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These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.  














Environment - From: 2003 To: 2003

This page lists 34 cases, and was prepared on 27 May 2018.

 
Wotton, Regina (on the Application Of) v Central Devon Magistrates' Court [2003] EWHC 146 (Admin)
27 Jan 2003
Admn

Crime, Environment

Environmental Protection Act 1990 80(4) 80(5)
[ Bailii ]
 
Conwy County Borough Council, Regina (on the Application Of) v Lloyd [2003] EWHC 264 (Admin)
3 Feb 2003
Admn

Crime, Environment
Digging up of hedgerows
Hedgerows Regulations 1997
[ Bailii ]
 
Regina (Goodman and Another) v Lewisham London Borough Council Times, 21 February 2003; [2003] EWCA Civ 140; Gazette, 03 April 2003; [2003] JPL 1309
14 Feb 2003
CA
Brooke, Buxton, LJJ, Morland J
Environment, Planning, Local Government
Claimants challenged the grant of planning consent for the construction of a storage and distribution facility without first undertaking an environmental impact assessment. Held: The local authority had concluded that the project could not be encompassed by the phrases 'infrastructure project' or 'urban development project'. Whilst there migt be some scope for disagreement, that did not mean that a decision could only be challenged by way of review as to its Wednesbury unreasonableness. If in law the interpretation was incorrect, the judge had a duty to correct it, and that did not involve such considerations, though the issue might arise later. The interpretation was outside the range of reasonable responses, and the appeal was allowed.
Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999 (1999 No 293) Sch 2 10(b)
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Commission v Belgium (Judgment) C-415/01; [2003] EUECJ C-415/01
27 Feb 2003
ECJ

European, Environment, Animals
Complaint was made that the member state had failed to implement the Directive. Held: The state did not dispute its failure, and the complaint was upheld. There was provision applying to the Région flamande to automatically link the classification of a site as an Specially Protected Aarea to the application of the system of protection and conservation required by Community law.
Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds
[ Bailii ]
 
Express Ltd (T/A Express Dairies Distribution) v Environment Agency [2003] EWHC 448 (Admin)
27 Feb 2003
Admn

Environment

Water Resources Act 1991 85(1) 85(6)
[ Bailii ]
 
Maureen Smith v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and Regions and others [2003] EWCA Civ 262
5 Mar 2003
CA
Lord Justice Sedley Lord Justice Waller Mrs Justice Black
Planning, Environment
The court distilled four principles in deciding whether an environmental impact assessment was to be required. At the outline consent stage the planning authority must have sufficient details of any impact on the environment and of any mitigation to enable it to comply with its regulation 4(2) obligation; and there will be a failure to comply with regulation 4(2) if questions relating to the significance of the impact on the environment and the effectiveness of any mitigation are left over. But it is consistent with these principles to leave final details of, for example, a landscaping scheme, to be clarified in the context of a reserved matter or by virtue of a condition.
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Bown, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Transport [2003] EWHC 819 (Admin)
26 Mar 2003
Admn
Collins J
Planning, Environment, European
The court rejected objections to a proposed bypass on the grounds that it would interfere with otter habitats, and an area which should be designated as a Special Protection Area for Birds. Held: The Wild Birds Directive had not seperately been implemented into UK law, but rather left to planning legislation. The challenge failed.
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
SITA C-116/01 [2003] 2 CMLR 4; [2004] QB 262; [2003] ECR I-2969; C-116/01; [2003] EUECJ C-116/01; [2004] 2 WLR 259
3 Apr 2003
ECJ

Environment
ECJ (Judgment) Environment - Waste - Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 - Directive 75/442/EEC - Treatment of waste in several stages - Use of waste as fuel in the cement industry and use of incineration residues as raw material in cement manufacture- Classification as a recovery operation or as a disposal operation - Concept of the use of waste principally as a fuel or other means to generate energy
[ Bailii ]
 
Lewisham v Elias [2003] EWHC 1184 (Admin)
9 May 2003
Admn

Criminal Practice, Environment

Environmental Protection Act 1990 80
[ Bailii ]
 
Harry A Coff Ltd , Regina (on the Application Of) v Environment Agency [2003] EWHC 1305 (Admin)
13 May 2003
Admn

Environment, Crime, Licensing

Environment Protection Act 1990
[ Bailii ]
 
Murray, Regina (on the Application Of) v Hampshire County Council [2003] EWCA Civ 760
14 May 2003
CA

Planning, Environment

1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Commission v Greece (Judgment) C-352/02; [2003] EUECJ C-352/02
5 Jun 2003
ECJ

European, Environment
Europa Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Failure to transpose Directive 2000/14/EC - Noise emission in the environment.
Directive 2000/14/EC
[ Bailii ]
 
