Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

1.      Introduction
1.1       English Nature is the statutory body responsible for advising both central and local Government on nature conservation in England and for promoting the wildlife and natural features of England. In fulfilling its duties English Nature:

• advises Ministers on the development and implementation of policies for nature conservation;
• advises Ministers on other policies affecting nature conservation;
• identifies, notifies and safeguards Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI);
• establishes, maintains and manages National Nature Reserves (NNRs);
• provides guidance and advice on the principles and practice of nature conservation to a wide constituency;
• commissions and supports research and other projects relevant to nature conservation.

1.3       We work in close partnership with local planning authorities in particular to assist them to undertake their duties and responsibilities in relation to nature conservation through their statutory planning functions. English Nature is a statutory consultee on applications to the Environment Agency for authorisations and consents which may affect Sites of Special Scientific Interest or other statutorily designated sites. In this way, English Nature experiences directly the decision-making processes of many of the bodies with responsibilities for environmental planning, and so is well-placed to comment on the consequences for nature conservation of those processes.

2.      Introductory comment
2.1       The Royal Commission's study into environmental planning is both timely and appropriate, and English Nature welcomes this opportunity to contribute to this study. However, we found the wide scope of the current Royal Commission study created difficulties in our endeavouring to provide a detailed response on all areas covered by the investigation. As the study focuses down on specific areas of concern, we would be pleased to provide further supporting evidence in those areas if requested.

3.     Key points raised in our evidence
3.1       The pressures for development are stronger than ever before. We live in a crowded island, and urgently require a land use strategy if we are to protect the remaining richest areas of biodiversity and enhance the rest, as well as to accommodate economic and social developments and improve the overall quality of life .An integrated approach to sustainable development is needed within environmental planning, which respects environmental limits. (Section 4.1.2).

3.2       There is a growing need to take account of the European dimension in the UK planning system. The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESPD) recognises the central role of planning mechanisms for the delivery of environmental objectives and indicates the need for the development of a more comprehensive system of spatial planning to meet these challenges. In addition, the European Habitats and Birds Directives, implemented in the UK through the Habitats Regulations (1994), have clear implications for the way in which the planning system should take into account the needs of sites designated under those Directives, and place a requirement for a precautionary approach at the heart of such decision-making.

3.3       Access to knowledge, and the management of information, is important for all decision-makers involved in planning. This should include full awareness of the importance of biodiversity and statutorily protected sites within the broader framework of environmental capital and functionality. Formal environmental impact assessment and informal appraisals are critical tools in ensuring that information is made available to decision makers. These tools should be continually refined and strengthened, making use of new developments in mapping and information technology, in order to ensure that they continue to enable a high quality evaluation. At the same time, speed and efficiency in handling applications are important. Local planning authorities should be given adequate resources to enable them to develop an adequate knowledge base for recognising and evaluating the environmental implications of development proposals. (Section 4.1.6)

3.4       There has been a welcome growth in environmental initiatives in recent years designed to address a diverse range of environmental challenges. It is vital that those involved in regulatory approaches ensure that the planning system develops its capacity to take into account and integrate these initiatives where they have implications for the use and development of land. Too many developments are piecemeal and uncoordinated and their total impact on an area tends therefore to be underestimated. To avoid piecemeal damage through progressive development, planning must consider the cumulative effects of all new and existing processes together. This is likely to require new systems to enable integration of information from the various bodies involved in environmental planning. (Section 4.1.5). There is a need for closer links and fuller integration between the different environmental planning systems, to enable the full range of environmental implications of proposals (including land use planning, water resource management, pollution control and conservation of biodiversity) to be considered together. (Sections 4.2.2 and 4.3.1)

3.5       All sectors involved in environmental planning should include an assessment of key biodiversity indicators of sustainable development at all levels of the planning process. (Section 4.2.2 and 4.4.3)

3.6       Appropriate planning or equivalent control regimes for many agricultural activities need to be implemented in order to tackle their serious impact on the environment. (Section 4.2.3)

3.7       A system should be adopted for the post consent monitoring, and feedback of the effectiveness of controls, of planning schemes which require EIA. (Section 4.3.2)

