Studies in Public Law and the Retail Sector by Ann R Everton David J Hughes

Author:Ann R Everton, David J Hughes [Ann R Everton, David J Hughes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138703537
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2019-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

A note on Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the first major inroad into our planning law from the European Community under Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Directive 9 7 /1 1/EC. The process was initially introduced into our law as ‘Environmental Assessment’ by SI 1988 No 1199. It has now been re-titled ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ by SI 1999 No 293. This makes some changes to the previous law, particularly requiring a ‘screening’ process to take place to determine whether a proposed development is one requiring EIA, and also enabling guidance to be given as to the scope of any information to be given as part of the Environmental Statement (ES) which has to be submitted by the developer.

In brief, EIA is a technique whereunder wider environmental implications may be considered in relation to certain types of development. The skeleton of the procedure is that the would-be developer submits an Environmental Statement to the planning authority on the proposal. This will contain certain information about inter alia the site, design, scale and size of a development, its main effects on the environment and the measures proposed to deal with adverse effects. This ES will then be made subject to consultation with statutory consultées, for example the Countryside Commission, and also has to be made available to the public at reasonable cost. The consultation process generates ‘Environmental Information’ which then has to be taken into account by the decision taker when determining the planning application. EIA will only, however, be applicable to a very small number of off-centre retail developments, if at all. Such developments do not appear on the list of those for which EIA is in all cases mandatory. The process will then only take place where the project is determined (generally by the local planning authority) to be one with ‘significant’ effects on the environment and which also falls within Schedule 2 of SI 1999 No 293. This schedule refers to ‘urban development projects’, including the construction of shopping centres and car parks, sports stadiums, leisure centres and multiplex cinemas exceeding 0.5 hectares in size. Schedule 3 of the 1999 Regulations then proceeds to give an indication of the matters to be considered in ‘screening’ a Schedule 2 development to determine whether EIA is required. These include: the size of the development, the ‘cumulation’ with other developments; use of natural resources; production of waste; pollution and nuisances; risk of accidents; location bearing in mind matters such as the existing land use, the abundance, quality and regenerative capacity of natural resources in the area, the absorption capacity of the natural environment in the area, and the characteristics of the potential impact including its extent, magnitude and complexity, probability, duration, frequency and irreversibility.

Thus major off-centre retail development may be subject, in theory, to EIA, but in practice the issue does not seem to arise. Early in the history of EA as it was then known in UK planning law a proposal was put forward for development consisting of a retail park of 200,000 sq.

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