Commission v Spain (Judgment) C-446/01; [2003] EUECJ C-446/01
12 Jun 2003
ECJ

European, Environment
Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Directive 75/442/EEC - Environment - Waste management.
[ Bailii ]
 
Regina (Mayer Parry Recycling Ltd) v Environment Agency and Another; Corus (UK) Ltd and Another, Interveners C-444/00; Times, 14 July 2003; [2003] EUECJ C-444/00; [2004] Env LR 6; [2004] 1 WLR 2644
19 Jun 2003
ECJ
Advocate General Alber
Environment, European, Licensing
The applicants took in ferrous scrap, sorted and cut it, selling it on to processors who would use the material in a second stage recycling process to produce ingots. The claimed entitlement to credit under the regulations. Held: The second stage was a recycling process, but the first was not. A reprocessor was someone carrying out the process of recovery or recycling. 'Recycling' means reprocessing in a production process of the waste materials for the original purpose or for other purposes including organic recycling, but excluding energy recovery'. The provision of the 94 Directive were lex specialis as regards the earlier Directive, and it related to packaging waste only. Such packaging waste had to be worked to enable new material or product to be made from it with characteristics comparable to those of the material from which it was derived.
Advocate General Alber said: "The Court of Justice has thus refused to make classification of a material as waste dependent on its economic value, its fitness for reuse . . or the environmental hazards posed by it . . The holder's conduct can be appraised only with regard to his intentions, a fact which causes the body applying the law considerable difficulties.
The Court of Justice solves this problem by inferring an intention to discard the substance from objective indicators; in doing so it has regard both to all the factual circumstances and to the aim of the waste Directive . .''
Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (1994/1056) - Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (1997 No 648) - Council Directive 94/96/EC of December 20 1994 on packaging and packaging waste regulations
1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Barker, Regina (on the Application of) v London Borough of Bromley [2003] UKHL 45
30 Jun 2003
HL
Bingham of Cornhill, Steyn, Hope of Craighead, Hutton, and Scott of Foscote
European, Planning, Environment
The House referred to the European Court the question as to whether an environmental impact assessment was required if outline permission having been granted without an assessment, the matter proceeds with approval of the matters reserved.
Directive 85/337/EEC
[ House of Lords ] - [ Bailii ]
 
Fisher and Another v English Nature [2003] EWHC 1599 (Admin); Times, 15 September 2003; [2004] 1 WLR 503
4 Jul 2003
Admn
Lightman J
Environment, Land, Human Rights
The claimants were trustees of land. The Respondent had notified the Secretary of State that they considered that part of the land satisfied the criteria to be certifed as being of special scientific interest. They now intended to confirm the notification. The claimants said that they could have considered alternative ways of protecting the land including acceptance of undertakings or alternative designations which were less onerous. Held: The statute required that if the respondent remained genuinely convinced that the site satisfied the criteria, it had no discretion and had to confirm the notification. The notification was not therefore disproportionate. The claimant had disavowed any challenge of the underlying law, and therefore the claim failed.
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 28(1)
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina on the Application of Prokopp v London Underground Ltd and others Gazette, 11 September 2003
7 Jul 2003
CA
Lord Justice Kennedy Lord Justice Buxton Lord Justice Schiemann
Planning, Environment


 
Regina v Searby and Another Times, 29 August 2003
7 Jul 2003
CACD
Buxton LJ, Gibbs, Paget QC JJ
Crime, Environment, European
The defendant had been accused of storing unlicensed pesticides. He sought to argue that the European Regulations had been implemented in the UK in an unduly restrictive form. He entered a plea of guilty on a ruling that it was not open to him to challenge the regulations. Held: The Regulations, which sought to control the use of parallel imports of pesticides, did appear to implement the regulation more tightly. The definition of what was materially identical to an approved pesticide created unnecessarily restrictions on approvals. The Directive was of direct effect. Boddington did not apply, but the importance of the case to the defendant was not properly a Boddington condition of challenging the legislation.
Council Directive 91/414/EEC - Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 (1986 No 1510) - Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 16(12)
1 Cites



 
 Hatton and Others v The United Kingdom; ECHR 8-Jul-2003 - Times, 10 July 2003; 36022/97; [2003] 37 EHRR 611; [2003] 37 EHRR 28
 
Hart v Anglian Water Services Ltd Times, 18 August 2003
31 Jul 2003
CACD

Environment, Criminal Sentencing, Utilities
In a private prosecution, Mr Hart complained that the defendant had allowed untreated sewage to be discharged into controlled waters. The defendant pleaded guilty, but now appealed the fine of £200,000. Held: The sentence was imposed on the basis that the discharge was substantial, and the effect on the environment disastrous. The defendant had many convictions for similar offences. Such discharges were properly characterised as criminal, and it was a question of what priority was given to prevention by the company. There was no standard tariff or scale of penalties, and the court declined to set one, referring only to a guideline booklet produced by the Magistrates association. Here the fine remained manifestly excessive, and was reduced to £60,000.
Water Resources Act 1991 85(3)