3.8       We would like to stress the importance of retaining the scope for recovery of planning proposals by the Secretary of State where nature conservation sites of national or international importance are affected. (Section 4.4.1)

3.9       A range of appraisal and evaluative tools (Environmental Capital approach, NATA, multi-criteria analysis) provide a means of assessing the sustainability of planning options in a transparent way. These should be further developed and more widely applied. (Section 4.4.2)

4.       Comments on questions raised under 'key themes' (numbers in brackets refer to paragraph numbers in the RCEP consultation document):

4.1.      Environmental sustainability
4.1.1 (1a).       The pursuit of sustainable development has had a favourable impact on the environment. This is evidenced particularly in the production of the Government White Paper A better quality of life - a strategy for sustainable development in May 1999. The strategy pursues four aims in relation to sustainable development - effective protection of the environment, prudent use of natural resources, social progress which recognises the needs of everyone and maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

One of the key ways for ensuring that environmental issues are integrated into sustainable development policies and programmes is through 'sustainability appraisals'. The Regional Development Agencies' programmes are subject to an appraisal of their impact on society, economy and the environment recognising that these are inter-linked and that the widest possible degree of participation is required in decision making. Most of the sustainability appraisals undertaken at regional level have used the four aims of sustainable development, from A better quality of life as the starting point for the appraisal. The more comprehensive appraisals also use the Government's sustainable development indicators to gauge in more detail how their policies are likely to affect the indicators. This type of appraisal, which should lead to favourable consequences for the environment, should be taken up at other levels of planning.

Environmental integration has been placed at the heart of the European agenda through Article 6 of the Amsterdam Treaty. This integrated approach is reflected in the "Cardiff Process", begun at the 1998 Cardiff Summit, which requires the European Union Council of Ministers and Commission to focus more on integration, to monitor progress and to make issues more understandable for citizens. The formations of the Council for Transport, Energy and Agriculture have submitted their strategies for integration of environmental objectives and those for Industry and Internal Market and Development will soon follow.

4.1.2 (1b).       The careful use of language in the SD debate is crucial. An integrated approach helps to identify so-called 'win-win' solutions which secure economic or social objectives without sacrificing environmental quality. On the other hand, a balanced approach may result in trading off key environmental assets for social or economic benefits - what might be termed a 'win-lose' solution, which is not sustainable.

For example English Nature's policy on sustainable development is to "avoid development and land use with adverse and irreversible effects on biodiversity and earth heritage resources, particularly where these natural habitats are irreplaceable (eg. ancient semi-natural woodland)".

In practice this means that to be sustainable, we must respect environmental limits (serious or irreversible damage to some aspects of the environment or natural resources would pose a severe threat to biodiversity). These constitute the 'environmental imperatives' referred to at paragraph 1(b) of the consultation paper. As it is difficult to quantify critical limits we should exercise the precautionary principle and aim for no net loss of priority habitats and species to ensure that we pass on an equal stock of natural resources to future generations.

4.1.3 (1c).       The most effective regulatory approaches will vary according to specific circumstances. However, we do also believe that there is greater scope for the use of economic instruments to offer environmental gains in all environmental compartments. The Sustainable Development Round Table has recently completed a report on this area ('Economic instruments: not too difficult'). It highlights the fact that UK policy is less well developed than other areas of Europe, and reviews practical ways of designing policies to overcome concerns about competitiveness and equity.

4.1.4 (1d).       PPG 1 General Policy and Principles, over the course of its 2nd and 3rd editions (in 1992 and 1997 respectively), has shifted the emphasis away from a 'presumption in favour of development' unless it will cause "demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance" (a phrase dating from a 1953 Ministry Circular) to the determination of applications 'in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise' as required by S54A of the 1990 Act.

Three issues arise from this change of approach. First, it provides the opportunity for planning to move in a more sustainable direction by enabling an appropriate pattern , scale and location of future development with confidence that this will not be distorted by inappropriate development. Secondly the precept of "demonstrable harm" gave the benefit of any doubt as to the possible implications of development to the developer, whereas the benefit of 'informed' doubt is given to the environment in order to avoid the risk of serious irreversible change. Thirdly, it becomes an additional tool for the effective integration between consented activities such as pollution or water abstraction, and other environmental planning, by making all these material considerations.

