Alliance against road building

PRESS RELEASE – 16th May 2005

ROAD CAMPAIGNERS IN COURT OVER BAT PROTEST

Two women (1) arrested after halting work on a controversial bypass (2) by chaining themselves to a digger to prevent bat roosts being destroyed will today plead not guilty at their trial at Aylesbury Magistrates Court (May 16).

Rebecca Lush and Victoria Harvey will argue they had a reasonable belief their actions may have prevented Buckinghamshire County Council committing a criminal offence under the 1994 Habitats Regulations by destroying bat roosts (3). It is believed that this is the first time that peaceful direct action has been used to uphold wildlife legislation.

Ms Lush and Ms Harvey will argue that bat surveys carried out by Buckinghamshire County Council were inadequate. An expert witness, who was the species legislation and licensing specialist to Government watchdog English Nature, will be called in their defence.

Although work was halted on the proposed route following the protest, the site has since largely been cleared.

Rebecca Lush, of anti-roads alliance Road Block (4), said: "What is the point in having these environmental protection laws if they are not going to upheld? We knew the council was not complying with wildlife laws, but could do nothing about it. The direct action we took was the only way we could actually stop what was happening. If someone disturbs bat roosts in their loft the law comes down heavily on them, yet it seems that local councils can build roads with no regard for protected species. Our disappearing wildlife is so precious, and must be protected."

Campaigners have been concerned for more than two years the county council may have been breaking environmental legislation (5). According to the legislation, councils should conduct bat surveys and fully consider the effect of development on an endangered species before they apply for planning permission to build a road on a particular route. Right up until their arrest, the women claim that inadequate surveys had been conducted, and no licences had been applied for to remove any bats.

South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth has raised this concern throughout the planning process. The two women said the council had been continually obstructive when asked to provide information about wildlife and ecological surveys, including refusing to comply with requests made under new freedom of information legislation, even demanding £25 an hour to answer requests.

ENDS

Contact: Rebecca Lush of Road Block on 01803 847649 and 07854 693067, and Victoria Harvey on 01525 385097 and 07815 817108.

Notes to Editors:

(1) Rebecca Lush and Victoria Harvey have been charged with failing to leave land and disrupting lawful activity, after chaining themselves to a digger due to work on the Stoke Hammond and Linslade Western Bypass, near Leighton Buzzard, Buckinghamshire, on January 9, 2005. Ms Lush, 33, of anti-roads alliance Road Block, and Ms Harvey, 37, of South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth, were chained to a digger for more than two hours and were arrested after being cut off by a specialist protest removal team.

(2) The £50 million Stoke Hammond and Linslade Western Bypass is the first of four proposed bypasses, which will provide a dual carriageway between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, within one of the Government's controversial 'growth areas'.

(3) Bats are protected under the 1994 Conservation Regulations, which implement the European Habitats Directive of 1992. Bats are also protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In the last 50 years the UK's bat population has dropped dramatically, largely due to habitat loss. In response to the decline all UK bat species were given protected status in the 1981 Act.

(4) Road Block is an alliance of groups and individuals opposed to road building. Road Block launched in January in response to the government's u-turn on transport policy. There are currently over 200 planned and proposed road schemes, indicating that the government has given up on previous pledges to reduce traffic growth. Transport is the largest and fastest growing source of CO2 emissions, and is the key sector to target.

(5) South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth formed a coalition with other local groups and raised £8,500 in four months to pay a barrister and an ecology expert for the public inquiry into the road in 2003.

(6) Campaigners were unable to seek a judicial review into the into the Secretary of State's decision to go ahead with the scheme because of possible £40,000 costs. The episode highlights concerns that local people do not have proper access to the law to protect important wildlife sites. The UK becomes a party to the Aarhus Convention in a week's time, on May 23, which says that in environmental matters access to the courts must be "fair, equitable and not prohibitively expensive" (6).

ENDS

Contacts: Road Block: 01803 847649 or 07854 693067.