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Chris Packham loses bid for legal challenge over HS2
Aug 1, 2020
TV naturalist Chris Packham has lost his Court of Appeal bid to challenge the government over the HS2 high-speed rail scheme.
He had argued there were failings in the way the government decided to give the project the go-ahead.
In April, the Springwatch presenter was refused permission by judges in the High Court for a full judicial review of the decision.
Mr Packham said he was "deeply disappointed" by the ruling.
In giving the decision, Lord Justice Lindblom said the court "rejected both of Mr Packham's substantive grounds of appeal as unarguable".
The judgment noted his claims included that the government misunderstood local environmental concerns and had failed to examine the environmental effects of HS2.
The TV presenter had alleged the government had not accounted for the effect on greenhouse gas emissions up to 2050 in light of "obligations under the Paris Agreement and the Climate Change Act 2008".
'Makes no sense'
At a July hearing, lawyers for Mr Packham said a review gave an "incomplete assessment of environmental matters" which meant the government approved HS2 with a "complete misapprehension" of its environmental impact.
In written submissions, David Wolfe QC argued ministers would have proceeded with their decision on the basis the Oakervee Review (a government-commissioned report set up to examine whether and how HS2 should proceed) would have explained what they needed to know, when it did not.
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