Council spent over £31k defending second legal challenge over Mill Road bridge bus gate
Cambridgeshire County Council had to defend its decision to introduce the bus gate in court after a legal challenge was made
Cambridgeshire County Council spent over £31,800 defending the second legal challenge of its decision to restrict access to Mill Road bridge for drivers.
The authority had to defend its decision to introduce the bus gate in court after a legal challenge was made on behalf of Friends of Mill Road Bridge 2.
The claim was ultimately dismissed last month, meaning the restrictions will remain in place on the bridge.
The county council agreed last year to issue a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to install a bus gate on Mill Road bridge.
This was the second time the authority had decided to issue a TRO to put in place restrictions on the bridge, after the first order was quashed following a legal challenge.
The restrictions created under the TRO close the bridge to all motor vehicles, except for local buses, taxis, emergency services, blue badge holders registered vehicles, vehicles in a disabled tax class, and vehicles on the council’s permitted vehicles list.
Pedestrians and cyclists are also still allowed to cross the bridge.
Anyone who drives illegally through the bus gate can be issued with a fine of £70, discounted to £35 if paid within 21 days.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service has revealed that it cost the county council £38,817.10 to defend the second legal challenge, which was ultimately dismissed last month.
The authority has said it is trying to claim £10,000 of these costs back.
A spokesperson for the county council said: “The county council is claiming £10k in legal costs (which is the maximum we are able to recover in this case).
“As a local authority, we want to protect taxpayers money and will therefore seek to cover the costs that the council has had to make to defend this claim.”
A previous FOI request revealed that the first legal challenge, which led to the initial TRO being quashed, cost the authority £72,178.11.
In June it was also revealed that more than 4,600 fines had been issued to drivers breaching the bus gate restrictions in just under two months.