Our previous actions

Cuts to walking and cycling legal challenge: We were successful in this action with a unanimous judgment in the Court of Appeal that the cuts to walking, wheeling and cycling (active travel) funding by the previous government were unlawful. You can read about the reasons why we took the legal challenge as reported in The Guardian and our reaction to the ruling.

NNNPS (roads policy): We challenged this Conservative roads policy formally designated hours before Parliament dissolved before the General Election. Disappointingly the new Labour government chose to defend the policy. You can read more about why our challenge was important in this briefing but basically we were concerned that the policy green lights all road building and effectively rules out climate emissions as a reason for refusal. Our reaction to the judgement is here.

A66 Northern Trans-Pennine road scheme: we challenged the Conservative government's to approve this £1.5bn road, which is effectively eight schemes in one. It is supported by local people as they see it as a solution to the number of deaths that occur on the single carriageway sections. However we have produced a report that shows you could address these concerns more cheaply and more quickly. The challenge was around how climate and nature impacts were considered in the decision making process.

A428 legal challenge: we challenged the Government's decision in August 2022 to approve the Development Consent Order (DCO, or planning permission) for the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet road 'improvement'. It's a 10 mile, £1bn dual carriageway and is one of the biggest emitters of carbon in the roads programme (RIS2). The challenge was around how climate change and nature were considered in the decision making process.

National Policy Statement legal challenge: we first challenged the Government's refusal to review the national policy that governs planning approval for new roads (National Policy Statement for National Networks, NPSNN) in March 2020. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps twice refused to review it, ignoring the advice of his official advisors. On 14 July 2021 the DfT announced they would review the policy, but on 22 July 2021 refused to suspend it while the review was carried out. It was meant to be completed and the new policy adopted in Spring 2023, but was only formally designated in May 2024, just hours before Parliament dissolved before the July 2024 General Election.

RIS2 legal challenge: we challenged the Government's approval of its £27 billion, second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) on climate grounds. This is how the Government wishes to see the strategic roads network in England develop between 2020 - 2025. This was our first legal challenge and we are grateful for CPRE, the Countryside Charity's support.

Thanks

We're particularly grateful for everyone who has contributed towards our legal costs via our CrowdJustice pages, or donated directly, and to WeHaveThePOWER for helping fund the background research and work needed to bring the road challenges to court.