£250m Rimrose Valley bypass: Sefton Council 'not appealing' judicial review

The current A5036 is heavily congested with traffic

A council that lost a judicial review over plans for a £250m bypass through a country park said it will not appeal but has vowed to fight on.

Highways England (HE) wants to build a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley in Litherland, Merseyside to ease congestion to the Port of Liverpool.

Sefton Council had accused HE of failing to consult on a tunnel option.

HE said there would be a consultation and it wants to "work together to get this right for everyone".

HE has said the bypass would improve access to the existing port as well as the £300m deep water container terminal Liverpool2 at Seaforth.

Councillor Ian Maher, Labour leader at Sefton Council, said it has informed HE it will not appeal about "this particular decision" and "will now only follow its statutory duties on the matter".

He said: "We still firmly believe Highways England should engage with our communities on a tunnel option and try much harder to find a better solution which would not have such a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of our residents.

"Not only will their plans deprive us of a much loved urban green space, it will also by Highways England's own admission have a negative impact on vehicle pollution which goes against the government's own agenda to improve air quality.

"In no way is it a closed matter and we will continue to fight for the benefit of our communities."

Highways England asked residents to get involved in next year's consultation "so we can work together to get this right for everyone" before planning permission could be sought from the government.

The Rimrose Valley bypass was proposed to ease congestion on the A5036

Highways England want to make the A5036 greener with better cycle routes