A new 5km dual carriageway linking the M57, M58 and A59 with the port is planned to take freight away from residential areas on the A5036, which is one of England’s most congested roads. This £250M bypass through Rimrose Valley Park was chosen over an upgrade to the existing A5036 following a public consultation last year.

 

But Sefton Council felt the consultation process to be flawed, claiming that neither scheme would deliver the necessary benefits for its residents, and instead urged further consultation on a tunnel option. This led to an application for a judicial review by the council which has now been granted by the courts.

 

Sefton Council leader Ian Maher said: “Getting to this next stage means that the legal system clearly recognises that we have grounds to challenge the way the whole process has been handled.”

 

The council claims that a road through Rimrose Valley will remove important green space provision in Sefton and add to air pollution, threatening local health and wellbeing.

 

Ian Maher added: “Highways England’s failure to include the tunnel as an option in the consultation process has deprived our residents of the opportunity to express a view – which is why we want to take action.”

 

A Highways England spokesman commented: “We are obviously disappointed that this issue will now proceed to the High Court, not least because of the inevitable delay this will mean in delivering this vital investment on the Port of Liverpool route and the benefits we believe it will deliver for people in the area as well as the local and regional economy.”

 

In December, the strategic road network operator’s regional delivery director for the North West Tim Gamon explained the decision not to put a tunnel forward as an option at the consultation.

 

“The tunnel simply does not provide value for money,” he said, noting that the proposed bypass would deliver the same economic benefits as a tunnel but at a cost of £250M as opposed to £1.5Bn.

 

“Furthermore, the impact of delivering a tunnel through the park would mean the whole of the Rimrose Valley would potentially be ‘out of bounds’ for recreational use for up to six years due to the scale of the construction and safety zones required.”

 

The Campaign for Better Transport’s local groups campaigner Chris Todd welcomed Sefton Council’s intervention and said: “We think Highways England needs to review the way it consults on road schemes to ensure that a full range of options is included.”

 

He added: “The problems faced in Liverpool also point to a failure of strategic planning: expanding a port before working out how to improve access to it without causing massive harm.”

 

The bypass is planned to serve the existing Port of Liverpool as well as a new deep water container terminal, which is expected to triple the volume of goods the port can handle by 2030.

 

The forthcoming judicial review is now expected to hold up the project, which had been due to start construction in spring 2020.