Both of these aspects are necessary to the delivery of sustainable development through the planning system, but are not in themselves sufficient. They place a considerable burden on the development plan itself to be formulated in accordance with sustainable development principles, which in turn relies on robust mechanisms for environmental, and sustainability, appraisal of the plan. For English Nature, a key focus of future activity and guidance in respect of the forward planning process must therefore be to address this issue. Local planning authorities need to attach a far greater priority to such appraisal and use it more fully as an integral part of plan preparation. The present generation of plans has not made best use of this tool.

4.1.5 (1f).       Environmental sustainability depends on an assessment of cumulative impacts of developments to provide controls over the progressive attrition of semi-natural habitats or the wider environment through the cumulative effect of many small developments. The various EIA regulations (for example the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999) already require this approach in principle as a result of both the selection criteria in Annex III of Directive 97/11 ("cumulation with other projects") and the definition of relevant environmental information in Annex IV ("...indirect, secondary, cumulative..."), which are reflected in the terminology used in Schedules 3 and 4 respectively of the England and Wales regulations. However the approach is not widely adopted in routine planning decisions subject to EIA because of the difficulties of obtaining information about other projects, the uncertainties in assessing the impact of any effects in combination and the lack of monitoring of post development impacts in order to quantify the effects of past development.

Similarly, the requirement under the Habitats Regulations (1994) to assess plans or projects effecting Natura 2000 sites in combination (Regulation 48(1) and elsewhere) places a statutory responsibility over planning authorities to adopt this approach where such sites are effected. This requirement applies, under the Regulations, to all plans and projects, including those relating to pollution control. Hence the cumulative effects of, for example, smaller processes which have atmospheric emissions must be considered not only in combination with other new plans, but also with existing processes. This approach clearly requires a close linkage between those authorities (such as the Environment Agency) with responsibility for major processes, and Local Authorities with responsibilities for authorising emissions from smaller ('part B') processes. Where such emissions arise from diffuse as well as point sources (such as vehicle emissions of NOx, for example), there is a need to consider authorised emissions in combination with background levels. This requires a level of integration between the Local Authority planning process (for National Air Quality Strategy Plans) and individual authorisations of emissions (for example by the Environment Agency) in relation to environmental objectives (including conservation objectives for Natura 2000 sites), which does not yet take place.

Road schemes provide a further good instance of effects on the environment and biodiversity from a project, acting over a wide geographical area and in combination with effects from past, present and future projects and activities. The complex effects and impacts from such schemes are not easy to quantify but guidance, such as that in preparation on the environmental assessment of multi-modal transport schemes, is beginning to acknowledge that such effects exist and offer ways of addressing such issues.

4.1.6 (1g).       We are keen to see local planning authorities given the resources they need to deal effectively with the demands of the planning system. This includes the avoidance of unnecessary delays and the availability of the expertise to recognise and address the environmental implications of development proposals. Local government ecologists have a key role to play in this but fewer than 1 in 3 authorities directly employ one. Some authorities do contract in the necessary services from the commercial sector but English Nature research has shown that this still leaves as many as half of local planning authorities without access to the expertise they require in an effective multi-disciplinary planning team.

4.1.7 (1h).       Climate change will pose significant threats to both natural and human environments during the 21st Century, with impacts of increasing severity being experienced in ecological, physical and socio-economic systems. National, regional and local planning policy development must acknowledge the need to take into account changing climate conditions. Such policies should address the management of biodiversity, water resources, coastlines and river flood-plains under a dynamic climatic regime, characterised by increased temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, higher frequency of severe weather events and rising sea levels. Planning policies must also help mitigate the long-term effects of climate change. This might best be achieved through sustainable development strategies, in which mitigation mechanisms, amending transport policies, greenhouse gas controls, energy efficiency mechanisms and renewable energy options, are integrated within a clearly defined, target-driven framework.

