Corporate slide masterWith guidelines for corporate presentationsThe draft Town and Country

Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Wales) Regulations 2012

Hywel ButtsDevelopment Management BranchPlanning DivisionWelsh Governmenthywel.butts@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Planning Division Five branches and a bill team

• Decisions• Policy• Plans• Resources & Delivery• Development Management

• Planning Bill Team

Issues

• Infraction

• EIA Regulation changes

• Case law• Baker• Mellor• Smout• Commission v Ireland

• Development categories

• Multi-stage consent & Local Development Orders

• Questions

Consulting on new regulations in Wales

Other regulations within the United Kingdom – learning from experience

Consolidated regulations

UK response to case law changes –Baker, Mellor

Issues in Wales –Smout case, Local Development Orders, Costs

Obtaining views on the options available

Three month consultation period starting end of March (subject to ministerial approval). Likely that new regulations in force in the summer.

Baker case – changes or extensions to existing development

R (on the application of Baker) v Bath and North East Somerset

Application of Annex II, development class 13

Schedule 2 of the 1999 regulations – application of screening thresholds

Options1. Change to guidance – EIA may be required below the

threshold 2. Legislation enabling local planning authorities to screen

development below the existing thresholds where possibility test of ‘likely significant effects’ will be met

3. Legislation requiring formal screening of all changes and extensions

Mellor case – Reasons for negative screening decisions

European Commission pursuing the need to give reasons for not requiring EIA.

European Court of Justice ruling – reasons not required to be issued but can be requested later under the Environmental Information Regulations

Importance of retaining an audit trail

Options1. Reasons on request2. Full reasons to accompany all screening decisions

Smout case – applying EIA to modification and discontinuance orders

Smout v Welsh Ministers, Wrexham CBC, Cory Environmental

Orders made under sections 97 and 102 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 where planning permission is granted

Direct application of the EIA Directive

Options1. Developer prepare the environmental statement2. Local planning authority prepare the environmental

statement

Commission v Ireland – applying EIA to demolition

ECJ case C-50/09 – EIA capable of applying to demolition

Annex 1 and Annex 2 written in terms of an end use – demolition in its own right

Save Britain’s Heritage v Secretary of State for CLG

Parts of the Demolition direction quashed – More reliance on Permitted Development Order so demolition does not require planning permission

EIA development cannot be permitted development

OptionsWhether or not to introduce a separate class in Schedule 2 for

demolition

Application of EIA to subsequent consents

The ECJ ruled that EIA could apply to reserved matters applications - the Barker case.

The UK planning system viewed as a ‘multi-stage consent procedure’

2008 changes to the EIA regulations – ‘subsequent consents’

Still a requirement to deal with EIA primarily at outline stage but a requirement for full EIA publicity and environmental statement provision at each ‘subsequent application’ stage

Options1. Keep procedures as currently drafted2. Reduce advertisement requirements at subsequent

application stage where EIA previously undertaken3. Remove automatic consultation requirements

Changes to development categories & other minor change

Directive 2009/31/EC Geological storage of carbon dioxide – new categories in Schedules 1 and 2

Electricity transmission projects – Annex 3(b) cases that fall to the land use planning system for decision e.g. some sub-stations fall within the land use planning system

Removal of criminal offence – Regulation 14(7) offence to provide a false certificate of publicity

Local Development Orders (LDOs)

New Development Management Procedure Order (DMPO) to be made this month – introduces Local Development Orders

Consultation on LDOs – LDOs will not be able to to provide consent for EIA development

England have the provision to screen LDO’s where they provide consent for schedule 2 development is this required in Wales?

Costs of the EIA Process

A draft regulatory impact assessment will be included in the consultation document. Comments are encouraged on whether the assumptions made are reasonable.

Public Consultation

Consultation documents will be available from the Welsh Government web site later this month – sign up for the consultation newsletter –

http://wales.gov.uk/consultations

The draft Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Wales) Regulations 2012

Any Questions?

Hywel ButtsDevelopment Management BranchPlanning DivisionWelsh Governmenthywel.butts@wales.gsi.gov.uk