Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

NB. If no answer is given, we do not have / have not had time to come to a view.

1.       Environmental Sustainability

a)      We find it difficult to see how the pursuit of sustainable development as the broad objective of policy has had unfavourable consequences for the protection of the environment.
b)      Yes, there are environmental imperatives. In line with the 'critical capital' approach, some environmental assets are tradeable, some are irreplaceable.
c)
d)      Yes, legislative change to the plan led system has given land use planning the potential to become a more effective instrument for achieving environmental sustainability.
e)      Difficult to specify or quantify precisely how far, but our feeling though is 'quite a long way' (witness recent RPG publications).
f)      In general, we would argue not, but our response varies according to the kind of development in question. Cumulative impact can be usefully cited in the control of retail development for example, and we welcome this. The Environment Agency's stance on development in the floodplain increasingly centres on and gives weight to the cumulative impacts of development, but (depending on what Revised PPG 25 says when published), we might not welcome this in the context of the concern to develop brownfield sites before greenfields.
g)      Are we talking about human resources here (ie. enough people to do the job) or fiscal resources, ie. money to put environmental planning theory into practice. We would suggest that effective environmental planning is hindered in both respects.
h)      A recent study of climate change in the East Midlands and recent waste arisings forecasts show that long term problems are huge. The planning system is at best one of many drivers for limiting the extent of damage from unavoidable climate change, and is perhaps more appropriately described as a passenger in someone else's car.
i)      We suggest there are possibly insurmountable legal and compensation barriers to introducing time limits on permitted uses.

2.      Boundaries

a)      In theory the provision of policy guidance at regional level should overcome some environmentally unsustainable planning resulting from mismatches between administrative areas and environmental processes. However, there is potential for some mismatches to continue to lead to environmentally unsustainable planning. For example:-

• there is a potential conflict between redeveloping sustainably located brownfield sites which also happen to fall within floodplains;
• there can be difficulties in introducing initiatives such as Park and Ride or road user charging where the drawing of administrative boundaries results in the need for consensus between different authorities on the nature of the environmental processes in question and the response to them.

b)      Problems of linkage, integration and introspection we would guess.
c)      'Helping' is the important word in this question. The land-use planning system is one of many influences over the achievement of targets.
d)      Through being utilised as a repository for information on environmental and other constraints and opportunities.
e)      Yes. 'Planning' controls might not be the best means of achieving environmental goals. Changes to European Union Common Agricultural Policy support mechanisms and other fiscal programmes affecting forestry and agriculture could improve environmental management.

3.      Integration or Coordination

a)      There can be problems in coordinating the review of Regional Planning Guidance, Structure Plans and Local Plans. Procedures can mean that plans take too long to adopt. There is increasing overlap between RPG and Structure Plans, and possibly scope to simplify Environmental, Transport and Retail Impact Assessments. Sustainability appraisals could have a role in simplifying things. What duplicatory role might Strategic Environmental Assessments play in future?
b)      Coordination between plans is more important than establishing a hierarchy.
c)      If the reference to New Zealand is to its establishment of an environmental court, a similar development here would certainly overcome some public concern about the impartiality of processes and procedures.
d)
e)      Planning permission does not take account of aspects of development dealt with by other legislation. Parallel decision making could conceivably slow procedures down and could complicate life for the applicant up to the point of application.
f)      No. Perhaps Local Transport Plans need to become an integral part of Local Plans in the way that Regional Transport Strategies are a part of Regional Planning Guidance.
g)      Economic instruments are possibly the only instruments the market understands and, provided they are used by accountable bodies in a transparent way, their further utilisation should be investigated. Gordon Brown introduced a number of economic instruments to promote brownfield development in this year's budget. It would be worth investigating their effectiveness.
h)      A "betterment tax" could be a compensation minefield. Linking the rate of tax to environmental impact infers an acceptance that the rich can continue to cause environmental damage so long as they pay more to do so. Whilst in principle it must be right to tax people according to the damage they inflict on the environment, the impacts of doing so may be proportionately greater for those with proportionately less income.
i)      Not necessarily. However, protagonists may choose to use the policy focus on sustainability as a stick with which to hit their opponent when it might not be the real reason for any disagreement.

4.      Subsidiarity and Democracy

a)      It is right in principle that there should be scope for public participation in environmental planning decisions. However, it must be recognised that public participation does not necessarily end in consensus, and that participation is often reactionary rather than preemptive. It is questionable whether new Cabinet systems of local governance will result in any more appropriate decisions being taken.
b)      The internet will play an increasing role in ensuring transparency, which in turn secures accountability. Compulsory local referenda could usefully reflect the range of public opinion, but these are likely to be expensive to use. A broader common goal should override local public opinion wherever the locally accountable (ie. elected) authority decides that it should and where law and the human rights of local people are not compromised.
c)      Local Agenda 21 recognised that international goals are increasingly inseparable from local goals. In principle, environmental planning should take place at the lowest possible level, but current arrangements necessarily depart from that principle because many decisions have a strategic dimension. Lower level parochialism and self-interest could result in decisions that detract from a greater common good.
d)      It should not be assumed that there's necessarily a need for greater coherence between national and local planning regimes. Greater coherence between local planning and strategic planning undertaken by directly elected English regional assemblies could be a better option. It would certainly introduce a practical dimension to the concept of 'subsidiarity'. Directly elected English regional assemblies could result in less coherence between national and local planning regimes as assemblies assert their right to pursue an agenda of their own choosing. This need not be a bad thing.
e)      Geography, climate, biodiversity, population density, North Sea oil?
f)      Despite the fact that they 'resolve' disputes, public inquiries are not perceived by all to be independent and impartial.
g)      Yes, environmental courts or tribunals would enhance public confidence in the land use planning system if they were seen to be independent and impartial. We do not know whether they would impose significant extra costs and delays - experiments could presumably test their costs and effects.

5.      Assessment Approaches

a)      Sustainability appraisals can serve a wider purpose than appraisal methodologies with a narrower focus. It is probably true to say that all appraisal methodologies are weak in terms of addressing the cumulative impact on wider environmental goals.
b)      Experience in Leicester shows that current approaches to sustainability appraisal can be dovetailed effectively with the efficient operation of the planning system. Environmental appraisals should be transparent and accessible to all. The quality of appraisals should ideally be subject to independent assessment.
c)      Sustainability appraisals have the benefit of covering ground covered by most other appraisal methodologies. Leicester used Health Impact Assessments in drawing up its Local Transport Plan and lessons could be learned from this experience.
d)      Airport development might form the basis of a case study here. Passengers at Luton Airport are being invited to pay a 'green tax' to help combat global warming caused by aircraft emissions - a useful case study?
e)      We reiterate our response to Environmental Sustainability question g) above.

Back to Index of evidence to the Environmental Planning Study