The Lancaster Guardian reports another judge has thrown out an appeal against the Heysham M6 Link Road concluding “enough is enough”.
Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Davis has refused
Transport Solutions for Lancaster and Morecambe’s application for
permission to appeal against a High Court judgement supporting the
project.
The objectors now have seven days to request an oral
hearing from the Court of Appeal to reconsider the application, which is
the absolute final stage, but work has already begun to build a depot for the project at Halton Training Camp.
A full report is in the print edition of this week’s Lancaster Guardian but Lord Justice Davis is noted as concluding he did not think the
proposed grounds of challenge were realistically arguable.
“Nor do I see any other compelling reason to grant permission,” he said.
“One can understand that many people will feel strongly about this road, but, in all the circumstances, enough is enough here.
“In my view the judge’s judgement is not susceptible to sustainable challenge.”
“It is still crystal clear that this road is not value for money” argues TSLM chair David Gate.|It will not help congestion in Lancaster. “It will not help regeneration in Morecambe. Sacrificing our Green Belt is too high a price to pay for such dubious benefits.”
The road is backed by the Chamber of Commerce and the County Council, despite fervent local opposition and concerns raised by both Morecambe and Lancaster City Councils over the route in the past. The County Council itself has admitted the £140 million road will cut just five minutes off journey times.
The County has also begun to promote the road building as “business opportunity”. We look forward to the first application for a new Tesco along the route.