An overview of UK practice to date - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 245

Note: Consultees include equivalents
in Scotland and Wales, in each case.
( Source: Wood & Jones 1997.)
(Jones 1995) suggested that the environment was the principal factor influencing the
decision, with planning policies given slightly less weight. Wood & Jones (1997) report
that the environment was seen to be the overriding factor influencing the decisions in 37
per cent of the cases they studied. However, only in a very few cases would the final
decision have been different in the absence of an EIS. Nor does the introduction of the
requirements of the amended Directive appear to have markedly increased the influence
of EIA. From a study of planning appeal cases, Weston (2002) concludes:
(Whilst)…Procedurally EIA is much stronger today in the UK than it was
in the early years of its implementation—Yet the influence that EIA has
on the actual decisions made by LPAs and planning inspectors remains
weak, as those decisions are based on a complex web of factors that had
evolved long before EIA was introduced…. Local authorities in England
and Wales deal with around 450,000 applications for planning consent per
year. The decisions on those applications are made on the basis of
“material considerations” including the local development plan, national
planning policy guidance and the results of a formal consultation process.
EIA cases make up less than 0.1% of those applications and for the most
part the actual decision-making process for those cases will be little
different to the other 99.9%.
Overall, in the UK, project applications with EISs are not treated much differently from
those without EISs. Although environmental issues are addressed more formally, in a
discrete document, the final decision-making process is not changed much by EIA. The
main procedural difference brought about by EIA is the need to consult people about the
EIS, and the broader scope for public participation (not often used in practice) that it
brings. However, the result of the entire EIA process is a modification of projects due to
EIA, possibly additional or different conditions on the project, and perhaps a more
comprehensive consideration of environmental issues by the competent authority.
8.6 Costs and benefits of EIA
Much of the early resistance to the imposition of EIA was based on the idea that it would
cause additional expense and delay in the planning process. EIA proponents refuted this
by claiming that the benefits of EIA would well outweigh its costs. This chapter
concludes with a discussion of the costs and benefits of EIA to various parties in the UK.