National park authorities are to be handed a general power of competence, “which will clarify their legal framework, removing restrictions which prevent an entrepreneurial approach, and cut through bureaucracy to remove barriers to achieving more for people and nature”, the Government has announced.
The High Court has agreed to hear a judicial review challenge of Havering Council's decision not to allocate an illegal landfill behind pollution issues and wildfires as 'contaminated land'.
A landfill site that is the subject of a legal challenge from Newcastle Under Lyme Council for emitting odorous gasses has been hit with a closure order from the Environment Agency.
Regulator the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has been granted permission by the Court of Appeal to intervene in a case which could clarify how Government departments should consider environmental issues in policy making.
The Supreme Court has granted permission to appeal over whether the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 ("the Habitats Regulations"), properly interpreted, required an "appropriate assessment" before a local planning authority decided whether to discharge conditions on the approval of reserved matters, having previously granted outline planning permission, without such an…
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has appointed Jeremy Phillips KC and Horatio Waller, both of Francis Taylor Building Chambers, for its legal action against the operators of an odorous landfill site.
The High Court has rejected a judicial review challenge of the Government's plan to adapt to the impacts of climate change, known as the Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3).
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is seeking permission to intervene in a Court of Appeal case relating to housing energy efficiency standards, which the watchdog said would set a precedent concerning how the government takes account of environmental issues in its policies.
Economist Dan Corry has been appointed to carry out an internal review into the regulation and regulators at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).
The Supreme Court has allowed a woman’s appeal against the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland’s refusal of permission for judicial review against the regulator of a landfill site on the basis that there were “suitable alternative remedies”.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a practice recommendation to a water company after finding it was using too "narrow" a definition of 'environmental' to deny Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests.
In this paper Alex Goodman KC considers two cases about the role planning, and specifically local energy efficiency standards, can play in tackling climate change.
A recent challenge to the Government’s climate change adaptation programme failed – yet, it signalled key climate litigation trends. Ryan Kohli explains why.
Join the Green Steves in this insightful episode featuring Steve Gummer guest expert Manon Derelle, a seasoned professional in energy markets with over a decade of consulting experience.
A River Action board member has been granted permission by the High Court to challenge Shropshire Council’s approval of a large-scale poultry production unit in the River Severn catchment.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued a call for evidence seeking views on options to bring the UK’s policies into compliance with its obligation under the access to justice provision of the Aarhus Convention.
A council-run inquiry into a landfill at the centre of a long-running odour dispute has criticised the Environment Agency's (EA) involvement in regulating the site and concluded the landfill should be closed, capped and restored.
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is seeking permission to intervene in a Court of Appeal case on how regulations to protect and improve water are put into practice.
A campaign group found by three local mothers has threatened Havering Council with a judicial review claim over what they say is a lack of action from the local authority in dealing with a landfill site.
A legal campaign group has issued proceedings against Dartmoor Commons Council in a judicial review claim that argues the council has failed to curb overgrazing by sheep, breaching its duty to protect the moor's habitat.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has recommended that the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames council remove a mattress that had been dumped in a river in a council-run park, after the local authority argued it was “not its responsibility”.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has been granted permission by the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to take legal action against a landfill operator over odours emanating from the site.
The High Court has agreed to hear a judicial review challenge against the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero's decision to greenlight a carbon capture gas power station in Teesside.
A defendant who buried around 12,000 tonnes waste, including, asbestos in floodplain in Devon has been jailed for 32 months, following a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.
Local environmental activists are taking legal action against Shropshire Council over the spread of intensive poultry industry in the River Severn catchment.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has accepted there was an "error of law" in her predecessor's decision to grant planning permission for a coal mine in Cumbria in light of the recent landmark Supreme Court decision on downstream emissions.
The High Court has found the then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities acted lawfully in issuing a Written Ministerial Statement that prevented local authorities from setting energy efficiency standards for new buildings that exceed those in the Building Regulations.
A magistrates' court has ordered Anglian Water Services pay more than £50,000 in fines and costs after convicting the water company of failing, without reasonable excuse, to provide records to the Environment Agency.
The Supreme Court has affirmed that a canal company can pursue common law claims against United Utilities for nuisance and trespass due to the discharge of untreated effluent into its canal.
Campaigners have demanded Westmoreland and Furness Council investigate a statutory nuisance complaint over untreated sewage discharge into Lake Windermere. The group, Save Windermere, has employed the services of Nicholas Ostrowski of Six Pump Court in an attempt to encourage the council to launch a statutory nuisance investigation into United Utilities, under Section 79(1) of the Environmental…
The High Court has granted the Good Law Project permission to challenge the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's decision to exclude onshore wind from its policy on energy infrastructure.
Surrey County Council's decision to grant planning permission for an onshore oil drilling project was unlawful for failing to consider the downstream greenhouse gas emissions that will occur from the eventual use of the oil as fuel, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is facing a judicial review challenge after failing to launch a review of the Government's Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) in the wake of a damning report from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
The High Court will next week (18 and 19 June) hear a judicial review claim challenging the Government's plan to adapt to existing and predicted climate impacts.
Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth has filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), challenging the use of anti-protest injunctions in the UK.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) scheme "before having all the elements" in place needed to ensure its long-term success, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.
The Government acted irrationally and unlawfully, breaching the Climate Change Act 2008, when it adopted its Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, the High Court has found.
A local authority can only require an actual blockage to a watercourse to be removed, and cannot order the removal of related material from a wider area, the High Court has said.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is set to ask permission from the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to take legal action against a landfill operator over odours emanating from the site.
The High Court has dismissed the first challenge to an Inspector’s decision which refused planning permission for a development on grounds of water neutrality. Matt Lewin explains why.
In a ground-breaking decision handed down last week, the Supreme Court has ruled that the grant of planning permission for oil production in Surrey was unlawful for failing to assess the ‘downstream’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that will inevitably arise from the combustion of the fuel, following refinement of the crude oil. Barristers at Cornerstone Barristers analyse the ruling.
One of the UK’s leading infrastructure and renewable energy law firms Sharpe Pritchard has launched a new monthly Podcast, ‘Making Solar Simpler’ to help with the implementation of solar technology throughout the UK.
In the second episode of their ‘Making Solar Simpler’ podcast, Steve Gummer and Steve Cirell ("the Green Steves") are joined by Katie Sargent, the Greener Future Group Manager for Surrey County Council.
The landscape of heat network operations in the UK is set to undergo significant changes. On 30th April 2024 the Government published its response with Ofgem on consumer protection requirements for heat networks. Steve Gummer and Kamran Zaheer review the changes.
A refusal of planning permission for a quarry has been quashed over an error on biodiversity net gain. Jenny Wigley KC looks at the lessons from the case.
Anne Gerzon explains how the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 apply to the deemed grant of planning permission set out in the General Permitted Development Order 2015.
On 21 October 2023, the Government published its long awaited response to the results of its consultation on ‘Consistency in household and business recycling in England’. Sally Stock and Natasha Barlow examine the detail.
Jessica Arczynski and Rubianka Winspear set out some key considerations for landlords arising out of the Government’s announcement of Wave 2.2 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.