A London court has thrown out a challenge to a major Manchester railway development.
Former president of the Institute of Civil Engineers Mark Whitby was seeking to challenge a government decision giving the green light to the so-called Ordsall Chord project.
The Ordsall Chord is a proposed 340m elevated railway to be built in the Ordsall area of Greater Manchester. The railway will link Manchester’s three main stations.
Ward was challenging the choice of route which he claimed would harm a collection of listed buildings associated with the development of the railways in the 19th century. He was a member of the Design Panel for the plan, but resigned so that he could object with independence.
In a detailed judgment Mrs Justice Lang dismissed his claim and said that the Planning Inspector who recommended the decision to the government had not erred. The inspector gave “considerable importance and weight” to the harm that the development could cause.
She said the inspector had concluded that the public benefits from the scheme outweighed the harm to the “heritage assets.”
“Although I acknowledge that these were controversial decisions, with which the claimant, Historic England, and no doubt many others disagree, I am not satisfied that they disclose any errors of law,” she said in her ruling.
“The merits of planning judgments cannot be reviewed in High Court challenges; only errors of law.”
Mark Whitby v The Secretary of State for Transport, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd Planning Court (Lang J)
Paul Brown QC and Andrew Parkinson (instructed by Richard Buxton Environmental & Public Law) for the claimant.
Richard Kimblin (instructed by the Government Legal Department) for the first and second defendant.
Natalie Lieven QC and Richard Clarke (instructed by Winkworth Sherwood) for the third defendant.