Problems have arisen where poor planning controls have resulted in the creation of land contaminated with persistent pollutants. At best this will require expensive processes to clean up waste. At worst, land may be unsuitable for other uses for many years. Thus brownfield sites may become unavailable for new development, increasing the pressure for use of greenfield sites, and hence creating unnecessary demand for development on semi-natural habitats, including SSSIs.

4.1.8 (1i).       Time-limited consenting has a role to play in achieving environmental sustainability. It is important that decisions which have the capacity to affect important environmental resources in the future are not irreversible. Where there is genuine uncertainty about the impacts of a proposal, time-limited consents offer one means of attempting to ensure that effective monitoring is carried out and (crucially) is used to inform decisions about whether or not the project should be allowed to continue. Factors which need to be taken into account are:

• uncertainties in original assessment of impact - changes due to new information becoming available.
• changes in external factors (climate change, sea level rise), or in local views which may affect environmental priorities
• the scale and reversibility of investment associated with the proposal (for example if significant and irrecoverable investment is required to implement a proposal). In applying the precautionary principle to such cases, outright refusal may be more appropriate.

4.2.     Boundaries
4.2.1 (2a).       Different environmental processes operate at different scales and across physical spaces which extend beyond their administrative boundaries. Examples might include a coastal cell extending across several local authority boundaries, an aerial discharge affecting locations downwind of the emission point or water abstraction affecting a catchment. This needs to be recognised by decision makers and taken into account in decision making. English Nature's Natural Areas approach helps provide an understanding of the ecological context of decisions. Profiles for individual Natural Areas describe nature conservation priorities and objectives in areas unconstrained by administrative boundaries. English Nature has collated these at a regional level to provide an overview to help inform the strategic context for regional decisions. The approach is outlined in the leaflet "English Nature: Natural Areas" (Annex 1 attached) and further detail for individual Natural Areas is available on English Nature's website: http://www.english-nature.org.uk.

4.2.2 (2c).       The land use planning system has a key role to play in helping deliver policy targets in full range of areas listed, including transport (and through this, air quality targets), energy efficiency and climate change, water resource utilisation, flood protection and nature conservation.

New development, especially housing and industry often gives rise to increased demands on water resources in the area of the development. There is an expectation that the necessary provision in respect of infrastructure and water supply will be provided and it is widely regarded that the implications of that for the local environment (including freshwater ecosystems) is not material to the determination of any planning application under consideration. It is becoming increasingly clear that water resource provision can have serious implications for the natural environment (especially in the South East and East Anglian regions) and that an integrated approach to such matters at the time of the application, or even before this when allocations for new development are being made in development plans, is necessary. English Nature has for some time been pressing Government to explicitly recognise water resource use as a material planning consideration and to provide guidance on how it should be addressed by local planning authorities in the determination of planning applications. This would enable LPAs to adopt development plan policies requiring water efficient design features to be used in new development where water resource provision is an issue.

There is a significant problem of diffuse aerial pollution in many parts of the country. Diffuse pollution especially from transport means that background levels of nitrous oxides (NOx) in air are already above recognised critical loads in many parts of the country. This has serious implications for the delivery of biodiversity objectives in relation to species and habitats which rely on nutrient poor conditions. Present pollution control regimes are unable adequately to address this issue as individual emissions are either too small in their own right or arise from unregulated activities (such as agriculture or vehicles). The problems of diffuse pollution are complex and difficult to address through a single mechanism but they can be very significant and we would commend the Commission to consider the role of the planning system (eg in transport planning) to tackle them.

Since the Earth Summit in 1992 the UK Government, in common with governments across the globe, has embarked on an ambitious process of planning and action to safeguard and restore biodiversity. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is endorsed at the highest level in Government and requires for its implementation coordinated action in all sectors. The planning process is recognised within the UK BAP itself as having a key role to play in its delivery. English Nature is concerned that only limited account of national and local BAPs is taken in development plan preparation. Recent research commissioned by English Nature suggests that to date fewer than 20% of planning authorities have used BAPs to inform development plan policy. This is a disappointing position six years after the UK BAP was first published and should be addressed through clear guidance in the awaited revision of PPG 9 Nature Conservation. The contribution of the planning process to biodiversity conservation objectives and targets is being examined in a current research project for English Nature (Lorimer, in prep).

