A CEREMONY marking the start of work on the Northern Quarter regeneration project in Cinderford was held on Tuesday morning (June 12), just days after another legal challenge was rejected by the courts.

As work started on a new road, councillors remained adamant that addressing environmental concerns has been at the heart of the £100 million project which includes a new college for the Forest.

Environmentalists say they will keep up the legal pressure on the project which they claim is a taxpayer-funded “wildlife disaster that will be embarrassing and shameful to Gloucestershire.”

Tom Langton, who was one of the applicants whose request for a judicial review was turned down by Justice Tomlinson. said “other avenues of legal challenge are now opening.”

He said: “Natural England has allowed the construction of a spine road across a corner of the Forest, one of Britain’s most biodiverse areas, with 14 species of bat, including the rare lesser horseshoe bat. A less damaging route for the road was available.

“If the bats decline from the road or its failed mitigation it will clearly be an example of wrong decision making.

“Effectively the ‘Plan B’, as the initial measures fail, will have to be to close the road until the bats recover their numbers and that could take up to 10 years. But if new development occurs off this new road, as is planned, the council might be sued in order for road closure to be enforced.

“The judiciary will not intervene on the subtleties, despite the ‘red flashing lights’, therefore allowing those involved to keep digging in a hole that could end in both wildlife and economic disaster.”

Leader of the Forest Council, Cllr Patrick Molyneux (Con, Woolaston and Hewelsfield), said the challenges were on “spurious grounds” and were an effort to delay the project.

He said: “It is good to have scrutiny but they need to look at how much these protests cost and that is public money.

“The tactic was to delay it so much the project would fall over and they are still trying to do that.

“As the courts have shown they have no grounds for appealing against the decisions we have made.

“We’ve been through so many legal hoops we are absolutely confident we have got it right.

“In some respects the only endangered thing here is post-16 education in the Forest.

“That is thing that has been endangered this whole time.

“We’ve spent so much time and money looking after the habitat.

“The only thing we haven’t done is laid a brick for the college for the kids.”

Cllr Graham Morgan, Labour district councillor for Cinderford West, county councillor for Cinderford and chairman of the Cinderford Regeneration Board, said: “It is great to see work is beginning here. This is a fantastic investment for Cinderford, and I know everyone is committed to making sure the new spine road is built in a sensitive and sustainable manner.”

Cllr Nigel Moor (Con, Stow-on-the-Wold), Gloucestershire County Council’s cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure, said: “This may be just the beginning of the work, but it is a truly exciting time for Cinderford and the wider area of the Forest. Gloucestershire County Council is committed to supporting jobs and investment across Forest of Dean district.”