Campaigners hope High Court challenge can save country park

THE High Court is set to hear Transport Action Network's (TAN) challenge to the ₤27.4 billion 2nd Road Investment Strategy (RIS2), which includes the controversial Port of Liverpool Access scheme, on 29 June and 30 June 2021. The action group which campaigns for sustainable transport solutions is claiming that Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, broke the law when approving RIS2 by failing to consider its effects on the environment.

Published in March 2020, RIS2 sets out plans for England's Strategic Road Network (SRN), including 50 major road schemes, 1 of which would see a dual carriageway constructed along the length of Rimrose Valley Country Park in Sefton. Although the network, made up of motorways and major A roads, is responsible for over 10% of the UK's domestic CO2 emissions, ministers quietly abandoned setting a target to reduce this. Government lawyers are now seeking to persuade the Court that climate commitments were not "obviously material" to road building. This is despite Shapps acknowledging two weeks after rubber stamping RIS2 that:- "climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time" and that this meant we need to:- "use our cars less in future."

Chris Todd, Director of Transport Action Network said:- "Trying to argue climate change isn't 'obviously material' to approving the largest ever roads programme is like saying public health is not relevant to reform of smoking rules. In an audacious attempt to protect his addiction to asphalt, Shapps is now seeking a legal precedent that decision-makers can ignore climate targets. This puts ministers on a collision course with the Climate Change Committee, which last week called on the Government to adopt a 'Net Zero Test' for all policy decisions. The DfT's dodgy defence now risks undermining UK leadership of the COP26 climate summit and our international standing."

The Government's backup defence is that in any event Ministers did consider climate commitments. Besides heavily redacted legal advice that asserted RIS2 was "consistent" with net zero, the Department for Transport (DfT) is relying on an assessment made after the decision. This concluded as RIS2's impact was so small as to be:- "de minimis" that ministers had been justified in ignoring the policy gap to meet new climate targets. TAN obtained the help of 2 of the UK's leading transport experts to review the figures. Shockingly, they concluded RIS2 climate impacts were likely one hundred times greater, as DfT:-

► Only considered the impact of five newly announced schemes, not the whole roads programme of over fifty major road schemes.

► Calculated carbon for a period when not all those 5 schemes were fully open.

► Ignored non-tailpipe emissions such as from land clearance and road construction.

Rebecca Lush, roads campaigner at TAN, added:- "How can ministers expect to be taken seriously if they ignore the carbon emissions from all but 100 out of the 4,000 miles of road the Chancellor announced at Budget 2020. It's as if they are trying to pass off an old banger as a brand new electric vehicle. Such extreme fiddling of the figures would put even the dodgiest 2nd hand car dealer to shame. It's time to shift this outdated roads plan off the forecourt and onto the scrapheap."

Days before the hearing, the Welsh Government announced a freeze on road building. Separately, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) recommended that:- "investment in roads should be contingent on analysis justifying how they contribute to the UK's pathway to Net Zero," directly challenging the DfT's existing policy. To secure the 63% cut in emissions needed between 2019 and 2035, the CCC is calling on the Government to:- "prioritise funding away from car use" and to provide:- "measures to make it less attractive to drive."

Todd concluded:- "If we are serious about tackling the climate emergency, improving quality of life after the pandemic and delivering a less congested future, we need to reduce traffic. This case, the biggest legal challenge to transport policy in British history, seeks to do just that. A ruling to quash the largest ever roads programme would be historic, not just for the UK, but for communities worldwide seeking to build back better in the run up to COP26."

Stuart Bennett from the Save Rimrose Valley campaign added:- "We know that the Government's proposed Port of Liverpool Access Scheme would generate huge carbon emissions, destroy Rimrose Valley's unique biodiversity and generate air pollution. We are therefore incredibly grateful to Transport Action Network for bringing this legal challenge, for fighting to protect the environment and for drawing attention to the destruction road building causes. If their challenge is successful, it could spell the end for this ill conceived project."