 
Bown v Secretary of State for Transport [2003] EWCA Civ 1170
31 Jul 2003
CA
Lord Justice Waller Lord Justice Carnwath Lord Phillips Of Worth Matravers, Mr
Planning, Environment
The appeal concerned the environmental effect of the erection of a bridge being part of a bypass. It was claimed that the area should have been designated as a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA), and that if so it should be treated as such for planning purposes whether or not actually designated. There was at an early stage strong evidence that the site deserved protection, and little was known about why it had not been designated, but the excusion from being a protected area could have been challenged at the time, and the RSPB had withdrawn its own request that the site be listed. Held: It was now far too late to challenge the 1994 decision not to list. Although the appeal failed, it served a useful purpose in exposing an apparent lack of transparency in the procedures for classifying SPAs.
Lord Justice Carnwath said: "The speeches [in Berkeley] need to be read in context. Lord Bingham emphasised the very narrow basis on which the case was argued in the House . . The developer was not represented in the House, and there was no reference to any evidence of actual prejudice to his or any other interests. Care is needed in applying the principles there decided to other circumstances, such as cases where as here there is clear evidence of a pressing public need for the scheme which is under attack."
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Belize Alliance of Conservation Non-Governmental Organisations v Department of the Environment and Another (No 2) [2003] UKPC 63; Times, 25 September 2003; Gazette, 16 October 2003
13 Aug 2003
PC
Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe Sir Martin Nourse Sir Andrew Leggatt
Commonwealth, Litigation Practice, Environment
(Belize) The applicants sought an interim order preventing continuation of the building of a dam, saying that the environmental damage had not been properly aanticipated. Held: The Board of the Council did have power to grant an interim injunction to preserve the situation pending a final ruling. That power derived from the power of any superior court to supervise its own procedures. The principles to be applied were the general ones applying those from American Cynamid, amended as necessary to accord with the context of public law. However, here the very substantial works were already under way, the claimants were understandably unable to undertake for any damages, and the balance of convenience lay against the applicants, and no order should be made.
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ] - [ PC ] - [ PC ]
 
Monsanto Agricoltura Italia SpA and Others v Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri and Others C-236/01; [2003] EUECJ C-236/01
9 Sep 2003
ECJ

European, Consumer, Environment
Europa Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Lazio - Italy. Regulation (EC) No 258/97 - Novel foods - Placing on the market - Safety assessment - Simplified procedure - Substantial equivalence to existing foods - Foods produced from genetically modified maize - Presence of residues of transgenic protein - Measure by a Member State temporarily restricting or suspending the trade in or use of a novel food in its territory.
[ Bailii ]
 
Commission of the European Communities v Ireland C-67/02; [2003] EUECJ C-67/02
11 Sep 2003
ECJ

European, Environment
ECJ Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Article 5 of Directive 79/923/EEC - Quality of shellfish waters - Pollution-reduction programme.
[ Bailii ]
 
AvestaPolarit Chrome Oy C-114/01; [2003] EUECJ C-114/01
11 Sep 2003
ECJ

European, Environment
Europa Reference for a preliminary ruling: Korkein hallinto-oikeus - Finland. Approximation of laws - Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC - Meaning of waste - Production residue - Mine - Use - Storage - Article 2(1)(b) - Meaning of other legislation - National legislation outside the framework of Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC. The court tied further Directives to the Waste Management Directive: "… in contrast to what is expressly laid down in respect of the categories of waste listed in Article 2(1)[(1)] of [the] Directive … , the categories of waste which are the subject of individual directives under Article 2(2) remain subject overall to the … Directive, even if individual rules derogating from its provisions may be adopted on certain aspects and supplementary rules may be adopted with a view to more extensive harmonisation of the management of the waste in question. …"
1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Commission v Netherlands C-322/00; [2003] EUECJ C-322/00
2 Oct 2003
ECJ

European, Animals, Environment
ECJ Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations - Directive 91/676/EEC - Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources - Article 5(4) and (5), paragraphs A(1), (2), (4) and (6) of Annex II and paragraph 1(2) and (3) and paragraph 2 of Annex III - Capacity of storage vessels for livestock manure - Limitation of the land application of fertilisers based on a balance between the foreseeable nitrogen requirements of crops and the nitrogen supply to crops from the soil and from fertilisation - Ensuring that the amount of livestock manure applied to land each year does not exceed a specified amount per hectare - Provisions contained in a code of good agricultural practice and covering periods, conditions and procedures for the land application of fertilisers - Obligation to adopt any additional measures or reinforced actions necessary
Directive 91/676/EEC
[ Bailii ]
 
