater say in the protection of local trees.

● Preserving our resources by minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy. These measures include extended producer responsibility, a consistent approach to recycling, tackling waste crime, introducing deposit return schemes, and more effective litter enforcement. We will also ban the export of polluting plastic waste to non- OECD countries, consulting with industry, NGOs, and local councils on the date by which this should be achieved.

● Introducing charges for specified single use plastic items. This will build on the success of the carrier bag charge and incentivise consumers to choose more sustainable alternatives.

● Managing water sustainably through more effective legislation to secure long- term, resilient water and wastewater services. This will include powers to direct water companies to work together to meet current and future demand for water, making planning more robust, and ensuring we are better able to maintain water supplies.

Climate change (pages 115 to 118):

“My government will continue to take steps to meet the world-leading target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It will continue to lead the way in tackling global climate change, hosting the COP26 Summit in 2020.”

● We will build on our progress with an ambitious programme of policy and investment, with our first Budget prioritising the environment. This will help deliver the green infrastructure needed to improve lives and achieve Net Zero, including by investing in carbon capture, offshore wind, nuclear energy, and electric vehicle infrastructure so that individuals are always within 30 miles of a chargepoint. We will make sure we help lower energy bills investing in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals. And away from home, we will use our £1 billion Ayrton Fund to develop affordable clean energy for developing countries.

● The government will continue to use our position as a global leader in this area by hosting the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow in 2020 (COP26). We will ask our partners to match the UK’s ambition.

● With a focus on nature based solutions at our upcoming COP summit, at home we will be substantially increasing our tree-planting commitment and creating a £640 million new Nature for Climate fund.

● Our natural environment is one of our greatest assets, and can play a crucial role in the fight against climate change. This government will:

○ introduce a landmark Environment Bill – the first one in twenty years – that will create an ambitious environmental governance framework for post Brexit, as well as banning the export of plastic waste to non-OECD countries;

○ establish a new £500 million Blue Planet Fund to help protect our oceans from plastic pollution, warming sea temperatures and overfishing;

○ lead diplomatic efforts to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030; and,

○ in our trade negotiations, never compromise on our high environmental protection

● We will also ensure that we are protecting our citizens by investing £4 billion in flood defences and lowering energy bills by investing £9.2 billion in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals.

● We will increase our ambition on offshore wind to 40GW by 2030, and enable new floating turbines.

● We will support decarbonisation of industry and power by investing £800 million to build the first fully deployed carbon capture storage cluster by the mid-2020s; and £500 million to help energy-intensive industries move to low-carbon techniques.

Constitution and democracy (pages 126 to 127):

“A Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission will be established. Work will be taken forward to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.”

Setting up a Constitution, Democracy & Rights Commission that will:

● Examine the broader aspects of the constitution in depth and develop proposals to restore trust in our institutions and in how our democracy operates. Careful consideration is needed on the composition and focus of the Commission. Further announcements shall be made in due course.

It’s a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.

The usual askew perspectives and commentary will continue here in 2020.

Simon Ricketts, 21 December 2019

Personal views, et cetera

Avoiding Dover-type reasons JRs

Planning committees that resolve to approve planning applications against officers’ recommendations need to be careful not to fall foul of a JR if their reasoning is inadequate. The risks are particularly high in EIA cases and where there are other sensitive elements. Although Laws LJ described it as an “unusual case”, R (CPRE Kent) v Dover District Council & China Gateway International Limited (Court of Appeal, 14 September 2016) should be a watchword for caution.
The Court of Appeal quashed an LPA’s decision, taken contrary to officers’ advice, to approve a scheme for major development in the Kent Downs AONB. It was said to be uncontentious between the parties that “the scale of the proposed development is unprecedented in an AONB”. Officers had recommended that the scheme would only be acceptable with changes to its layout, which the applicant claimed would make the scheme unviable. The officers’ report analysed the issues in detail and set out out the policy tests in paragraphs 115 and 116 of the NPPF:
“115. Great weight should be given to conserving landscape and scenic beauty in… Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty…

116. Planning permission should be refused for major developments in these designated areas except in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated that they are in the public interest. Consideration of such applications should include an assessment of:

The need for the development, including in terms of any national considerations, and the impact of permitting it, or refusing it, upon the local economy;

The cost of, and scope for, developing elsewhere outside the designated area, or meeting the need for it in some other way;

Any detrimental effect on the environment, the landscape and recreational opportunities and the extent to which that could be moderated.”

