A last-minute legal challenge against the construction of a controversial bypass highway in WA’s south has failed in its bid to stop bulldozers from clearing native bushland.
Key points:
A Federal Court judge has dismissed a legal environmental challenge against the highway
At $1.25 billion, it is WA’s single most expensive road project
Clearing of native bushland is expected to resume today
On Friday, construction was halted at the southern and final leg of the $1.25 billion Bunbury Outer Ring Road when an eleventh-hour injunction was granted by the court.
But the court today agreed with government lawyers that the legal challenge “had no legs”, and dismissed the injunction, clearing the way for construction to resume today.
Judge Craig Colvin was not satisfied with the opponents’ legal argument about the legitimacy of the federal process Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek took to grant environmental approval.
Work to clear 71 hectares of native habitat for the road began last week, prompting protests from members of the local community who have said the impact on the critically endangered western ringtail possum would be too great.
At least five people were arrested for trespassing onto the site and locking themselves on to machinery and trees.
