THE ENVIRONMENT ACT FINALLY BECOMES LAW – 10 NOVEMBER 2021
Long in the making and discussing the Environment Act at last passed into law this month.

There is to be a bedding in period where there is a transition to the new regulatory regime, and there will be an Office of Environmental Protection established. From a development perspective, the targeted biodiversity enhancements will now be legally required under legislation. As these have been in place within local authorities for some time, they have already been trialled extensively, so the requirements to demonstrate biodiversity net gain are generally well-understood. 

What will be a challenge for developers and designers will be the need to establish ecological constraints and opportunities before the development is  designed  While this is presently considered best practice, it is unfortunately often ignored, with biodiversity enhancements shoe-horned into a proposal around built development.  This approach is unlikely to meet new legal requirements. JFA are working now with developers to rectify this approach on some sites, which we will be showcasing early next year. 

The big unknown is the change to the paperwork from the current position to post-environment Act implementation via regulation. Those have yet to be published. It is known that an  Office for Environmental Protection will be established.  This Office will scrutinize environmental policy and law, investigate complaints and take enforcement action against public authorities, if necessary, to uphold environmental standards. Given these roles, it is likely that the public may use the office to make complaints against competent authorities if planning permission is granted in the absence of robust analysis and mitigation for environmental harm.