R (Luton Borough Council) v Central Bedfordshire Council and others – WLR Daily

R (Luton Borough Council) v Central Bedfordshire Council and others [2015] EWCA Civ 537; [2015] WLR (D) 226

‘Paragraph 83 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF”) ((27 March 2012) did not lay down a presumption or create a requirement that the boundaries of the Green Belt had to first be altered via the process for changing a local plan before development might take place on the area in question. Paragraphs 87–88 of the NPPF plainly contemplated that development might be permitted on land within the Green Belt, without the need to change its boundaries in the local plan, provided “very special circumstances” existed.’

WLR Daily, 20th May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Civil procedure: costs recoverability – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A discrete but significant issue on costs recently came before the Court of Appeal in R (on the application of HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport [2015] EWCA Civ 203.’

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 18th May 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Campaigners gear up for legal challenge over UK runways – BBC News

‘A charity, which successfully took the last Heathrow expansion scheme to court, says it could do the same again if ministers press ahead with a new runway at either Heathrow or Gatwick.’

Full story

BBC News, 18th May 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Dransfield v Information Commissioner and another; Craven v Information Commissioner and another – WLR Daily

Posted May 15th, 2015 in environmental protection, freedom of information, law reports by tracey

Dransfield v Information Commissioner and another: Craven v Information Commissioner and another; [2015] EWCA Civ 454; [2015] WLR (D) 215

‘The Court of Appeal gave guidance as to the approach of a decision-maker when determining, for the purposes of section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2004, whether a right to information request was vexatious and whether, for the purposes of regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, a request for environmental information was “manifestly unreasonable”.’

WLR Daily, 14th May 2015

Source:www.iclr.co.uk

Judge upholds ACV listing of green belt site – OUT-LAW.com

‘A First-Tier Tribunal judge has dismissed a challenge by developer Banner Homes to the listing of a 4.83 hectare site by St Albans City and District Council as an asset of community value (ACV).’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 5th May 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Greenpeace anti-fracking advert banned for claiming support of ‘experts’ – The Independent

Posted May 6th, 2015 in advertising, charities, energy, environmental protection, fracking, news by sally

‘A Greenpeace advert opposing fracking has been banned for claiming experts agreed that the process would not cut energy bills.’

Full story

The Independent, 6th May 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Supreme Court: no excuses, UK must comply with EU air pollution law – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 1st, 2015 in EC law, environmental protection, news, pollution, Supreme Court by tracey

‘R (ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Supreme Court, 29 April 2015. Bit of a history to this one, with 5 hearings so far. The short version is that in May 2013, the UK Supreme Court (here), faced with the UK’s non-compliance with EU Directive 2008/50 (nitrogen dioxide etc in air), decide to refer various issues to the CJEU in Luxembourg. In 2014, the CJEU said its piece, (C404-13 and my post here), and its views are now considered by the Supreme Court, hence this second SC judgment.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 30th April 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

R (on the application of ClientEarth) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Respondent) – Supreme Court

R (on the application of ClientEarth) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Respondent) [2015] UKSC 28 & [2013] UKSC 25 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 29th April 2015

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

High Court rejects challenge to Nottinghamshire joint strategy approach to green belt boundaries – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 29th, 2015 in environmental protection, housing, local government, news, planning by sally

‘The High Court has rejected a parish council’s challenge to the joint planning strategy of several Nottinghamshire local authorities after finding that the correct approach had been taken to the proposed alteration of green belt boundaries.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 28th April 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Water companies are public authorities and must therefore disclose environmental information – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Water and sewage utility companies are “public authorities” for the purposes of the environmental information regulations, and are bound by them accordingly, the Administrative Appeals Chamber of the Upper Tribunal has ruled.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 16th April 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Supreme Court to rule on illegal pollution levels – The Independent

Posted April 14th, 2015 in appeals, environmental protection, health, news, pollution, Supreme Court by sally

‘A Supreme Court ruling this week could finally force the Government to drastically speed up its plans to deal with dangerous levels of air pollution, as a long-running battle over illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide comes to a head.’

Full story

The Independent, 12th April 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Law changed so nuclear waste dumps can be forced on local communities – The Guardian

‘Nuclear waste dumps can be imposed on local communities without their support under a new law rushed through in the final hours of parliament.’

Full story

The Guardian, 5th April 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New PD rights and deemed discharge of planning conditions to be introduced in April – OUT-LAW.com

‘Several new types of existing buildings will be able to be converted into homes without full planning permission from 15 April under UK planning reforms that will also introduce the “deemed discharge” of certain planning conditions.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 31st March 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Top 10 Planning and Environmental Cases of 2014-2015 – Thirty Nine Essex Street

Posted March 19th, 2015 in appeals, enforcement, environmental protection, housing, news, planning by sally

‘This paper is intended to provide a focused update in relation to the most significant cases within the last twelve months of interest to those practicing in the area of environmental and planning law. In relation to each of the cases, the paper sets out asummary of the pertinent facts, the key issues decided by the case, together with some reflections on the legal and practical implications of the decisions.’

Full story (PDF)

Thirty Nine Essex Street, February 2015

Source: www.39essex.com

M4 relief road for Newport challenged in court – BBC News

Posted March 10th, 2015 in environmental protection, news, planning, roads, Wales by tracey

‘Friends of the Earth Cymru wants a judge to examine how ministers decided to press ahead with the 14-mile new stretch of motorway around Newport.’

Full story

BBC News, 10th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Quite like a whale – Panopticon

‘As my colleague Robin Hopkins has warned, the decision of the Upper Tribunal in Fish Legal looks like a pretty big beast: sixty pages on whether water companies are public authorities for the purposes of the Environmental Information Regulations, applying the CJEU’s lengthy ruling on the points of principle (for which, see this post by Chris Knight).’

Full story

Panopticon, 24th February 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Fracking will be allowed under national parks, UK decides – The Guardian

Posted February 13th, 2015 in bills, energy, environmental protection, fracking, news, parks by tracey

‘Amendments to infrastructure bill unpick earlier protections, meaning companies just outside parks will be able to drill horizontally below them.’

Full story

The Guardian, 12th February 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Sustainable Shetland (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers and another (Respondents) (Scotland) – Supreme Court

Sustainable Shetland (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers and another (Respondents) (Scotland) [2015] UKSC 4 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 9th February 2015

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Landlords to be banned from letting draughtiest homes – The Guardian

Posted February 5th, 2015 in energy, environmental protection, landlord & tenant, news, regulations by sally

‘Landlords will be banned from renting out England and Wales’ draughtiest homes from 2018 in a bid to cut energy bills and carbon emissions. The new regulations are expected to help around a million tenants who are paying as much as £1,000 a year more than the average annual bill of £1,265 because of poorly insulated homes.’

Full story

The Guardian, 5th February 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd and another) v Secretary of State for Transport and another – WLR Daily

Regina (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd and another) v Secretary of State for Transport and another [2014] EWCA Civ 1578; [2014] WLR (D) 526

‘The “safeguarding directions” issued by the Secretary of State for Transport, exercising statutory powers, for phase 1 of the proposed high speed rail network (“HS2”) linking London to Manchester did not fall within the scope of plans and programmes which set the framework for future development consent of projects within the meaning of articles 2(a) and 3(2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.’

WLR Daily, 9th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk