Over time, an abandoned railway line had become a habitat for local wildlife. The claimant now objected to the grant of planning permission for a light railway.
Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. For an act to fall within 12(1)(b) of the Directive so as to be a Deliberate Disturbance, the act complained of had to be directed at the protected species. As from 2009, the effect only of local distributions of the species need be considered. The disturbance need not be significant. When considering an application which ostensibly affected habitat of a species protected under European law or the species itself, an authority must have regard to the Directive’s requirements.
Ward, Hughes, Patten LJJ
[2010] EWCA Civ 608, [2010] WLR (D) 145, [2010] PTSR 1882, [2010] JPL 1600, [2010] NPC 67
Bailii, WLRD
Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c) Regulations 1994, Council Directive 92/43/EEC (OJ L206, p 7) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Commission v Greece C-103/00 ECJ 30-Jan-2002
ECJ Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations – Directive 92/43/EEC – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Protection of species.
Advocate General Leger explained article . .
Cited – Commission v Spain ECJ 18-May-2006
ECJ Failure by a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 92/43/EEC – Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora – Protection of species – Hunting using stopped snares in private hunting . .
Cited – Commission v United Kingdom ECJ 20-Oct-2005
ECJ Failure of a Member State to fufil obligations – Directive 92/43/EEC – Conservation of natural habitats – Wild fauna and flora.
The respondent had failed properly to transpose the Habitats Directive into . .
Cited – Woolley, Regina (On the Application of) v Cheshire East Borough Council Admn 5-Jun-2009
. .
See Also – Morge v Hampshire County Council CA 28-Jan-2010
. .
At First Instance – Morge v Hampshire County Council Admn 17-Nov-2009
. .
Cited by:
Appeal from – Morge v Hampshire County Council SC 19-Jan-2011
The claimants had challenged the allocation of a former railwy line to become a rapid bus service, saying that the Council had failed properly to take account of the Habitats Directive. The Supreme Court was asked as to the extent of doisturbance to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Planning, Animals, European
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.416600
