Better Transport

To get a road built, the Highways Agency needs to go through some important legal processes that are part of this country's planning system.

The processes for securing planning permission are legally required and have a legally correct way of being undertaken, laid out in legislation. These processes differ from the more political decisions taken regarding the valuing and funding of the scheme.

Because the Highways Agency is part of the Government, in effect the Government is applying to itself for permission to build the road.

The processes outlined below apply to trunk road schemes or motorway widening where the land taken is outside the boundary owned by the Highways Agency.

If the Government wants to widen a motorway and already owns the affected land, it follows a different process, known as 'widening within existing boundaries' or 'rapid widening'. The Highways Agency publishes an environmental statement, holds a consultation and that is that, as there is no need to order the compulsory purchase of land, to hold a public inquiry or to publish any orders.

First, draft orders are published
The Highways Agency will first publish a draft line order. The draft line order reveals the route, or 'line', of the road. Under the Highways Act 1980, the Secretary of State for Transport is allowed to order that a road be constructed. The line order is that order published in draft.
 
The draft order will be almost certainly be accompanied by an environmental statement, required under the EU Habitats Directive, by side road orders and by compulsory purchase orders.

Side road orders define how wide the road is and whether footpaths and roads would be closed or re-routed, either temporarily or permanently.

Let’s look at each of these in turn:

Draft line order: Draft line order for the proposed Mottram Tintwistle bypass - detail right (2.6Mb pdf)

Side road orders: Side road orders for the proposed Mottram Tintwistle bypass - detail left (8.8 Mb pdf) From page 5 onwards of the side road orders, you can see that footpaths and bridleways would be closed – or 'stopped up,' to use their terminology – for the new bypass. Pages 11 and 12 talk about footpaths being stopped up in Swallows Wood.

(Usually, the 'stopping up' of a bridleway or footpath really means the building of a road over or on land. Once laid, tarmac is very difficult to ‘unstop’.)

Environmental statement: Part 1 of the Environmental Statement  for the proposed Mottram Tintwistle bypass - detail right (2.5 Mb pdf) Page 133 shows that there will be a large adverse impact on landscape character in the Swallows Wood nature reserve

Compulsory purchase orders: Compulsory purchase orders for the proposed Mottram Tintwistle bypass (874K pdf) The order details the land to be purchased along with the owners and tenants.

Publicising the orders
The orders, which will have been sent to landowners, have to be published publicly – in local newspapers, around the site of the land to be purchased through compulsory purchase order and along the line of the road. The orders will include maps and details of where objections can be sent. There will be a period for objections which should be at least 21 days.

Objections are split in to two categories:

• Those from statutory objectors – landowners and tenants
• Those from non-statutory objectors – the rest of us!

The objections from these groups are then split into three categories:

• Those who agree with the scheme in principle, but object to certain minor aspects
• Those who agree with the scheme in principle, but object to the location
• Those who object to the scheme completely

Taking account of the extent of the objections, the Minister decides whether there will be a public inquiry. The Minister only needs to call a public inquiry if there are objections from statutory objectors but may do so even if there are no statutory objections if the scheme is highly controversial.

If there is no public inquiry, the road is given the go-ahead.

Second: Public inquiry held
Shortly after the objection period has ended, the Minister will announce when a public inquiry will be held. At the inquiry, promoters of and objectors to the scheme put forward their arguments and an inspector recommends to the Minister whether the scheme should go ahead.

Read about public inquiries

Read about how to fight them

Third: Decision taken
After the inquiry, the Transport Minister, advised by an inspector's report, will decide whether to confirm the orders or not and give the final go-ahead.

The Government doesn't always follow the inspector's recommendations. In summer 2007, an inspector ruled against the Thames Gateway Bridge scheme, yet the Government decided to re-open the inquiry. In Scotland in 2005, although an Inspector ruled against the M74, the Scottish Executive decided to press ahead anyway.