4.2.3 (2e).       There continues to be a serious impact on the environment through the lack of control over many agricultural activities. For example, ploughing and intensive arable use of previously uncultivated land is entirely unregulated at the present time but gives rise to significant impacts including loss of biodiversity, pollution of water courses and increased siltation. Thus agri-economic changes have triggered the ploughing of grassland in the catchment of the River Wye SSSI and changes in the pattern of cereal growing (eg maize and winter wheat) in the catchment of the river Avon SSSI. Runoff from these agricultural operations has caused increased siltation and enrichment of these famous river systems, with deleterious effects on wildlife, including spawning gravels of Atlantic salmon and beds of water crowfoot. English Nature introduced a pilot Wildlife Enhancement Scheme on part of the Wye system, and the Environment Agency has pioneered a Landcare scheme on the upper Avon. However such voluntary measures can only have a minor effect in the face of large scale, unregulated changes in land use.

Since 1985 the UK Government has been under an obligation to implement a regime to regulate projects for the use of uncultivated land and semi-natural areas for intensive agricultural purposes and to require (where significant environmental effects are likely) environmental assessment before any consent for such projects is given. These obligations arise from the EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directives 85/337/EEC and 97/11/EC. It is of continuing concern to English Nature that an appropriate regime has still not been implemented in the UK.

There may be a role for economic instruments to reduce the impacts of agriculture-related activities, although not to protect individual wildlife sites. One such area is environmentally-related charging schemes or other incentive mechanisms for sustainable water abstraction. Another possible area involves diffuse nutrient pollution; this is the only aspect of the Government's original consultation on economic instruments for water pollution not to have been considered in detailed research by DETR. Finally, the Government should introduce a pesticides tax if the currently proposed package of voluntary measures is not improved.

4.3.       Integration or coordination
4.3.1 (3a).       A significant deficiency in the present arrangements for integration of environmental objectives in the planning system is the weakness of current cross -sectoral links, especially in regard to agriculture, air and water and between planning and pollution controls. The inadequacy of these links reflects a weakness in the present statutory framework which deserves closer examination.

There is a need for greater integration of the Environment Agency work with Local Authority planning work, both at the strategic plan level and in individual plans. There continue to be developments in unsustainable locations such as river or coastal floodplains. Greater integration is needed between land use planning and shoreline management plans/LEAPs.

Related to this is the need for greater harmonisation of the currently phased process of planning application and subsequent applications for pollution control authorisations. Under the present system, a development proposal requiring a variety of environmental consents (from several different regulatory authorities) is subject to those consenting processes independently. Each may be subject to statutory consultation requirements and the preparation of an EIA. Again these would be independent of each other. This process imposes duplicatory burdens on developers, consenting authorities and statutory consultees. The problems this poses are illustrated by a recent case of development adjacent to an East Midlands reservoir notified as SSSI. The development proposal involved the construction of a training centre on a previously developed site some distance from the reservoir. The development itself had no impacts on the special interest of the SSSI and planning permission was granted. However it subsequently transpired that a new sewage treatment facility would also be required as part of the development, the discharges from which would be subject to a separate authorisation from the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency concluded that the discharges arising from this element of the development would adversely affect the special interest of the SSSI by contributing to its eutrophication.

Minor adjustment to the regulatory process may provide a solution to these sorts of problems. Where a planning application is submitted which is subject to EIA, the applicant should be required to identify from the outset any additional consents that may be needed for the construction and operation of the process. Where these consents are themselves also likely to have a significant effect on the environment, the relevant effects should be addressed in an integrated EIA for the project as a whole. This should be the subject of a single round of consultation and publicity with the principle consent only be granted when the implications for the secondary consents have been adequately addressed and approved by the regulatory bodies concerned. Such an approach would reduce the burden on applicants, consenting authorities and consultees alike and enable proposals to be considered in the round having regard to the full range of their environmental implications.

Improved environmental planning on the coast could be promoted through greater coordination of planning through Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). In response to a recent consultation from the EC Towards a European ICZM Strategy: General Principles and Policy Options EN has supported the production of a Europe wide ICZM Strategy and action to promote ICZM at both EU and Member State level.

At the national level, the priority is to promote greater coordination between government departments, linked to the need for a clear national framework for delivering ICZM. Such a framework should set out the roles and responsibilities of the different players at the national, regional and local level and examine what can be delivered through the current resources and framework, as well as in identifying more longer term ambitions. A greater and more transparent role for DETR's Coastal Policy Co-ordination Unit and the government's Inter Departmental Group on coastal matters is needed, together with support for a 'champion' ICZM unit within government. This unit should ensure that an appropriate balance is maintained between legislative and voluntary ICZM mechanisms, ensuring appropriate funding is available for delivery through both.

This approach should ensure greater integration and coordination by: linking Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) to the land use planning system; engendering more widespread public acceptance of more sustainable shoreline management options; an integrated approach to land use planning policy, social and housing policy and economic regeneration; and integration of inshore fishery management with wider marine environmental management.

4.3.2 (3d).       Questions of efficiency and speed in the planning process are complex. Speed should not be seen as an overriding objective; it must be tempered by the objective of ensuring that decisions are made on the basis of fully adequate information about the environmental implications of the development. This objective requires sufficient time to be made available for full consultation, the gathering of environmental information and the undertaking of any necessary investigations and risk assessments. This in turn is facilitated by good pre-application consultations. However the use of speed of determination as a test of Best Value may disincline local planning authorities to be as robust as they might in seeking additional environmental information from applicants, with the effect that quality of decision making, in the context of SD, is compromised.

Considerable resources are directed during the EIA process in the prediction of effects arising from proposed development and the evaluation of their significance. Individual Environmental Statements (ES) are produced and used to inform important decisions over development proposals. However there is only very limited follow up to these assessments and limited monitoring of the actual effects when developments are implemented. Without these there is no means of testing predictive models and no refinement of assessment techniques in the light of the reality of development in practice. In the absence of such feedback we are failing to learn from our experience and there can be no continuous improvement in the quality of impact assessment methods. Research appears to indicate that there have not been significant improvements in the quality of ESs over time (see for example: S. Thompson et al, 1997). We believe that it would be appropriate for a requirement to be introduced for post consent monitoring of EIA developments which receive consent and for the establishment of a feedback mechanism to help refine and improve techniques.

We consider that there is too much of a gulf in the quality of environmental information available to competent authorities between developments subject to formal EIA and those for which EIA is not required despite possible significant effects on the environment. We would like to see greater use made by local planning authorities of their powers under the planning Acts (including powers of direction under Regulation 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Applications) Regulations 1988) to require additional information in the form of informal environmental appraisals of non-EIA projects.

The effectiveness of the EIA regime in deflecting or modifying potentially damaging developments should rely on a much clearer tie-in between proposed measures for avoidance, mitigation and compensation set out in the ES and the legally binding conditions and planning obligations attached to any planning permission which is subsequently granted. In our view we need to move to a position where all necessary measures are clearly set out in a schedule to the EIA which the decision maker can use in drawing up the terms of any consent.

4.3.3 (3e).       Much of the regulatory process of pollution control is directed at controls over point source emissions. However, despite clear evidence for their adverse effects on the environment, diffuse sources of pollution are not well addressed through either pollution control or planning legislation. The planning route would be an appropriate mechanism for tackling, eg, diffuse sources of aquatic pollution from agriculture (eg through the wider adoption of Water Protection Zones) or of air pollution from vehicle emissions (though giving effect to NAQS).

4.3.4 (3f).       The construction and operation of transport infrastructure has a range of impacts on the environment, both directly and indirectly. In order to minimise such effects and reduce the need for people to travel to access goods, services and other facilities it is essential for transport systems to be integrated with the land-use planning system. It is important for the demand for roadspace to be managed through regulation and the use of economic instruments. The land-use planning system therefore has a central role in helping to deliver national, regional and local transport policy objectives.

