An objector to the construction of a road bridge over the Taw-Torridge estuary, a designated site of special scientific interest (SSSI), as part of the planned Barnstaple Western Bypass in Devon, today launched a test-case Appeal Court challenge to the scheme.
Anthony Bown is appealing against a March 2002 High Court ruling in which Collins J refused his application for judicial review of the decision by the Secretary of State for Transport to confirm various orders made in the exercise of compulsory purchase powers following a public inquiry.
Bown appeared as an objector at the inquiry on the basis that the site should be protected as a Special Protected Area (SPA) under the EEC Wild Bird Directive.
In the Court of Appeal, Robert McCracken QC, counsel for Bown, said that the appeal raised fundamental questions over the extent of the UK’s obligations under the directive, and, in particular, whether the passage of time or a change in circumstances could remove the duty to protect a site that had not been designated, but that qualified for designation.
He argued that “the obligation on member states to designate a specific site of importance as an SPA and to treat sites that qualify for that status as de facto SPAs, once operative, cannot simply be destroyed by later events or changes in policy”.
However, Richard Drabble QC, counsel for the Secretary of State, said that the latter “had had no choice but to approach matter in the way he did” as it was “quite apparent, on the evidence, that the Taw-Torridge estuary has not in fact been classified as a special protection area”.
The hearing continues.
Bown v Secretary of State for Transport Court of Appeal (Lord Phillips MR, Waller and Carnwath LJJ) 28 July 2003.
References: PLS News 28/07/03