The dispute over a £400m plan for Britain’s first toll motorway reaches the High Court this week. Campaigners are challenging Midland Expressway’s plans to begin construction on the road early next year. The road will bypass Birmingham between junctions 4 and 11 of the M6, passing through green belt land and two sites of special scientific interest.
The Alliance against BNRR argues that the road will cause huge environmental damage, encourage urban sprawl and will actually worsen traffic conditions around Birmingham. Campaigners hope to persuade the City not to back the scheme. Midland Expressway are nevertheless “confident” that necessary finance will be raised and that the scheme will go ahead.
If the objectors’ legal challenge fails, the site is likely to become a new focus for protest by veterans of the Newbury bypass and Manchester airport campaigns. The government approved the 27-mile road last July after a public enquiry.
- Financial Times 27/04/98 page 8
