High Court refuses second request by council for tree felling judicial review to be thrown out
Plymouth City Council has lost its latest bid to set aside legal proceedings brought by campaign group ‘Save the Trees of Armada Way’.
The council’s request for a re-hearing on its application to set aside the proceedings was refused at the High Court yesterday (14 September), meaning it will now face a judicial review.
The dispute centres around a regeneration plan by the Conservative-led council that involved felling trees on the city's Armada Way.
A late-night operation saw the council cut down more than a hundred trees on 14 March, but works were stopped short by a last-minute injunction secured by local campaign group Save the Trees of Armada Way (STRAW).
The group launched a legal challenge against the decision by Plymouth's former Mayor Richard Bingley to chop down most of the trees, and permission was granted for a substantive hearing of the claim.
Mrs Justice Lang dismissed the application as "misconceived" and ordered the council to pay the claimant's costs of the application regardless of the outcome of the litigation.
Following the refusal of its request for a rehearing, a spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said: “We are disappointed that the judge has refused our request for a re-hearing on our application to set aside the legal proceedings.
“We firmly believe that as the judicial review is based on a decision that has been overturned, the decision is therefore academic. Following a consultation on a new design, a new decision will be made.
“To move forward with a lengthy JR process will cost the council thousands of pounds of taxpayer’s money; money that could be spent on other services. As a result of the judge’s decision today, we now will move to the full JR.”
The council revealed that the legal process “will not deter [it]” from moving forward with its plans to clean up Armada Way.
Plymouth said it would commence the “initial preparations” for the removal of the felled tree trunks and start clearing vegetation that is not covered by the legal injunction.
Alice Goodenough of Harrison Grant Ring Solicitors, representing Ms White, founder of STRAW and the Claimant in the judicial review proceedings said: “We welcome the ruling of Mrs Justice Thornton yesterday and agree with the court that this has been a waste of the court’s time and resources as well as those of our client and the taxpayers of Plymouth.
“The first judge to look at the council’s application considered it “misconceived” and awarded costs in any event. Despite that, the council renewed their application requiring two further judges to reach the same conclusion. It is therefore not surprising that the Court ordered our client the costs of responding to the council’s applications in any event and liberty to apply to obtain these outside of the Aarhus costs cap.”
Lottie Winson
