Health impact assessments and pre-apps.
The revised EIA Directive (2014/52/EU) aims to achieve high levels of protection of human health and the environment. A QMark paper by Tamara Al-Obaidi, health impact assessor at consultancy Jacobs, looks how the directive’s overriding objectives will affect health impact assessments. She says that, in terms of considering and assessing the effects on populations and human health risks, there are gaps between the directive’s aims and the guidance and tools available to identify, assess and report health-related effects. She points to a lack of clarity on what is considered to be the appropriate manner of identification, description and assessment of significant health effects, including those that may arise from interactions with other environmental aspects. Al-Obaidi also highlights a lack of clarity about the criteria and methods that should be used when deciding whether a project qualifies for EIA on human health risk. ‘This absence of definition is likely to present a challenge to health impact assessment practitioners,’ she writes. The directive is due to be transposed into UK legislation next spring.
Benefits of the ‘pre-app’
When used properly, a planning pre-application mechanism has a number of benefits, says Spencer McGawley, associate at consultancy CampbellReith. In a QMark paper, on ‘pre-app’ and how it relates to EIA, McGawley says the positives include improving the quality of the application and, possibly, faster validation by the local planning authority (LPA). He argues that, pre-apps can also help foster relationships with the LPA and statutory consultees, which can reduce the likelihood of objections. And, because the information required at pre-app mirrors closely that required as part of an environmental statement, it benefits the project, allowing the information to be incorporated at an early stage and helping to kick-start the design process. Pre-app typically involves presenting a site location plan, a written description of current land use as well as of the proposal, and a draft design.