4.3.5(3g).       Voluntary agreements and packages are generally favoured by industry as the best way to meet their environmental commitments. Although this can produce some excellent examples of good practice by leading edge companies, who recognise the business benefits of having environmental and social corporate programmes, they are often perceived as difficult to implement or outside of the scope of small and medium sized companies. Many of the agreements are taken forward by an association representing the industry (as with the sectoral sustainable development strategies referred to in , A better quality of life) . However, these sectoral approaches are often conservative and move at the pace of the slowest member as a series of 'step changes' rather than a radical re-think of the full implications the businesses has on the environment.

We believe that economic instruments can play an important role in setting more appropriate price signals in order to encourage more sustainable economic behaviour. As such, they are important in defining overall patterns of demand and the way that goods and services are provided. Greater use should be made for environmental purposes of economic incentives such as tax breaks, whilst, for example, a development land tax on greenfield sites may engender greater incentive for inner city housing development. However, subject to the comments at (4.3.6) below, economic instruments are less certain mechanisms for ensuring specific objectives in particular locations, where regulations and the planning system provide more certain outcomes.

4.3.6 (3h).       We would support further consideration in detail of a betterment tax to deal with remaining environmental impacts of developments with permission and to provide a stronger system of community compensation. We would also welcome further consideration of a development tax linked more closely to environmental impacts. However, the practicalities of such instruments would have to be considered very carefully and it is not yet certain that a broad environmental tax instrument would be workable. Because it is not always feasible for economic instruments to tackle impacts in a very specific way, use of some of the revenues for environmental purposes can provide more significant environmental benefits than the price signal itself; however, it is also important that appropriate and cost effective administrative arrangements are in place for the use of such funds.

4.4.       Subsidiarity and democracy
4.4.1 (4a).       In cases where a local planning decision affects a nature conservation site of national or international importance, the scope for 'recovery' of the proposal by the Secretary of State using his call-in powers under S 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is crucial. The national conservation agencies have a duty under the Act to notify SSSIs in the public interest. The designations serve important national policy objectives and international obligations. It is consistent with the principle of subsidiarity that any decision to harm such sites is taken at a level commensurate with the level at which those obligations and objectives are adopted.

4.4.2 (4b).       The Environmental Capital approach has been developed by four government agencies, the Countryside Agency, English Heritage, Environment Agency and English Nature, as the basis for a more systematic and transparent assessment of the environmental implications of projects, programmes and plans. The approach moves away from valuing features to valuing the important economic, social and environmental characteristics of each feature (for example, for woodland: the social recreational value, the economic value of timber and the environmental importance of flora and fauna). The approach culminates in a matrix which looks at: the benefit and services of natural features; those who are affected; the scale of effect; the perceived importance to local people; size, replaceability and management. The assessment feeds into the decision making process so if a developer purchases a specific piece of land guidance can be provided on appropriate management.

The Environmental Capital approach helps meet three of the ten guiding principles of A better quality of life by "putting people at the centre"; "taking account of costs and benefits" (including those which cannot be easily valued in money terms) and "transparency, information, participation and access to justice".

There will be cases where broader environmental goals might override local public opinion. For designated sites the Wildlife and Countryside Act and Habitats Regulations help us to make this decision but in the wider landscape judgement often has to be made at the local level. In principle we should, avoid development and land use with adverse and irreversible effects on biodiversity and earth heritage resources, particularly where these natural habitats are irreplaceable. However, in practice it is sometimes possible to develop significant mitigation and compensation packages which can help offset the loss so there is 'no net loss' of priority habitats or species.

4.4.3 (4c).       The aim should be to translate environmental objectives into action at any scale. This is what is being attempted with the sustainable development indicators from A better quality of life.

The 150 core sustainable development indicators are being used at national, regional, local, sectoral and individual business level. For example, there are fourteen indicators, from the suite of 150 which are directly relevant to biodiversity. English Nature has identified biodiversity indicators of sustainable development for each of the eight Government office regions and London. The regional indicators have a direct link to the national indicators and will help to inform the annual reporting of DETR, with the national set of indicators being used directly at regional level for sustainability appraisals. Amongst industries, Water UK has developed a sectoral sustainability strategy which has indicators which are either the same as the national set or are complementary to it (including a number for biodiversity).

