Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
rst paradox of the precautionary principle,
124
aprecondi-
tion whose operation depends to an extent on knowledge of possible
outcomes would not be appropriate in an ecological context. A precau-
tionary approach that subjects all proposed development to assessment
in the
As with the
rst instance should be employed because of the impossibility
of knowing how individual interferences will combine with others to
affect the system as a whole. Observance of this requirement should
not be unduly onerous in cases where impacts are genuinely likely to be
insigni
cant.
The control of development has provided the main means of prevent-
ing harmful land uses under the planning system in England and Wales
since its inception.
125
However, the exclusion of agriculture and forestry
from that system
'
sde
nition of development has allowed the industri-
alisation and intensi
cation of agriculture to proceed without the legal
oversightthatitprovidesinurbanareas
126
As a result, the use of
ecologically valuable land for agriculture has been one of the main causes
of signi
cantdeteriorationintheUK
'
s biodiversity during the last sixty
years.
127
nition of development under the legal
framework for ecological planning would cover all land uses. It would
also encompass material change in use including the conversion of
uncultivated or semi-natural land for agricultural purposes. Bringing
previously unexploited land into cultivation has contributed signi
In contrast, the de
-
cantly to the loss of habitats in England and Wales because of the lack
of development control and the belated introduction of restrictions on
conversion to align UK law on agricultural land use with EU law on
environmental impact assessment.
128
Activities that fall under the de
should be
scrutinised under decision rules that are designed to encourage ecolog-
ically benign development and to weed out proposals that present threats
of ecological harm. The former aim would be supported by a presump-
tion in favour of development proposals that are consistent with the
nition of
'
development
'
124
Chapter 3,
Section 3.2.1
.
125
Holder and Lee,
,p.510;S.Belland
D. McGillivray, Environmental Law, 7th edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2008), pp. 393
'
Environmental Protection, Law and Policy
'
4.
126
Holder and Lee,
-
'
Environmental Protection, Law and Policy
'
, pp. 513
-
14, 680
-
1; Bell
and McGillivray,
'
Environmental Law
'
,pp.734
-
6.
127
UK National Ecosystem Assessment,
'
The UK National Ecosystem Assessment
'
,
7.
128
Holder and Lee,
pp. 26
-
'
Environmental Protection, Law and Policy
'
,pp.681
-
2.
