Campaign group sends pre-action letter over motorway services approval

According to Kirby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services (RAMS), Harrogate Borough Council had refused permission for a proposed motorway service area on the A1(M) for twenty-five years.

The refusals were defended through repeated appeals, three public inquiries - at which RAMS appeared as a Rule 6 Party - and two High Court cases.

However, on 21 July 2026, North Yorkshire Council – Harrogate’s successor authority – approved the scheme.

The residents’ group argue that the decision raises “serious legal questions which deserve independent scrutiny by the High Court”.

The group questions whether the council may have acted unlawfully on the following grounds:

• the outline planning permission had expired before reserved matters were approved;
• statutory objections were not properly presented to councillors;
• the application relied upon environmental information that may have been out of date;
• councillors may have been misdirected on important legal issues;
• critical planning matters were deferred to conditions instead of being decided before permission was granted.

Kirby Hill RAMS said: “A response from North Yorkshire Council to the pre-application protocol letter sent by our lawyers, Leigh Day, is expected this week.

“The council could admit the error of its ways, agree with us that it acted unlawfully and quash the planning decision. […] Alternatively, the council might choose to defend the case and face its own residents in the High Court. We are prepared for this eventuality.”

Leigh Day solicitor Rowan Smith, who represents the group, said: “Our clients have been long-standing opponents of these plans, principally on the basis that the new motorway services would destroy the tranquil character of this area of North Yorkshire moor, as well as lead to unacceptable harm to the landscape and wider environment. In their letter, they have raised what they argue are clear errors of law relating to the environmental impact assessment of the scheme, which we hope the council will accept as grounds for reversing the planning permission."

A council spokesperson said that it has responded to the pre-action protocol letter, and will “look to defend [its] position”.

Lottie Winson