Date Set for High Court Battle

Target reached for crowdfunding the cruise liner terminal legal challenge.

On 3 May, the last day for donations, the CrowdJustice site achieved its “stretch limit” for funding legal costs to challenge the permission to allow a cruise liner terminal to be built without clean onshore power supply to the ships. EGRA thank everyone who backed this fundraising effort. Permission has been given for a full judicial review that demands that planning permissions must properly assess air pollution.

The court hearing will be on 12/13 July 2016 and we will give an update on the day before on the court number and exact time. The High Court is open to us all. This is an important legal planning case and you may like to see how our justice system works.

This action is not just about a cruise liner terminal. It argues that too many developments may ruin our health. MPs have called air pollution a “public health emergency”. We don’t need to react to that emergency by pumping more diesel emissions from filthy cruise ships, or from other dirty developments being foisted on to our cities.

We will keep you informed of new developments by email. Our great hope is that Royal Greenwich Council will recognise that a sensible plan to limit and reduce air pollution may be discussed with all concerned, including we, the people.

If Royal Greenwich Council insist on pursuing the matter to a final hearing we hope to see some of you there at the High Court.

Your donation will partly fund the legal costs incurred so far and those of the substantive hearing. The case will help stress the importance of taking air quality seriously in planning decisions and not merely paying it lip service.

For too long we have been led to believe that air quality cannot be improved or that it is improving. Both arguments are misleading. We must insist that potentially health and life-threatening developments be far cleaner and that the polluter must pay the costs of the clean-up.

This case is an important one in the battle for cleaner air. It has been called “significant” by a judge and awarded 2 days in Court. It cannot be right that year-on-year around 10,000 Londoners have to die from poor air quality simply because of ineffective assessment and decision-making by public bodies.

So, make your voice heard!