Wildfish Conservation, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2023] EWHC 2285 (Admin).
In this judgment, Mr Justice Holgate addressed a challenge brought by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), Richard Haward’s Oysters and Hugo Tagholm against the Government’s Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan (the Plan). The claimants pursued three grounds to trial. One of the original four grounds of challenge was that the Plan was irrational.
However, this ground of challenge was withdrawn following the government’s decision to consult the public on both the extension of the Plan to coastal and estuarine waters, and the development of an appropriate ecological standard for coastal and estuarine waters. The consultation reviewed expanding the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan to include all English estuarine and coastal waters. In September 2023, the UK Government responded to the public consultation by announcing that all storm overflows in England will now be included in the Plan, including all coastal waters and estuaries.
The legal challenge has received extensive press coverage. See: BBC News, The Times
Kenyon v Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government (2020) EWCA Civ 302
Represented a local resident who unsuccessfully challenged a decision by the Secretary of State that no environmental impact assessment was required for the proposal that 150 homes be built on a site in Hemsworth, in circumstances where the development would lead to an increase in traffic and nitrogen dioxide levels in the town centre, which had been designated as an Air Quality Management Area.
