Dear Residents,
A message from Matthew Webb, Chairman of Stanford Parish Council:
Following a meeting with our lawyers on 19 September Stanford Parish Council believes we have reasonable grounds to mount a Judicial Review (JR) against HE's proposed Operation Stack Lorry Park in Stanford.
The grounds for the JR are as follows:
1. The project should have been classified as EIA development. This places a duty on the Secretary of State to consider all the environmental effects before making his decision. HE have failed to undertake a full and proper assessment of the likely significant environmental effects of the Project, which would normally take the form of an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment Report). Instead HE have produced an Environmental Impact Analysis, which is incomplete, has errors and is non-statutory. In addition HE have not yet finalised the Project and, therefore, any decision to proceed would be premature as the environmental effects cannot be quantified.
If the project was classified as EIA development as a result of a JR HE would have to complete a full EIA and correct all the errors in their current documents.
2. The project should be classed as an alteration / improvement to an existing special highway, which makes it a nationally significant infrastructure and therefore be subject to a Development Consent Order (DCO) with attendant red tape.
If the project is deemed to be subject to a DCO by a JR then it would be likely to impose a minimum of 12 months of delay on the project.
Neither of these challenges provides a "silver bullet" to stop the lorry park. However, if successful they could result in a delay of up to 2 years (including the JR process itself). In that time the political / economic landscape can alter significantly and support / funding for the lorry park may disappear particularly if we continue to see a very low frequency of Operation Stack.
To pursue a JR the Parish Council needs to raise in the region of £35,000, made up of:
£5,000 – Initial cost of preparing and submitting a JR
£20,000 – Court process etc. if JR granted
£10,000 - Potential costs warded to HE if we lost our JR
The minimum we need is £5,000 to prepare a JR and see if it will be granted by the Courts.
To contribute to the Parish Council's bid for a JR you can make payments direct to our bank account:
Nat West Bank
Sort Code: 52-41-42 Or by cheque, payable to, Tudor Cottage
A/C No: 59193794 "Stanford Parish Council" to Stanford North
Donations can be anonymous or named. Please us the ref "Lorry Park JR". Any funds remaining at the end of our campaign will be returned pro rata to donors who state this at the time of donation otherwise they will be used for the good of the Parish. A breakdown of donations received and their use will be included in the Parish Accounts.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.
Best regards
Matthew Webb
Chair
Stanford Parish Council