The members’ reasoning for disagreeing with their officers’ recommendation was briefly summarised in the committee minutes, referring to the benefits flowing from the development, the belief that harm could be minimised with effective screening and concluding that the advantages outweighed the harmful impact on the AONB.

The Court of Appeal summarised the relevant law on the standard of reasoning required of a decision maker, setting out the classic passage from South Bucks v Porter (No 2) (2004):

“36. The reasons for a decision must be intelligible and they must be adequate. They must enable the reader to understand why the matter was decided as it was and what conclusions were reached on the ‘principal important controversial issues’, disclosing how any issue of law or fact was resolved. Reasons can be briefly stated, the degree of particularity required depending entirely on the nature of the issues falling for decision. The reasoning must not give rise to a substantial doubt as to whether the decision-maker erred in law, for example by misunderstanding some relevant policy or some other important matter or by failing to reach a rational decision on relevant grounds. But such adverse inference will not readily be drawn. The reasons need refer only to the main issues in the dispute, not to every material consideration. They should enable disappointed developers to assess their prospects of obtaining some alternative development permission, or, as the case may be, their unsuccessful opponents to understand how the policy or approach underlying the grant of permission may impact upon future such applications. Decision letters must be read in a straightforward manner, recognising that they are addressed to parties well aware of the issues involved and the arguments advanced. A reasons challenge will only succeed if the party aggrieved can satisfy the court that he has genuinely been substantially prejudiced by the failure to provide an adequately reasoned decision.”

The court referred to the recent judgment by Lang J in R (Hawksworth Securities plc) v Peterborough City Council (Lang J, 26 July 2016) where she had taken a light-touch approach to scrutiny of LPA decisions partly on the perhaps weak basis that it would be “unduly onerous to impose a duty to give detailed reasons…given the volume of applications to be processed”. The court didn’t suggest that her reasoning was “wrong in principle” but that “Lang J’s approach needs to be treated with some care. Interested parties (and the public) are just as entitled to know why the decision is as it is when it is made by the authority as when it is made by the Secretary of State”.

The court drew attention to features of the Dover case which pointed away from her approach:
– the nature of the development proposed as against the AONB policy tests

– the fact that the committee was departing from the officers’ recommendation, meaning that it should, “if but briefly”, engage with the officers’ reasoning

– the fact that here there was a statutory duty to give reasons by virtue of Regulation 24(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 .
On the facts it was held that the reasoning was not adequate to show whether the Committee had accepted the officers’ assessment of the harm that would be caused, whether the Committee had gone wrong in carrying out a balancing exercise of harm versus benefits (which would not be sufficient to meet the policy tests) or how any screening would make a substantial difference. End of permission.
A few concluding comments:
1. An applicant in the happy position of having persuaded a committee to approve an application in the face of an officers’ recommendation to refuse should make sure that the committee’s reasoning is sufficient to address the main elements of the officers’ recommendations. Often this will not necessarily be the case. For example, at its most basic, varying approaches are taken by authorities as to the brevity of their minutes. If in doubt, err on the side of a full record of what was said. It is odd that many authorities still do not record debates digitally or make them available for subsequent scrutiny as a matter of course.

