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HS2 Ltd has lost a case in the Court of Appeal, which has ruled that it extended Bromford tunnel in Birmingham without planning permission.

The tunnel’s portals would originally have been within Birmingham City Council’s area, but the extension of the tunnel, which leads to Washwood Heath depot, placed the eastern portal in Water Orton, which is in the area of North Warwickshire Borough Council.

This council brought the action, saying that the new portal did not have planning permission under the High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Act 2017.

The council had first taken its argument to the High Court, but went to the appeal court after losing its case.

The council's Tory leader David Wright said: ‘It is evidence that a small council can and should champion the proper protection of communities by ensuring that major infrastructure promoters act properly within their powers and shows they are not above the law.

‘I am particularly pleased that the Court of Appeal decided to consider the impacts from the perspective of Water Orton residents rather than a national or regional perspective and shows the value that local councils can make in arguing the case for their communities.’

Lord Justice Holgate said the tunnel extension and its new portal were authorised by the 2017 act, but that the planning permission under the act did not apply.

The Department for Transport said: ‘The Bromford Tunnel was built with local communities in mind and minimises impacts on the Park Hall Nature Reserve, M6 motorway and the River Tame, and is a vital connection between the HS2 network.’

The 5.8km tunnel has already been built, but the government can only overturn the ruling by going to the Supreme Court.

Readers’ comments

Having dealt with such parliamentary matters i.e. Acts of Parliament and their affect on railway infrastructure/land ownership, for most of my career, Lord Holgate is correct. I operated under that understanding. Another example of a waste of public money to challenge and a resultant utter nonsense decision.  H. Gillies-Smith, South Milford

As the tunnel had already been built was this not an exercise in futility and a waste of taxpayer money for legal fees by the North Warwickshire Borough Council due to stubbornness? The tunnel extension replaced the originally approved viaduct and embankment and a tunnel will obviously have less impact on the environment than that would have. This is yet another example of the ridiculous number of approvals required to build anything and one of the reasons the cost of HS2 has climbed. It's about time these levels of red tape were reduced.  Neil Palmer, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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