Reflective Log 3: Landscape Professional Practice and Law

You have been appointed to design the landscape works associated with a new hospital in the urban fringe of Newcastle upon Tyne. Your client wants to know whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required for the project (including the new building). How would you find out if an EIA is required and what the EIA should cover?

An Environmental Impact Assessment is a process ‘by which information about the environmental effects of a project is collected, both by the developer and from other sources, and taken into account by the planning authority in forming its judgement on whether the project can be given development consent’ (Garmory et al., 2016). Environmental Impact Assessment has been a requirement for certain types of development since 1985. The aim of Environmental Impact Assessment is to ensure that planning authorities fully understand the likely effects on the environment of the proposed development (Fraser G. R., 2016). The process of Environmental Impact Assessment in the context of town and country planning in England is governed by the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (DLUHC 2014), therefore, it will be relevant to a project situated in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Usually, an EIA is conducted at the stage of site selection and process selection, and several factors will determine if the project is suitable for the site, and consequently, the impact of the project on the site can be foreseen. The significance of a project is categorised into two: Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. Schedule 1 projects require Environmental Impact Assessment in every case. However, those falling within Schedule 2 require Environmental Impact Assessment only where the project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment (Garmory et al., 2016).

A hospital will fall into schedule 2 as an infrastructure project, therefore, it will require an EIA if it possesses certain qualities like being of a major scale, if it is based in a sensitive or vulnerable location, or if it may produce potentially adverse effects on the environment. This hospital project is designated for an urban fringe area, and there is potential that the area may be a landscape of historical, cultural or archaeological significance, may contain natural resources, or may be of visual significance for the residents, therefore, it is most likely that an EIA will be conducted. However, to be sure, the project will f irst pass through a screening process, where the developer will apply to the local planning authority for an opinion on whether an EIA is needed prior to applying for planning permission. For projects requiring an EIA, an environmental statement/report must be submitted alongside the planning application. An environmental statement comprises a document (or series of documents) providing ‘specified information’ to assess the likely impact upon the environment of the proposed development. The Regulations (Schedule 4) specify the information which an environmental statement must provide (Garmory et al., 2016). Whilst every Environmental Statement should provide a full factual description of the development, the emphasis should be on the “main” or “significant” environmental effects to which a development is likely to give rise. The Environmental Statement should be proportionate and not be any longer than is necessary to assess properly those effects. Where, for example, only one environmental factor is likely to be significantly affected, the assessment should focus on that issue only. Impacts which have little or no significance for the development in question will need only very brief treatment to indicate that their possible relevance has been considered (DLUHC 2014). The Regulations allow developers to obtain a formal (scoping) opinion from the local planning authority on what should be included in the Environmental Statement. This ensures that the LPA (or the Secretary of State in the case of scoping directions) and the relevant consultees can consider the project and the likely impacts at an early stage and can focus the EIA process on those which are relevant (Garmory et al., 2016).

When an applicant intends to submit a planning application with a statement which they refer to as an Environmental Statement, the applicant should send the local planning authority all the documents which must normally accompany a planning application as well as the Environmental Statement (regulation 19). Applicants should also make copies of the Environmental Statement available to the public, either free of charge or at a reasonable cost reflecting printing and distribution costs (DLUHC 2014).

REFERENCES

• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (2014). Environmental Impact Assessment. Gov.uk. URL = https://www.gov.uk/guidance/environmental-impactassessment#Screening-Schedule-2-projects

• Fraser, G.R. (2016) Landscape professional practice. Environmental Impact Assessment, pp. 107

• Garmory et al. (2016) Professional practice for landscape architects. Environmental Impact Assessment pp. 248, 250, 252 – 254.