The Government’s proposed High Speed Two (HS2) route between London and Birmingham costing £34bn has provoked five judicial reviews which are being heard this week in the High Court before Mr Justice Ouseley. Campaigning groups are claiming that the Government’s decisions about the HS2 route were made without going through the correct legal processes. In 50 years of campaigning for local wildlife, and engaging with the planning system, BBOWT has never brought a case to the courts. The fact that decisions might have to be justified in front of a judge is usually enough to ensure they are reached legally. HS2 is different. BBOWT isn’t one of the organisations in court, but as the leading nature conservation body in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire we are speaking up for local wildlife by supporting the case being brought by HS2 Action Alliance, setting out environmental grounds challenging the lawfulness of the Government’s decision on HS2. In our view, the Government has tried to side-step a vital process for ensuring that decisions that affect the environment are soundly made. The very important Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) process is one that, under European Union law, has to be applied to large-scale plans. SEA ensures decision-makers are fully aware of the environmental consequences of their decisions, and have thought through possible alternatives. The key aspect of an SEA is that there has to be full consultation, and with HS2 that’s the aspect we’re most concerned about. Woodlands and meadows of the Bernwood Forest stretch across the border between Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and the HS2 route that the Government chose to go ahead with runs right through this area. Although the railway avoids the woods, it cuts through the middle of the territory of colonies of Bechstein’s bats. These bats are a highly-protected species that live only in ancient woodland, so they can’t be relocated somewhere else, or go and live in newly-planted trees alongside the railway line.

In 2010, the local bat group published information about the Bernwood Forest bats, before the HS2 route was decided. Because of the lack of public consultation before a decision on the route was made, HS2 Ltd’s researchers simply didn’t know they were there. They also didn’t know about the two BBOWT nature reserves (Calvert Jubilee and Finemere Wood) which the line runs through, nor many of the rare and fragile habitats that would be affected. The judicial reviews will go on into next week and Mr Justice Ouseley’s decision on whether or not the process was within the law will be given in January. We hope the judge decides that it was wrong to choose a route without knowing the impacts. If he doesn’t, the consequences for the environment and wildlife affected by future large-scale projects could give us great concerns. If the Government is supported in its policy of not carrying out the Strategic Environmental Assessment for Phase 1 of HS2, what hope is there for wildlife and the magnificent landscapes of the Peak District, Cumbria, Yorkshire and the North East when decisions on HS2 routes to Scotland are made?

BBOWT looks after the flooded clay pit at Calvert Jubilee and the ancient Finemere Wood nature reserves which are among dozens of wildlife sites that will be directly impacted by HS2. You can discover these beautiful places now; enjoy listening to the willow warblers at Calvert Jubilee, or look out for goldcrests at Finemere Wood, and you may spot hares in the nearby wildflower meadow. www.bbowt.org.uk/reserves