Walleys Quarry Ltd, R (on the application of) v The Environment Agency
| Court | King's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Judge | Mrs Justice Hea |
| Judgment Date | 04 February 2025 |
| Neutral Citation | [2025] EWHC 521 (Admin) |
| Date | 04 February 2025 |
| Year | 2025 |
| Counsel | Mr Mark Watson Kc,Mr Douglas Scott,Mr Gwion Lewis Kc,Ms Jacqueline Lean |
Case No: AC-2024-LON-004231
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING’S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Neutral Citation Number: [2025] EWHC 521 (Admin)
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Tuesday 4 February 2025
BEFORE:
MRS JUSTICE HEATHER WILLIAMS
----------------------
BETWEEN:
THE KING
(ON THE APPLICATION OF WALLEYS QUARRY LTD)
Claimant
- and -
THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Defendant
----------------------
MR MARK WATSON KC & MR DOUGLAS SCOTT (instructed by Cameron
McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP) appeared on behalf of the Claimant
MR GWION LEWIS KC & MS JACQUELINE LEAN (instructed by The Environment
Agency) appeared on behalf of the Defendant
----------------------
JUDGMENT
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MRS JUSTICE HEATHER WILLIAMS:
1. Introduction
On 28 November 2024 the Environment Agency served a Closure Notice on the
Claimant in respect of its site at Walleys Quarry Landfill, Cemetery Road, Silverdale,
Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire (“the Site”), relying upon powers conferred by
para 10 of Schedule 10 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales)
Regulations 2016 (“EPR 2016”).
2. The Claimant has a statutory right of appeal to the Secretary of State for Transport
from the Closure Notice and the Claimant submitted an appeal on 6 December 2024.
The appeal has recently been listed for a two-week inquiry in May 2025. The
institution of the statutory appeal does not have the effect of staying or suspending the
Closure Notice: regulation 31(7) of the EPR 2016.
3. This claim for judicial review, which also relates to the Closure Notice decision, was
filed on 23 December 2024. By an application notice also filed on 23 December
2024, the Claimant seeks interim relief in the form of an order staying the Closure
Notice pending the outcome of the statutory appeal. The application is made on the
basis that a stay is urgently required as otherwise the Closure Notice will cause
significant financial difficulties for the Claimant as it is projected to become cashflow
insolvent by the end of February 2025 and its insolvency will render the exercise of
its statutory appeal rights meaningless, thereby infringing its rights under Article 6 of
the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”).
4. The application for judicial review relies upon three grounds. In summary they are
that:
Epiq Europe Ltd, Lower Ground, 46 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1JE
www.epiqglobal.com/en-gb/
i) The Defendant acted unlawfully in issuing the Closure Notice including Step 1
of Stage 1 of Schedule 2 of the Notice (“Step 1”), which requires the Claimant
to “cease accepting waste and do not recommence the acceptance of waste for
disposal or recovery at the landfill”. The inclusion of this requirement, it is
said, was outside the lawful ambit of the power in para 10, Schedule 10 of the
EPR 2016, under which the Defendant purported to be acting (“Ground 1”);
ii) The imposition of Step 1 deprived the Claimant of important procedural
safeguards that would apply if the Defendant had instead issued a revocation
notice in respect of its environmental permit, in particular as the effect of a
revocation is suspended pending the outcome of a statutory appeal. Requiring
the Claimant to cease its landfill operation by way of Step 1 is a revocation in
all but name and an outcome that can only be achieved by the revocation
process (“Ground 2”); and
iii) The Defendant’s approach to the service of the Closure Notice was
procedurally unfair as the Claimant was not provided with an opportunity to
make representations or to comment on the steps contained in this Notice.
This is particularly significant, it is said, in relation to the inclusion of Step 1,
given the operational, environmental and financial consequences for the
Claimant of imposing the immediate cessation of waste acceptance at the Site
(“Ground 3”).
5. As matters stand, the stay is the only relief sought in the claim form. However,
during the course of oral argument, Mr Watson KC indicated that the Claimant would
also be seeking an order quashing at least Step 1 of the Closure Notice if the claim
proceeded to a substantive hearing.
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www.epiqglobal.com/en-gb/
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