UPDATE

On the 23rd Dec 2022 the Judicial Review Pre-Action Protocol Letter and Statement of Facts and Grounds were sent to tro.team@westsussex.gov.uk & rebecca.caney@westsussex.gov.uk

ORIGINAL POST

I (Mark Record) have now started a legal action against the WSCC decision to direct cyclists onto city pavements to ride around blind corners at the junction between Sherborne Rd and Westgate.

ChiCycle concerns over use of shared pavements at this junction are available on this link.

The illustration below shows one of the potential collision points. This gives a general flavour of how this scheme will particularly endanger vulnerable members of our community.

Harrison Grant Solicitors are providing me with legal support. It is assumed that I will have the support of ChiCycle and other local organisations/individuals who may wish to prevent this dangerous infrastructure from being installed.

My solicitor advises, that because provision for walking and cycling is an environmental issue (Aarhus Convention claim), it is likely liability for defence legal costs can be restricted to £5,000.

Solicitor fees alone are likely to amount to £10,000 once VAT has been added. Counsel’s fees, Court Fees, travel are addition disbursements that will easily double the cost of taking this matter to court.

I shall shortly set up a separate bank account specifically to handle the legal expenses of this case, and use this account to receive any contributions that other organisations or individuals might like to contribute towards the costs.

If we are able to win this case or if there is otherwise an excess of funds left in the account, then I propose that everyone who has contributed should be reimbursed in proportion to the size of the contribution they have made.

However, my solicitor has warned even if the case is won, it is unlikely to have all legal costs reimbursed and a significant shortfall is to be expected.

Please get in touch if you are able to pledge money towards this Legal Action.

At this early stage, it is not worth transferring pledged money into the legal expenses account but it would be very helpfully to know if local people and groups feel they are able to contribute to this action.

You can contact me/ChiCycle to pledge funding for this action by contacting legalfund@chicycle.co.uk