§ Mr. WardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider strengthening planning controls and regulations on developers to include environmental concerns.
§ Mr. YeoEnvironmental concerns must already be taken into account by local planning authorities when determining any planning application in so far as they are material to that application. The Government's planning policy guidance emphasises the importance of such concerns, and identifies some of the matters which must, where relevant, be taken into account. The Government will continue to review that guidance, as promised in the Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance" (Cm 1200).
The Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 require environmental assessment as part of the planning process for many development proposals which are likely to have significant environmental effects. These regulations implement directive 85/337/EEC for this purpose.