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03
Aug
Campaigners to launch legal challenge against A1(M) services near Boroughbridge approval
Campaigners are set to launch a legal challenge against new motorway services off the A1(M) near Kirby Hill.
North Yorkshire Council granted planning permission last month for the Vale of York services between junctions 48 and 49 of the A1(M) northbound, between Boroughbridge and Ripon.
The services were first proposed 30 years ago.
A Welcome Break services, with parking for 364 cars, 90 HGVs, 18 coaches, caravans and motorcycles, will be built along with fuel stations, a drive-through coffee shop and an amenity building.
However, campaigners said the council's decision raised “serious legal issues”, including whether the outline planning permission had expired before the subsequent reserved matters application was approved.
Gareth Owens, of Kirby Hill RAMS.
Gareth Owens, chair of Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services (RAMS), said the group has instructed public and environmental law firm Leigh Day to begin Judicial Review proceedings challenging the council’s decision.
A crowdfunding page has also been set up to help fund the initial stages of the challenge.
Mr Owens added that the campaign group intends to take the decision to the High Court to examine whether or not the authority acted lawfully in its decision making.
He said:
This is no longer simply a planning dispute. It is a question of whether North Yorkshire Council followed the law when determining one of the county's largest development proposals.
Judicial Review is not an appeal against the planning merits. It is the legal process Parliament has established to ensure that public authorities act lawfully. We believe there are serious legal questions that deserve independent scrutiny by the High Court.
Campaigners have set a target of £10,000 to help fund the pre-action protocol stage of the review. Should the case proceed beyond that stage, the group expects to set up a second appeal to cover the costs of the High Court proceedings.
Artist impression of the service station as submitted to North Yorkshire Council.
The council’s strategic planning committee gave final approval for the motorway services at a meeting on July 21.
Councillor Robert Windass, who represents Boroughbridge and Claro, said he stood by previous comments describing the scheme as the “rape of the countryside”.
He added:
We’ve got prime agricultural land there which is being ruined forever. We’re going to put a petrol filling station that is not particularly required — there is one just down the road.
Other councillors said they did not like the plans but could see no reasons to disagree with the officer’s recommendation to approve the scheme.
The application was approved by nine votes to five with one abstention.
The decision came after a series of public inquiries and planning battles held up the development.
In a saga which has spanned more than a quarter of a century, Applegreen’s application has been before multiple council planning committees, faced four public inquiries and seen appeals turned down twice by the Secretary of State and the High Court.
The inquiry, which was held by planning inspector David Rose in 2021 and streamed onto YouTube, lasted two weeks and included multiple testimonies from residents, campaigners and developer Applegreen.
In a decision notice, Mr Rose said after considering the evidence that the benefits of a service station would outweigh the harm.
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