A High Court judge has thrown out a legal challenge against a £250m road scheme in Derby.
The Bam consortium road upgrade had been put on hold after a local campaign group, Stop the A38 Expansion, launched a challenge last year against the government’s decision to give it the go-ahead.
The group had argued that approval by then transport secretary Grant Shapps was wrongly given on the basis of an out-of-date economic assessment.
But the Honourable Mr Justice Mould rejected this in a decision handed down on Tuesday. He said there was “indisputably a rational basis” for the decision made by Shapps.
The Linkconnex joint venture comprises Bam Nuttall, Mace and Aecom. The consortium’s road upgrade covers Kingsway, Little Eaton and Markeaton roundabouts. It also includes flyovers and underpasses, as well as road widening.
The work was first approved in 2021 but the decision faced a legal challenge from the campaign group that summer, which was unsuccessful.
Shortly after, the scheme was granted a new development order but the group challenged this decision on the basis that the potentially increased construction and carbon costs of the scheme had not been taken into account.
They argued the decision was therefore “irrational”.
In this week’s decision, Mr Justice Mould said: “The information already available to him [Shapps] relating to the economic assessment, including the BCR [benefit-cost ratio] calculation, was proportionate to what he required for the purposes of reaching his decision.
“That was indisputably a rational basis for him to conclude that he had the information which he needed, in order to determine the application for development consent and to assess the likely significant effects of the proposed development on the environment.”
The Highways Agency said the scheme should now go ahead, subject to government review.
But the campaigners issued a statement saying that their legal challenges were not over.
Adrian Howlett from the group said: “We were prepared for this potential outcome and will be appealing.”
