Category: environmental health

Regulators must regulate lawfully: The availability of private law claims and remedies does not oust judicial review – Henderson Chambers

Posted December 19th, 2024 in appeals, chambers articles, environmental health, health, judicial review, news, nuisance, Supreme Court by sally

‘In this important recent decision the Supreme Court has found that in respect of an established nuisance, even where there were available to the claimant alternative private law remedies (nuisance and private prosecution) these did not oust an application for judicial review against the public authority in respect of an allegedly unlawful failure to exercise regulatory powers.’

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Henderson Chambers, 5th November 2024

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

Council decision not to designate illegal landfill ‘contaminated land’ to be challenged in High Court – Local Government Lawyer

Posted December 5th, 2024 in environmental health, environmental protection, health, judicial review, local government, news, pollution, waste by tracey

‘The High Court has agreed to hear a judicial review challenge of Havering Council’s decision not to allocate an illegal landfill behind pollution issues and wildfires as “contaminated land”.

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th December 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Environment Agency issues closure notice for landfill at heart of long-running odours dispute – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 29th, 2024 in complaints, enforcement, environmental health, local government, news, waste by michael

‘A landfill site that is the subject of a legal challenge from Newcastle Under Lyme Council for emitting odorous gasses has been hit with a closure order from the Environment Agency.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 29th November 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Essex car park to be test case for legislation to protect landscapes – The Guardian

Posted November 1st, 2024 in environmental health, environmental protection, government departments, judicial review, local government, news, parking, parks by tracey

‘A commuter car park in Essex is to be one of the first test cases of whether the government will enforce new legislation aimed at protecting national parks and landscapes in England.’

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The Guardian, 31st October 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Oil-drilling expansion challenge to go uncontested – BBC News

Posted October 25th, 2024 in climate change, energy, environmental health, environmental protection, local government, news, planning by sally

‘A legal challenge against the expansion of an oil-drilling site in North Lincolnshire is to be uncontested.’

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BBC News, 24th October 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ministry issues call for evidence on access to justice and Aarhus Convention – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 2nd, 2024 in consultations, environmental health, environmental protection, Ministry of Justice, news by tracey

‘The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued a call for evidence seeking views on options to bring the UK’s policies into compliance with its obligation under the access to justice provision of the Aarhus Convention.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st October 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Planned water law reform ‘risks delaying environmental action’ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 9th, 2024 in bills, delay, enforcement, environmental health, environmental protection, government departments, news, pollution, water, water companies by tracey

‘Proposed new legislation described by government as delivering a “significant increase in enforcement powers” against water companies, could delay rather than speed up industry action to address environmental concerns because of the broad way it has been drafted, water industry experts have warned.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 6th September 2024

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Court backs government over A38 flyover scheme – BBC News

Posted August 28th, 2024 in consultations, environmental health, news, planning, pollution, roads by tracey

‘A judge has thrown out a legal challenge brought by campaigners, which was preventing changes being made to three major road junctions in Derby.’

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BBC News, 28th August 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Juror swears oath on river in legal first – BBC News

Posted August 2nd, 2024 in environmental health, environmental protection, juries, news, water by michael

‘Paul Powlesland was not far off quoting Shakespeare when he became probably the first juror in history to swear a legal oath on a river.’

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BBC News, 2nd August 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Carbon emissions and causation: R (Finch) v Surrey County Council and ors – 4 New Square

Posted July 10th, 2024 in appeals, causation, chambers articles, environmental health, environmental protection, judicial review, local government, news, planning, Supreme Court by tracey

‘In this post, 4 New Square Chambers’ Alex Forzani explores the Supreme Court’s decision in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20 and analyses its implications on the scope of environmental impact assessments. The judgment is likely to have significant implications on the development of, and investment in, new projects in the UK.’