Jones, Regina (on the Application of) v Mansfield District Council and Another [2004] Env LR 391; [2003] EWCA Civ 1408; Times, 31 October 2003
16 Oct 2003
CA
Lord Justice Laws Ord Justice Dyson And Lord Justice Carnwath
Planning, Environment, Judicial Review
Plannning permission was sought. Objectors said that it would have such an impact that an environmental impact assessment was required. They now sought judicial review of the decision to proceed without one. Held: The judge had explained the approach correctly, and the role of the court is to conduct a Wednesbury review of the decision of the council. That review was also correct. It was not a Gillespie case. The committee already had substantial information before it. A planning authority could not rely upon undertakings and conditions to secure compliance with the requirements for an assessment.
Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 - Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 17 June 1995 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Tewkesbury Borough Council v Deacon [2003] EWHC 2544 (Admin)
20 Oct 2003
Admn

Nuisance, Environment

[ Bailii ]
 
Regina on the Application of Feakins v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2003] EWCA Civ 1546; Times, 07 November 2003; Gazette, 02 January 2004; [2004] 1 WLR 1761
4 Nov 2003
CA
Lord Justice Jonathan Parker Lord Justice Thorpe Lord Justice Dyson
Agriculture, Environment, Judicial Review
The applicant farmer had substantial volumes of potentially contaminated carcasses on his land. The respondent derogated from the European regulations which would have arranged for the disposal of the carcasses. The respondent challenged the standing of the applicant to seek review of the decision. The judge acknowledged the possibility that the applicant had only his private interests at heart, but considered that he could proceed because of the significance of the decision under review. The applicant's motive was capable of being relevant, but was not such here as to make the application an abuse.
Dyson LJ addressed the question of abuse of process in the context of Judicial Review proceedings, saying: "In my judgment, if a claimant has no sufficient private interest to support a claim to standing, then he should not be accorded standing merely because he raises an issue in which there is, objectively speaking, a public interest. As Sedley J said in R v Somerset County Council, Ex p Dixon [1997] JPL 1030, when considering the issue of standing, the court had to ensure that the claimant was not prompted by an ill motive, and was not a mere busybody or a trouble-maker. Thus, if a claimant seeks to challenge a decision in which he has no private law interest, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which the court will accord him standing, even where there is a public interest in testing the lawfulness of the decision, if the claimant is acting out of ill-will or for some other improper purpose. It is an abuse of process to permit a claimant to bring a claim in such circumstances. If the real reason why a claimant wishes to challenge a decision in which, objectively, there is a public interest is not that he has a genuine concern about the decision, but some other reason, then that is material to the question whether he should be accorded standing."
1 Cites

1 Citers

[ Bailii ]
 
Commission v United Kingdom C-434/01; [2003] EUECJ C-434/01
6 Nov 2003
ECJ

European, Animals, Environment
ECJ Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Directive 92/43/EEC - Conservation of natural habitats - Wild fauna and flora
Directive 92/43/EEC
[ Bailii ]
 
Autriche v Commission (Judgment) C-356/01; [2003] EUECJ C-356/01
20 Nov 2003
ECJ

European, Environment, Transport
ECJ System of ecopoints for heavy goods vehicles transiting through Austria - Refusal by the Commission to reduce the number of ecopoints for 2001 - Legality.
[ Bailii ]

 
 Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Limited; HL 4-Dec-2003 - [2003] UKHL 66; Times, 05 December 2003; Gazette, 29 January 2004; [2004] 2 AC 42; [2003] 50 EGCS 95; [2003] 3 WLR 1603; [2004] 1 All ER 135; [2003] NPC 150; 91 Con LR 1; [2004] BLR 1; [2004] UKHRR 253; [2004] Env LR 25; [2004] HRLR 10
 
Blackland Park Exploration Ltd v Environment Agency Times, 02 January 2004; [2003] EWCA Civ 1795
15 Dec 2003
CA
Simon Brown, Mummery, Scott Baker LJJ
Environment, Civil Procedure Rules, Environment
The landowner disposed of liquid waste into oil bearing strata via a deep borehole. At that depth, it would not mix with what was being extracted elsewhere. Held: The judge had been correct to refuse a declaration as to the lawfulness.
Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 (2002 No 1559) 3(2) 9 - Civil Procedure Rules 40.20
1 Cites

[ Bailii ]
 
Blackland Park Exploration Ltd v Environment Agency Times, 02 January 2004; [2003] EWCA Civ 1795
15 Dec 2003
CA
Simon Brown, Mummery, Scott Baker LJJ
Environment, Civil Procedure Rules, Environment
The landowner disposed of liquid waste into oil bearing strata via a deep borehole. At that depth, it would not mix with what was being extracted elsewhere. Held: The judge had been correct to refuse a declaration as to the lawfulness.
Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 (2002 No 1559) 3(2) 9 - Civil Procedure Rules 40.20
1 Cites

[ Bailii ]
 
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