HS2 campaigners have been granted a hearing at the High Court to seek a judicial review against the high-speed rail project.
The hearing will begin on December 3 and last for eight days.
Five parties are challenging Justine Greening’s decision to go ahead with HS2, on the grounds that the consultation was not adequately completed.
Hilary Wharf, director of HS2 Action Alliance (HS2AA), one of four groups challenging the Transport Secretary, said: “We are very pleased with today’s decision. Not only does the judge agree our cases should be, and will be heard, but the Secretary of State has been forced to account for her actions in seemingly ignoring many consultation responses.
“The fact that three of the four claimants in this case have had their consultation responses mishandled is unbelievable. But it does explain why the Government seemed not to be listening – because they weren’t. We were pleased that the judge will allow us to amend our case to reflect these developments.
https://railuk.com/2011/01/31/why-britain-needs-hs2/
One of the most read articles on this site as to why Britain needs HS2 written on 31st Jan 2011. Worth a read
 The Dft seems to have scored another own goal with its handling of the flawed HS2 Public ‘Consultation’ by admitting to losing sevreal hundred responses, including. curiously, two from what must be amlong the key responses to the whole Consulatation, (HS2 Action Alliance, and 51M -a groups of county and district Councils opposing the proposal.). When this latest incident is added to the ‘hidden’ report (by their opwn department), which showed that their own plan (RP2) could provide the forseable capacity required for less than one thrid of the cost of HS2, plus the attempt to hide the perilous state of financial poistion of HS2 (identified as red/amber’ by the Major Projects Authority, one wonders waht other strange goings on are happening at DfT, to be selctive with the truth about the real postion on the HS2 project.
Well now justice seems to have caught up with them, but only due to the diligance of those who have always argued that the figures claimed by DFT were wrong (eg £2.4 return for every £1 spent, now down to 90 pence), and that the consultation questions we biased in favour of HS2. It is hardly surprising that the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee ,Margaret Hodge described the HS2 proposals ‘shocking, potty biased and bonkers’ when questiong DfT mandarins on their estimates for HS2.
Naturally there is a desire to build HS2 from those who see bigger, faster, as better, but the time has come to think about how best to use the UK’s ever dwindling finances to the benefit of all rather than the few.