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4 New Square, 2nd July 2024

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Appropriate actions – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 5th, 2024 in environmental health, local government, news, planning, pollution, Wales, water by michael

‘Annabel Graham Paul looks at a recent judgment that clarifies the approach to carrying out Appropriate Assessments under the Habitats Regulations when considering planning permission.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th July 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Government hit with judicial review after excluding onshore wind from energy policy – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 26th, 2024 in climate change, energy, environmental health, environmental protection, government departments, judicial review, local government, news by sally

‘The High Court has granted the Good Law Project permission to challenge the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s decision to exclude onshore wind from its policy on energy infrastructure.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 25th June 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Lake District sewage campaigners launch nuisance complaint in legal first – The Guardian

Posted June 26th, 2024 in complaints, environmental health, environmental protection, local government, news, nuisance, pollution, water, water companies by sally

‘Campaigners fighting to stop sewage discharges into Windermere, the Lake District’s largest lake, have made a statutory nuisance complaint against a water company in the first legal action of its kind.’

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The Guardian, 26th June 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Supreme Court decision defines scope of EIA around fossil fuel ’indirect effects’ – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 24th, 2024 in appeals, climate change, environmental health, environmental protection, local government, miners, news, planning, pollution, Supreme Court by tracey

‘When deciding whether to grant planning consent for development, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should consider the downstream, indirect greenhouse gas emissions effects of the development in some cases, the UK Supreme Court has ruled, demonstrating a significant development for environmental law.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th June 2024

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Welsh Water fined over mystery sewage dumps in River Wye – The Independent

Posted June 24th, 2024 in environmental health, environmental protection, fines, news, pollution, waste, water, water companies by tracey

‘A water company fined £90,000 for dumping sewage into a river has been unable to explain two of the spillages.’

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The Independent, 22nd June 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Nature groups launch legal bid over wildlife loss – BBC News

Posted June 7th, 2024 in environmental health, environmental protection, government departments, judicial review, news by sally

‘A coalition of more than 80 nature conservation groups is launching a legal bid to force whichever party is in power next month to improve government targets on tackling wildlife decline in England.’

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BBC News, 7th June 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Pensioner fined for huge pile of scrap metal – BBC News

Posted May 29th, 2024 in environmental health, environmental protection, fines, news, waste by tracey

‘A pensioner has been fined thousands of pounds for illegally storing waste, including scrapped cars, at a site in Somerset.’

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BBC News, 29th May 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Biodiversity Net Gain: Big Impacts on Small Sites? – No.5 Chambers

Posted May 15th, 2024 in chambers articles, environmental health, environmental protection, news, planning by sally

‘The UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries. The headline finding in the State of Nature Report 2023 told us that one in six species is at risk of extinction but this alarming figure obscures greater decline within certain taxonomic groups: 21% of plant species, 39% of vertebrates and 11% of fungi and lichens are classified as being at risk of extinction in Great Britain.’

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No.5 Chambers, 18th April 2024

Source: www.no5.com

Environmental Law News Podcast – Six Pump Court

Posted May 15th, 2024 in chambers articles, climate change, environmental health, environmental protection, news, podcasts by sally

‘In this podcast produced by Lexis PSL, Christopher Badger and Mark Davies look at progress made under the 25 Year Environment Plan, publication of the Green Finance Strategy and more Environment Act 2021 Commencement Regulations.’

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Six Pump Court, 18th April 2024

Source: 6pumpcourt.co.uk

Brazil Iron: UK court case launched over mining project in Bahia – BBC News

Posted April 24th, 2024 in damages, environmental health, foreign jurisdictions, miners, news by tracey

‘In a small community deep in the remote, lush mountains of Bahia, Brazil, Catarina Oliveira de Silva points down at what used to be a lake. “After the mine started extracting there, waste came down. It fell into the spring. It buried this entire lake. Three metres of silt and ore sludge.” Catarina says dust from this mine covered crops she owned, including coffee bushes and banana trees, until she could not produce them anymore. She and her husband had also taken out a loan in 2015 for a business where people could pay to go angling in the lake. “Our project went down the drain,” she says. Catarina and her family live in a traditional Quilombola community, descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves whose rights to their land and way of life are protected under Brazilian law.
Now, their fight against a UK-owned mining company is set to move to a top court in London.’

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BBC News, 24th April 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk