Campaigners against the Birmingham Northern Relief Road have described as "perverse" the decision of a High Court judge today not to quash the controversial Birmingham Northern Relief Road (BNRR). The road is planned to run for 27 miles around the West Midlands, and will be a private toll motorway. In Opposition, Labour promised it would not be built.

The Alliance case is that Environment Secretary John Prescott acted illegally in giving the road the go-ahead, because he was influenced by huge cancellation charges in the "Concession Agreement" with the road's builders Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL). MEL is a consortium of two construction companies, Kværner and Autostrade.

Although the judge ruled against the Alliance, he accepted that:-

• The Department of Transport should have disclosed the secret Concession Agreement at the Public Inquiry
• John Prescott would have acted illegally in approving the road last year if he had considered cancellation charges.

But in a letter to Mike O'Brien MP, dated 28 July 1997, Mr Prescott said:

"We have taken our decision against the background of a binding concession agreement... If we had breached the terms of the agreement it would have been open to the concessionaire to seek compensation, the scale of which might have been substantial." The judge decided that this did not in fact mean that cancellation charges had been considered.

Charles Bradshaw-Smith, Chair of the Alliance against the BNRR said:

"We are disappointed that the judge has ignored Mr Prescott's own words. Labour broke its election pledge not to build the BNRR because it was frightened by the cancellation charges in the disgracefully secret Concession Agreement. We will consider an appeal against what seems to us to be a perverse decision. The BNRR will do terrible damage to the environment and to local people's lives. We fight on".

Gerald Kells of West Midland FOE said:

"The building of this motorway is still far from certain. MEL still have to raise money to build it from financial institutions nervous of such large projects. Kværner's highly publicised debts and the sacking of their Chief Executive, and the failure of Autostrade's American sister projects, the Dulles Greenway, could yet put the whole scheme back on ice. This is no victory for open Government, or for the Government's claim to fairness. Until John Prescott comes clean and publishes the secret agreement with MEL, the decision on this road will always be tarnished".

CONTACT

Charles Bradshaw-Smith:
Chair of Alliance Against BNRR
01543 473717 (eve)
0836 647585 (mobile)

Gerald Kells
FOE West Midlands
01922 636601