Carys Jones

The Effect of Environmental Assessment on UK Local Planning Authority Decisions

Environmental assessment (EA) is intended to ensure that environmental considerations are properly weighed in the decisions made by local planning authorities on planning applications. This paper analyses whether, to what extent, and how, EA has influenced LPA decisions. Forty case studies were analysed by examining relevant documentation and conducting interviews with participants in the EA process. EA appears to have had a gradual rather than a revolutionary effect on decision-making. Its main benefits have been the enhanced provision of environmental information and, to a lesser extent, assistance in setting conditions and in modifying proposals. However, these benefits are not occurring in all cases, and changes are needed if the expected advantages of EA—better integration of environmental considerations into project planning and decision-making-are to be fully realised in the UK.

Auditing the Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of Planning Projects

This paper presents the results from a post-auditing study-a comparison of the predictions of environmental impacts of projects made in environmental statements prior to developmentwith those that actually occurred upon or after development. The purpose of post-auditing is to provide an analysis of prediction performance in environmental impact assessment and thus to improve future practice by learning from experience. By means of a combination of site visits, interviews and document scrutiny, 865 predictions from 28 UK projects granted planning permission were examined. Of these, 488 (56%) were auditable, of which 383 (79%) were deemed accurate or nearly accurate and 105 (21%) inaccurate. The remaining 377 (44%) predictions were not auditable, the main reasons being lack of data, vague or ambiguous predictions and time dependency.There were only six unpredicted impacts. The study reveals some encouraging findings, but also a number of discouraging ones, which indicate the need to increase both enthusiasm for, and implementationof, post-auditing activities. Several suggestions are made to help achieve these objectives.

Current Practice in the Strategic Environmental Assessment of Development Plans in England

Short M., Jones C., Carter J., Baker M. and Wood C. (2004) Current practice in the strategic environmental assessment of development plans in England, Reg. Studies 38, 177–190. In the UK, strategic environmental assessment has been applied to the full hierarchy of development plans in the form of environmental appraisal. Government guidance in England contains a forceful recommendation to local planning authorities to assess the environmental effects of proposed development plans by carrying out an environmental appraisal of their policies and proposals. This advice has grown in importance with the adoption of the European Directive on strategic environmental assessment. Research undertaken into current appraisal practice provides a context for the implementation of the Directive in England. The results show a broadly positive outlook towards strategic environmental assessment and a move towards using sustainability appraisal. Furthermore, they show other benefits from the process additional to assessing the core environmental impacts of the plan. However, it is clear that there remain major structural weaknesses and concerns in the manner in which strategic environmental assessment processes are implemented. Thus, more than two-thirds of the respondents to a survey stated that the appraisal had little or no influence on development plan objectives and policies, and nearly two-thirds believed that their plan would have developed in the same manner without any appraisal having been undertaken.

Understanding e-Waste Management in Developing Countries: Strategies, Determinants, and Policy Implications in the Indian ICT Sector

Management of e-waste is a growing problem for developing countries; one that may undermine the sustainability of information and communication technology (ICT) use if not addressed. In this paper, we focus on a somewhat under-emphasized group that contributes significantly to developing country e-waste: local organizational consumers of ICT. Although this group creates the majority of e-waste, the factors shaping their e-waste decisions are not well understood. Our purpose in the paper is to provide such an understanding. This paper, therefore, builds conceptual models of e-waste strategies and e-waste strategy determinants from the environmental management literature. It applies these models to a key e-waste producer – the ICT services sector in India – drawing qualitative data from a mix of very large and small/medium firms. While the former have been proactive in their e-waste strategy, the small/medium firms are characterized as indifferent to e-waste; a divergence explained by the very different strengths of determining factors to which they are subject. In turn, those factors relate to the size of these ICT consumers and the nature of value chains into which they are placed. Understanding these determinants can help us plan better e-waste interventions; a point illustrated through critique of recently introduced legislation.

POLICY, PLAN, AND PROGRAMME ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN ENGLAND, THE NETHERLANDS, AND GERMANY: PRACTICE AND PROSPECTS

An analysis of existing (broadly defined) strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) in the spatial/land-use and transport sectors in England, the Netherlands, and Germany concludes that substantial practice exists and that three assessment types can be distinguished, each associated with distinct methodological tasks. By utilising existing terminology, these can be labelled policy-SEA, plan-SEA, and programme-SEA. It appears from current practice that, in order best to meet performance criteria derived from the SEA literature, these three types of SEA should be applied within a tiered system. Although the recently adopted EC SEA Directive includes provisions for the SEA of plans and programmes, the analysis of current assessment practice indicates that consideration should be given to extending the formal requirements to cover the SEA of policies as certain tasks are probably better dealt with in policy-SEA than in plan-SEA or programme-SEA.