2. No reference was made in the judgment to the statutory duty on decision makers in section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, in exercising or performing any functions in relation to, or so as to affect, land in an AONB, to “have regard to the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the area of outstanding natural beauty”. It is a very broad test and I assume the court and the parties took the position that it was automatically met if the NPPF policy tests in paragraphs 115 and 116 were met.
3. Regulation 24(1) of the EIA Regulations 2011 is one of many elephant traps in the planning system:

“Where an EIA application is determined by a local planning authority, the authority shall—

(a)in writing, inform the Secretary of State of the decision;

(b)inform the public of the decision, by local advertisement, or by such other means as are reasonable in the circumstances; and

(c)make available for public inspection at the place where the appropriate register (or relevant section of that register) is kept a statement containing—

(i)the content of the decision and any conditions attached to it;

(ii)the main reasons and considerations on which the decision is based including, if relevant, information about the participation of the public;

(iii)a description, where necessary, of the main measures to avoid, reduce and, if possible, offset the major adverse effects of the development; and

(iv)information regarding the right to challenge the validity of the decision and the procedures for doing so.”

These requirements are easy to overlook.

4. Laws LJ concluded his judgment by remarking that the “scale of the proposed development is unprecedented in an AONB”. If I can be permitted a partizan remark, he would do well to see the implications of HS2 for the Chilterns AONB, in relation to which I would argue that the Commons Select Committee’s 22 February 2016 conclusions were inadequate…
Simon Ricketts, 16.9.16

Personal views, et cetera

HS2: The Very Select Committee

The Parliamentary Hybrid Bill procedure will be used for Crossrail 2 and for the second phase of HS2 so it’s right that we look at the process is faring as the Bill for phase 1 of HS2 carries on through its House of Lords Select Committee stage.
When compared to planning inquiries under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or Transport and Works Act 1992 and to the examination of NSIPs under the Planning Act 2008 it is a very strange beast, particularly in the breadth of discretion given to the Select Committees in each House that hear “petitions” (“objections” in real world language) in relation to aspects of the Bill (although not its principle) and the narrow rules as to locus standi (standing).
The members of the Lords Select Committee were appointed on 5 May and the hearing started on 19 May. The Committee is chaired by Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, who was a member of the Supreme Court until 2013.
The Committee has made some far reaching decisions both in relation to locus standi and as to the breadth or otherwise of its role in hearing petitions that seek Additional Provisions, ie amendments to the Bill that may require for example additional powers to acquire land.
Locus standi

Petitioners must demonstrate that they are directly and specially affected by provisions of the Bill. It is open to the promoter, in this case HS2 Ltd, to challenge a petitioner’s locus standi, in which case the Select Committee reaches its determination as to whether the objector should be heard.

There is no right of appeal from the decision of the Committee on locus standi.

Before the Commons Select Committee, HS2 Ltd only challenged 24 out of 1,918 petitions in relation to the deposited Bill (there were challenges later on in relation to petitions in relation to Additional Provisions). On Crossrail, there were no challenges at all.

In the Commons Select Committee’s final report dated 22 February 2016 the Committee made some recommendations in relation to rights of audience:

“394. With the benefit of nearly two years’ experience, we believe that there should be a stricter approach to locus standi. Past convention has been that hybrid bill committees should make their own determinations on locus. (This is different from the practice in relation to private bills, where a separate committee, the Court of Referees, makes such decisions.) The current method could be retained, or replaced by a different mechanism. We believe that it is a priority that strong guidelines on acceptable locus should be set out before the establishment of the Committee and before petitioning starts.”

No doubt buoyed up by that statement, when the Bill entered the Lords, HS2 Ltd made no fewer than 414 locus standi challenges in relation to the 820 petitions lodged.

Standing orders 114 to 118 which govern locus standi are extremely general, have not been reviewed in the light of modern principles of public participation in decision making and are subject to interpretation by reference to decisions reached by previous Committees, albeit with each Committee having a wide discretion and a variety of political and personal backgrounds and influences.

Locus standi hearings started on 7 June with opening submissions by James Strachan QC for HS2 Ltd, drawing heavily on previous rulings, and urging a robust approach by the Committee. I had the misfortune to follow on immediately after James, for Conserve the Chilterns and Countryside.

