David Brock and Caroline Moreton offer advice to local authorities and developers caught up in the uncertainty created by Barker
The House of Lords' decision last December in R (Barker) v Bromley LBC [2006] UKHL 52, confirmed the earlier ruling of the European Court of Justice that an environmental impact assessment could take place at any stage of the planning application process.
The most obvious of the practical effects of the ruling is that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 1999 must be amended in order to be consistent with EU law. While the amendments to the Regulations are still awaited, developers and local authorities should not sit back waiting for them. The Directive has direct effect even though it has not been correctly transposed and the issues in it are real and enforceable now.
It is now clear that an EIA ...