Anyone who wishes to add their support to the legal challenge are asked to kindly consider donating towards the legal fees, but making a donation via TAN's Crowd Justice Page at:- CrowdJustice.Com.

Sefton Council still feeling the effects of Covid19

ALTHOUGH the delayed end of Covid19 lockdown restrictions is now scheduled for next month, Sefton Council is still feeling the effects of the virus. Since the country 1st went into lockdown 15 months ago, Sefton Council employees have been providing vital services such as bin collections, social services, care work and the protection of our unique environmental assets. And, throughout that period, teachers and other staff have been in the Borough's Schools for those pupils who were unable to stay at home. In some cases, staff who have been unable to carry out their regular jobs due to closures, such as our Leisure Centre teams, have been temporarily transferred. They have gone to work in other areas to ensure the continuation of key services such as burials and cremations. Council staff have also worked with partner organisations such as Sefton's Voluntary Services to support those most vulnerable to Coronavirus, including those people who have had to shield. Practical support provided has included the delivery of food and medicines as well as help with online shopping slots and calls to help combat potential loneliness. The Council has very much appreciated the high levels of praise and support received from local residents in appreciation of the work that has continued despite the difficult circumstances. While lockdown restrictions have been eased, Sefton has seen 2 periods of surge testing due to COVID variants and, like the many other areas, case numbers are rising with the now prevalent Delta variant. And the Council's employees are being affected like everyone else, either off with Coronavirus or because they are self isolating. While some of them are able to continue working from home, front line employees cannot. And this means some services are being affected.

Sefton Council Leader Cllr Ian Maher said:- "My Cabinet colleagues and I are only too aware that at the moment, we are not managing to maintain the high standards of service that people have come to expect, in all areas. We have not been able to empty litter bins as frequently as we would have liked. We have not been able to maintain some outdoor areas, including the grounds of Southport Crematorium, to the level we aim for. And it has, perhaps, taken longer than usual to clear the litter left on our beaches by visitors, despite our pleas and the extra measure we have put in place. But I can assure everyone who lives, works or is visiting our Borough, this is not through a lack of will, effort or pride in it by us or by the Council's employees who I am sure all my fellow Sefton councillors would like to thank personally and pay tribute to."

Sefton Council has been unveiling some of its plans to bounce back after the Pandemic. These include bids totalling almost ₤34 million to the Government's 'Levelling Up Fund' for innovative developments in Bootle and Crosby, the exciting Town Deal plans for Southport and a new Business Plan for Bootle Strand. In a recent letter to Sefton residents, Cllr Maher explained that Sefton Council had had to make over ₤233 million of savings over the last 10 years to be able to continue delivering key services. He said that every Council has seen a rise in demand for services, but also a loss of income from fees and charges and reductions in Council Tax and Business Rates.

Cllr Maher wrote:- "We've been calling on Government for months to deliver the resources the Council needs to support residents. So how has the Government responded to our calls for increased and continual funding? With announcements that are nothing more than smoke and mirrors! The Government will have you believe that they are making ₤1 billion of funding available for Local Authorities for social care. What they won't tell you is that ₤700 million of that comes from allowing councils to increase Council Tax."

Cllr Maher added:- "We have all been through difficult times and I would like to thank Sefton residents, communities and businesses for the sacrifices they have made to keep each other safe. As a Council, we have managed the distribution of more than ₤95 million of financial support to Sefton businesses since the start of the Pandemic. Now we need to start building back and to do that we need Boris Johnson and his Ministers to work with us and provide the support, funding and resources where they are needed most due to a decade or more of Government austerity cuts. In the meantime, I hope that the people of Sefton will bear with us as we emerge from what has been a dark period and will be assured that we and Sefton Council's dedicated workforce are doing our best for them."

Campaigners hope High Court challenge can save country park

Sefton Council still feeling the effects of Covid19

Total UK cases Covid19 cases in and around Liverpool City Region