4.5.       Assessment approaches
4.5.1 (5a).       We interpret the term 'appraisal' to mean an assessment of the overall costs and benefits to society of particular actions, and the distribution of these between different groups.

We advocate a broad mix of methodologies, since different impacts may need to be appraised in different ways. For example, it is difficult to appraise impacts on biodiversity in monetary terms, so more qualitative approaches are also needed. The key point is that impacts on the environment must be considered properly even if it is not possible to do so in monetary terms. We support the principles of the Government's guidance on Policy Appraisal but are disappointed by its lack of proper application by Government Departments, which has also been noted by the Environmental Audit Committee. We support the continued development of methodologies such as Environmental Capital, sustainability appraisal and environmental footprint analysis. The development of these approaches is considered in more detail in Sections 4.4.2 and 4.5.2 .

Many of the important benefits of environmental sustainability are not represented by market prices and are poorly perceived but nevertheless relate to essential ecological services. These 'indirect benefits' include the role the environment plays in chemical cycling processes, water regulation, flood protection, nutrient availability, soil formation and protection, waste treatment, pollination and pest control. Loss of these important ecological services can impose significant costs on society. The process of ecosystem components valuation attempts to assess these benefits, and links ecosystem processes and functioning with outputs of goods and services. The relevance and value of this process to environmental appraisal is being examined in a study being carried out for English Nature, to be published later this year (Turner et al, in prep), a summary of this report is available from English Nature if required.

4.5.2 (5c).       Given the problems in the suitability of techniques such as contingent valuation in biodiversity conservation, English Nature has developed an interest in alternative, non-monetary techniques for cost-benefit analysis. One of these, multi-criteria analysis (MCA) uses a scoring and weighting system to weigh up different options against a set of criteria. This method an be used in a structured way to consider 'costs' and benefits that can easily be 'monetised' alongside those that cannot be. MCA is used, with financial-based measurements where available or suitable, in Comprehensive Project Evaluation (CPE). CPE is being developed in a series of pilot projects funded by EA and RICS, with EN support, and offers a means of evaluating the sustainability of development or other planning proposals taking into account in a meaningful way all the external costs and benefits of projects.

English Nature, with The Countryside Commission, English Heritage and the Environment Agency helped DETR develop their New Approach to Transport Appraisal (NATA). This makes use of 'Environmental Capital' methodology (see Section 4.4.2). 'Environmental Capital' provides a structured but qualitative way of evaluating the 'worth' of any environmental assets in terms of the benefits to society which these assets provide, and achieving a more holistic approach to the environment.

The NATA system has applications to regional and local assessments, and also to more generic transport problems involving different transport modes. It provides a way of appraising transport options against the five key criteria in the Government's transport strategy: economic efficiency, environment, safety, accessibility, and integration. These in turn have been broken down to a number of sub-criteria; 'biodiversity (including earth heritage)' is one of the environmental sub-criteria, alongside landscape, cultural heritage, and pollution/water quality criteria.

English Nature believes this approach to be a reasonable method for 'scoring' transport options. We recommend its use by local authorities for their local transport decisions. However, there are important caveats. First, it remains difficult to assess fully the indirect and cumulative effects of proposals. Secondly, the methodology provides a system for scoring options against each criteria, but no method for determining how much weight each criteria should have in the decision. This argues for the development of more explicit weighting systems, more participative decision making processes, and more explanation about the choosing of options. Finally, as with all appraisal systems, it is essential that all feasible options are scoped properly in the first place.

5.     References
Thompson S et al, (1997) The Ecological Component of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Critical Review. JEPM 40(2) 157-171.

Turner RK et al (in prep). Ecosystem function and the implications for environmental valuation. Report to English Nature, due 2000.

UK Round Table on Sustainable Development (2000). Not too difficult! -economic instruments to promote sustainable development within a modernised economy. UK Round Table publication, April 2000.

Lorimer B (in prep).Unlocking the potential - using the planning system to deliver biodiversity objectives in the context of Natural Areas. Report to English Nature, due 2000

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