The first tranche of locus standi decisions was made on 13 June 2016 None of various campaign and amenity groups was successful in asserting locus standi save for HS2 Action Alliance and a group concerned by the proposals at Euston.

The locus standi hearings carried on for a number of weeks, with similar rulings on 21 June and 28 June . Some interesting comments from 28 June:

“It is clear to us that there are many petitioners who find it difficult to accept the limited scope which parliamentary practice allows to the expression, ‘their property or interests are directly and specially affected by a hybrid Bill’. Other petitioners understand its limited scope but find it unacceptable and have said so in forthright terms. The point was made eloquently by Mrs Emma Davies of Coombe Avenue, Wendover, one of the youngest petitioners from whom we have heard. She said that the HS2 railway is a new world and that it calls for a new approach to parliamentary practice on Hybrid Bills. We agree with that view.

3. The present system began to evolve in a piecemeal way in the Victorian age when there were many more Private Bills, but far fewer petitioners, no motor vehicles and very much less regard for environmental and ecological concerns. A start has been made towards a new approach. Following the unprecedented period of two years for which this Bill occupied the House of Commons Select Committee, the Chairman of Committees of the two Houses has established a review of Hybrid Bill procedure. We hope that it will be radical and extend not only to the form in which the principles of locus standi are expressed but also to the substantive content of those principles.

4. This Select Committee may be the last to operate under the present system but this Committee has no power to change that system. That is a matter for Parliament as a whole after the review has been completed and its recommendations considered. We must, in the meantime, apply the existing rules. “
Again the hearings continued, with more rulings on 5 July which this time excluded various local councillors as well as a London Assembly member.

“6. We heard three petitions, 279, 552 and 584, from small groups of councillors elected to represent different wards, the Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward, the Regent’s Park ward, and the Kilburn ward, respectively, within the London Borough of Camden. Camden is itself an unchallenged petitioner, but has, as noted in our first ruling, a degree of inhibition because of its different statutory functions and responsibilities. The councillors who addressed us on 28 June spoke eloquently about the social and economic deprivation of parts of their wards, and the linguistic and cultural difficulties that many of their residents encounter in trying to respond effectively to the Bill.

7. We have no doubt that these councillors are conscientiously working as hard as they can in the interests of their residents, but there is an important point of principle that arises here. Their status as councillors is as elected members of a local government corporation, which, whether or not it has a cabinet system, can act only by properly passed resolutions and properly delegated authority. Individual councillors or groups of councillors acting without the authority of the council cannot claim the special preference accorded to local authorities. Mr Mould referred us to several petitions which raised the same concerns, including one, Connor and others, 391, which is focused on the Alexandra Road vent shaft. We uphold the challenge to these petitions. This does not of course prevent these dedicated councillors from continuing to assist their residents by advising them, by cooperating with other petitioners, and perhaps by giving evidence in support of other petitions. For similar reasons we also uphold the challenge to the petition of Mr Andrew Dismore, assembly member for Barnet and Camden.”

And still the locus standi hearings continued with eight MPs ruled as not having locus standi on 18 July 2016 .

“6. Mrs Gillan is the member for Chesham and Amersham, and the others (from north to south along the route) are Craig Tracey MP (North Warwickshire), the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP (Meriden), Jeremy Wright MP (Kenilworth and Southam), Andrea Leadsom MP (South Northamptonshire), the Rt Hon John Bercow MP (Buckingham), David Lidington MP (Aylesbury) and Nick Hurd MP (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner).

7. We conclude that neither parliamentary practice, nor standing orders, confers locus standi as of right on a Member of Parliament petitioning on behalf of his or her constituents, and we do not feel able to stretch the language of SO 118 so as to confer a discretionary locus standi

…Our conclusion will be considered by the review of procedure on hybrid bills now being undertaken by officials of both houses at the joint request of the two Chairmen of Committees. It is most desirable that the position should be clarified so that there will in future be no doubt as to the position…

Mrs Gillan has been outstandingly energetic and committed for many years in her advice and assistance to opponents of the HS2 bill and its effect on residents in or near the Chilterns AONB. As a further mark of our respect we are prepared to hear her again, not as a petitioner, but to give us her reflections on the bill and generally on hybrid bill procedure, towards the end of our sittings.”