The status and extent of strategic environmental assessment practice in South Africa, 1996-2003

ABSTRACT South Africa is regarded as a leading developing country in terms of SEA practice, but no empirical research has been conducted to determine the overall status and extent of practice. This lack of empirical research amongst extensive SEA practice can be considered a major lost opportunity for South Africa, and also for developing countries in general. This paper presents the results of a survey on SEA practice for the period 1996 to 2003. A total of 50 SEAs were conducted and confirm that SEA practice is well established and on the increase. Moreover the extent of practice compares well with that of most international SEA systems, and the variety in terms of tiers, types and scales even exceeds most other practice. The research shows that although SEA followed the traditional pattern of integration with policy, plan or programme (PPP) tiers of decision making; also it was uniquely implemented as a substitute where strategic level decision making processes were weak or absent. The SEAs reflected a variety of sectoral types implemented at national, provincial, sub-regional and local geographic scales. The results also provide insights into the profile of the emerging SEA system in South Africa by highlighting legislative and policy provisions that implicitly facilitated practice, and also those responsible for conducting and implementing SEA. Findings support the notion that South Africa provides a rich variety of SEA practice that could provide solutions to the challenge of tailoring SEA to developing country contexts. The paper concludes by proposing directions for future SEA research and debate.

The impact of environmental assessment on local planning authorities

Abstract Studies of two samples of 24 selected local planning authorities (LPAs) in the UK were undertaken to determine the effect of environmental assessment (EA) regulations on planning practice during their first 18 months of operation. EA has been integrated into the UK planning system without significant recourse to the courts and many LPAs regarded EA as a worthwhile and helpful procedure. However, several LPAs did not consider whether to request EA for projects that might be likely to have significant impacts and some LPAs did not follow statutory and recommended consultation procedures. LPAs did not evaluate environmental statements systematically and their quality was often unsatisfactory. However, mitigation of environmental impacts took place in many cases though two‐fifths of the 20 determined applications involving EA were refused. Half the decisions took longer than the 16‐week time limit. While practice is evolving as experience is gained, there is obvious scope for further improvement and ...

CULTURAL HERITAGE IN EIA — REFLECTIONS ON PRACTICE IN NORTH WEST EUROPE

North-West Europe has a rich cultural heritage which is increasingly prone to impacts from development activities. This paper reports the findings of the Planarch study funded by the European Regional Development Fund Interreg IIIB programme. Overall, whilst there are examples of good practice, cultural heritage has a relatively low profile in EIA in the countries studied. Nevertheless, cultural heritage is important and makes wider contributions to society beyond its intrinsic value. Therefore, the profile of cultural heritage needs to be raised both within the planning process and EIA, and also in the minds of decision-makers, other specialists and the wider public. Ten guiding principles provide a first step in promoting the assessment of cultural heritage in EIA, and also to build the consideration of cultural heritage into more strategic planning decisions through SEA.

FLOOD MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATION IN SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL AND STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

The impact of flood events in the UK has drawn attention to limitations associated with traditional flood defence regimes. In recognition of this there has been a significant level of advocacy for a systems based approach which assumes a greater role for spatial planning. This paper considers the extent to which strategic assessment contributes toward the consideration of flooding within spatial planning. The paper draws on four cases from England and Scotland. Specific attention is given to the nature of flood management approaches considered in assessment and the recommendations presented. The research indicates that assessment practice is dominated by probabilistic calculations of flood risk and typically replicates national policy and guidance on flood management. It is argued that there exists potential for assessment to foster more nuanced and tailored consideration of flood management by including multiple perspectives, such as management of the whole system, risk and vulnerability, resilience and adaptation.

Re-Examining the Rationale for Strategic Assessment: An Evaluation of Purpose in Two Systems

Strategic forms of impact assessment have seen increased application around the world since their conception. Expansion has produced considerable variation and this range of tools and processes can create practitioner confusion and blurred boundaries in practice. This research draws on empirical data from England and Scotland to examine different systems to understand how the purposes of strategic assessment are framed and to consider how purposes are translated into practice. Four key purposes of strategic assessment are examined; overcoming EIA shortcomings, strategic thinking, representation of the environment and consideration of sustainability. It is concluded that various scales (international, national, local and individual) influence how strategic assessment purpose is framed. We find that as multiple purposes come together they interact, with regulatory compliance potentially dominating. Strategic assessment is also found to be described as information provider, and excluded or distant from strategic thinking as part of plan formulation.