Jeremy Rowan-Robinson

It's Good to Talk! Environmental Information and the Greening of Industry

This paper focuses on one aspect of industrys contribution to safeguarding the environment: the use and production of environmental information. Access to such information is an important part of the government strategy for promoting shared responsibility for the environment. The objective of the paper is to assess how far public regulation, private regulation and self regulation provide an incentive to industry to use and produce environmental information.

Compensation for the compulsory acquisition of business interests

Examines the purpose of compensation for compulsory acquisition using the distinction drawn by Denyer‐Green between pretium and compensatio. Reports on the findings of a study by the authors of compensation settlements for business loss following a city centre redevelopment. Finds that the majority of the claimants in the study were dissatisfied with their settlement and all were dissatisfied with the process leading to the settlement. Concludes that the settlements tend towards compensatio rather than pretium. Suggests that a number of changes to the compensation arrangement should be considered to alleviate hardship for claimants.

Land use policy for skiing in Scotland.

development of skiing in Scotland has taken place in an unplanned, ad hoc manner. As the pace of development escalated there was a conflict of development and conservation interests, which came to a head in 1994 at a public inquiry to extend the ski facilities on Cairngorm into Lurcher’s Gully. Following the public inquiry the government devised a strategic land use policy for skiing in Scotland. This article examines how the need for strategic guidance emerged, the form that it took and how it operated in the context of a subsequent proposal to extend skiing facilities at Glenshee.

Policy adaption in Scotland: National planning guidelines and agricultural land resources

Abstract The change in agricultural policy away from the maximisation of output is of significance for future uses of agricultural land. There has been a general presumption against development on agricultural land for strategic and economic reasons. Those reasons no longer stand. The National Planning Guidelines concerned with agricultural land published in 1987 reflect this changing approach. Whilst prime agricultural land remains protected, the guidelines introduce a flexible attitude to non‐prime agricultural land, particularly in the context of the diversification of the rural economy.

Utility wayleaves: a compensation lottery?

In the UK over the last 20 years there has been a proliferation in the statutory provisions for wayleaves. The utilities requiring wayleaves such as the water, gas and electricity companies have now been joined by cable TV and a host of telecommunications providers. All have access to compulsory powers. However, there are variations between these powers and between the compensation arrangements. The main objective of this article is to examine whether the compensation arrangements are now appropriate, following the privatisation of the gas, electricity, water and telecommunication companies. The article considers the results of a six‐month study of wayleaves funded by the RICS, which was completed in 2000, and recommends that, in order to strike a fair balance between the interests of the utilities and the landowners, legislative change is required. Claimants should not merely be entitled to the financial equivalent of their loss, but instead a consideration should be paid reflecting, in effect, a rental for the wayleave.

Assessing the compensation for electricity wayleaves

This paper examines the measure of compensation payable for electricity wayleaves through afforestation and considers the merits of using a discounted cash flow approach to calculate the level of compensation. The research finds that the majority of negotiations take place “under the shadow” of compulsory powers and that the measure of compensation is based on the principle of equivalence; the compensation payable being the loss to the landowner and not the gain to the electricity supply company. It concludes that great caution is needed when applying a discounted cash flow approach to the valuation of afforestation owing to the large number of inputs and the sensitivity of the estimated land value to changes to key variables such as the discount rate and tree species.

Public registers of environmental information: an assessment of their role

Abstract Considerable importance is attached to the role of the public in environmental matters as consumers, investors, lobbyists and electors. To involve the public in safeguarding the environment it is necessary to capture their interest and to inform them. This paper assesses the contribution of registers of environmental information as one way of informing the public. It draws together the findings of three separate pieces of research into the use of public registers (including water registers, planning registers, local air pollution control registers and waste registers) undertaken in the last seven years. The registers are assessed in terms of their contribution in promoting public reassurance, agency accountability, industrial responsibility and public participation.

Behind Closed Doors: The Use of Agreements in the UK to Protect the Environment

The wider use of consensual rather than regulatory instruments for securing environmental protection and the wider use of public access to information and public participation in decision-making are both aspects of the drive to promote shared responsibility for the environment. The question addressed here is whether these different approaches to promoting shared responsibility are compatible with each other. The question is tested by reference to the use of agreements to secure environmental goals. The authors conclude that both legislation and practice with regard to the use of agreements make no more than limited provision for access to information and public participation. They argue that this need not be so and indicate how the position could be improved.

Planning policy and planning agreements

Abstract Recent years have seen a steady increase in the use of agreements in the development control process. The use of agreements has given rise to considerable controversy and, in an effort to defuse this, the Department of the Environment and the Scottish Development Department issued guidelines. Amongst other things, these recommend that planning authorities should, where appropriate, give guidance in development plans about the circumstances in which they intend to seek to impose obligations through agreements. This paper examines the extent to which this guidance has been followed by planning authorities in Scotland. It shows that structure plans are increasingly making provision regarding the funding of collective infrastructure and that some local plans are making explicit provision arising from detailed planning control policies. The paper points out that the use of development plans in this way brings the pursuit of such benefits within the Secretary of States jurisdiction. It also provides an opportunity for public participation in an area where the public have often previously been excluded.

Planning agreements and the ‘spirit of enterprise’

Abstract During the 1980s, the British government took steps to adjust the development‐control process with a view to “releasing the spirit of enterprise”. This paper examines the contribution of planning agreements, an increasingly popular mechanism in the development‐control process, in achieving these ends. It concludes that quite a lot of agreements have an underlying promotional purpose; they have an enabling or facilitating function. Their use can, however, create problems in the land‐development process and steps need to be taken to address these problems.