New environmental impact assessment regulations for Wales introduced several major changes from 1 March.
Under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Wales) Regulations 2016 (bit.ly/1SS6LR7), the threshold for industrial estate development increased from 0.5 hectare to 5 hectare. For urban developments, the threshold increased from 0.5 hectare to 1 hectare if the project does not include housing; or includes the construction of more than 150 new houses; or the overall development area exceeds 5 hectares.
When the UK government consulted on raising the thresholds in England, it said the changes would reduce the number of screening opinions and focus EIA on developments that are more likely to give rise to significant environmental effects.
The Wales government mirrored this thinking in its consultation, which ended on 18 June 2015. Its consultation document stated: ‘Analysis of requests for screening directions made to the Welsh ministers found that a significant majority did not require EIA. This suggests that there may be scope for increasing the existing screening thresholds, as subjecting projects to screening for EIA when they are unlikely to have significant effects on the environment causes unnecessary delay in the planning application process.’
The revised Welsh regulations also provide for Local Development Orders to grant planning permission for schedule 2 EIA developments in some circumstances and allow local planning authorities or ministers to modify a planning permission. They also consolidate measures brought in since 1999, including the requirement for councils and ministers to give reasons for negative screening decisions.
