25 April 2010
Road Sense news release: Aberdeen bypass challenge
Press release from Road Sense:CAMPAIGNERS TO CHALLENGE MINISTERS' ABERDEEN BYPASS DECISION IN COURT
Campaigners from Road Sense, (1) the community campaign against the
Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) (2) today announced that
they have instructed their legal team to lodge a challenge to the
lawfulness of Scottish Ministers' decision to approve the new road.
(3)
The campaigners have identified a number of grounds for their legal
challenge, including Scottish Ministers' decision to restrict the
scope and remit of the AWPR Public Local Inquiry and violation of the
European Habitats Directive. The campaigners will release more
detailed information on their legal challenge once the relevant
papers have been lodged with the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
William Walton, Chair of Road Sense, said: "The legal opinions that
we have received confirm that we have substantial grounds on which to
challenge the AWPR through the court process. Any challenge of
Government can be uncertain, but we are confident that we have a very
strong case to present."
"We have been forced into taking this action after years of being
sidelined, stonewalled, ignored and misinformed. Scottish Ministers'
decision to limited the scope and remit of the Public Local Inquiry
into the AWPR made the inquiry nothing more than window dressing, and
the concerns and arguments of the majority of the 10,000 objectors to
the AWPR were never properly heard."
"The court process will be the first time that arguments about the
means by which the route for the AWPR was identified, selected,
appraised and approved will be heard. The court will be the first
body to give a detached, dispassionate assessment of the legality of
the AWPR as it is proposed. These things should have been heard at
the Public Local Inquiry, but were placed outwith the scope and remit
by Scottish Ministers."
"In a democratic country, the courts are the final check against
abuse of power by public bodies and Government. Successive Scottish
Ministers may now live to regret having been so heavy handed, unfair
and unreasonable."
The Road Sense community campaigners remain confident of their case
and believe that, if they are successful, Scottish Ministers will be
required to examine their past conduct, reconsider the entire case
for the proposed AWPR, and consider alternative, less expensive and
more effective options to alleviate traffic congestion in and around
Aberdeen and tackle the transport problems of the north east.
In challenging the lawfulness of Scottish Ministers' decision to
approve the AWPR in the courts, the Road Sense campaigners are
exposing themselves to significant risk and potential costs. The
campaigners are currently exploring methods by which they might
mitigate those risks and meet those costs.
Sheona Warnock from Road Sense added: "We feel that we have been
forced to take this court action as the last opportunity for the
public to receive honest and open information regarding the AWPR
project, and answers to the many questions and concerns that still
remain. We have been delighted with the tremendous support that we
have received so far. There is clearly a great deal of opposition to
the AWPR as it is currently planned.
"We are a community group with limited finances, so we are looking
into options that might enable us to limit our financial exposure,
reduce our overall risk and meet our court costs. We still have some
way to go to get to the stage where we can be sure that any potential
defeat in the courts will not cause us immense financial difficulty,
but we cannot sit back and allow the AWPR to be built on a foundation
of self interest, misinformation and poor judgement."
The Road Sense campaigners also currently have complaints against the
AWPR and Scottish Ministers ongoing under the European Habitats
Directive and Aarhus Convention. Both complaints are going through
due process at present and decisions on these are expected in the
next few months.
Editors Notes:
1. Road Sense was formed in January 2006 and is a group that includes
residents from across the Aberdeen area who are objecting to the AWPR
as it is currently planned. More information on Road Sense can be
found at:
www.road-sense.org2. More information on the AWPR can be found at:
www.awpr.co.uk. More information on the AWPR
Public Local inquiry can be found at
www.awpr-pli.org3. The court action will be by way of a statutory review under the
Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. This is a type of court proceeding in
which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by
a public body. In other words, a statutory review is a challenge to
the way in which a decision has been made, rather than the rights and
wrongs of the conclusion reached.
4. Those wishing to donate to the Road Sense campaign can donate
online at
www.road-sense.org