Is there anyone who isn’t concerned by this narrow approach – which had not been flagged at all by HS2 Limited or by Parliament before the deadline for petitioning? Imagine the outcry if an equivalent approach were taken by a planning inspector….

Additional Provisions

The position in relation to Additional Provisions has been similarly difficult. The House of Lords’ standing orders do not directly address the question of Additional Provisions in Hybrid, as opposed to Private, Bills. The Government has taken the position that the Committee has no remit to consider the question of whether there should be any Additional Provision without a specific instruction from the House. This is clearly a significant issue for those petiomers, who seek, for example additional tunnelling to provide additional environmental protection for their areas, two examples being the London Borough of Hillingdon in west London and various Buckinghamshire authorities and groups in the Chilterns AONB.
Legal submissions were made on the issue on 30 June . George Laurence QC appeared for London Borough of Hillingdon; Martin Kingston QC appeared for Buckinghamshire County Council, Chiltern District Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council. Tim Mould QC appeared for HS2 Ltd.

The Committee made its ruling on 7 July , rejecting the petitioners’ arguments.

“16. We return to the realities of the situation. The changes sought by Hillingdon and the Chiltern councils could hardly be more momentous, in terms of their implications for cost, redesign work and delay. There are no economies of scale in long bored tunnels. On the contrary, the unit cost per kilometre of tunnel increases with the length, because of the need for extra vent shafts and intervention gaps, and above all because of the ever increasing cost of moving excavated spoil over longer and longer distances. In view of recent warnings from the National Audit Office and the financial fallout at the recent referendum, it seems in the highest degree unlikely that the House of Lords will see fit to give an instruction contrary to the settled practice for additional provision for either of these new tunnels. The degree of improbability would be reduced in the case of Colne Valley if the working group were to recommend a course which the promoter was willing to accept, although there would still be many difficulties. Additional provision for either tunnel would produce a blizzard of new petitions, as AP4 did before the House of Commons.”

Whilst of course it will be said that the petitioners did have the ability to raise their arguments before the Commons Committee, there is no Parliamentary principle that rules out arguments being made in one House which have already been made in the other House – that after all is one of the checks and balances of our Parliamentary system. It will also said by the petitioners that the Select Committee process, with its time constraints and without a forum used to assessing forensic arguments and technical evidence, is not built for determining disputes on issues such as costs assumptions and the economic value to be attributed to landscape.

And again a decision which on any conventional basis is unchallengeable under domestic legislation.

The Committee returned to the issue on a statement on procedure on 20 July 2016 before rising until 6 September:
“In the light of our ruling on additional provisions given on Thursday 7 July, we wish to make it absolutely clear that, in the absence of an instruction from the House, we will not hear argument for measures which would require an additional provision, that is, measures which would amount to significant changes to the scheme. In preparing their cases, petitioners should be extremely mindful of our limited powers. They will be squandering their time if they choose to present proposals which would require an additional provision, just as they will if they present proposals which go against the principle of the Bill. Instead, they would be wise to focus on issues and solutions over which the Committee does have power to intervene.

3. The Committee also wishes to re-emphasise the merits of succinct and cogent presentations from petitioners and the desirability of petitioners grouping together to present a single case. Groups of petitioners from the same area are encouraged to appoint a lead petitioner to outline their case, with other petitioners from the group adding local detail where appropriate, instead of repeating the case. It is our clear view that there is no relationship between repetition and persuasiveness. “

This is a Committee with its destination in sight.

A review of Hybrid Bill procedures is underway. It is important that we get the balance right between speed and justice.
Simon Ricketts 30.7.16
Personal views, et cetera

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