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Burridge v Breckland

Country/Territory
United Kingdom
Type of court
National - lower court
Date
Jan 15, 2013
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
Court of Appeal
Seat of court
London
Judge
Pill, Davis, Warren
Reference number
[2013] EWCA Civ 228
Language
English
Subject
Land & soil, Energy
Keyword
Renewable energy Land-use planning
Abstract

In this case, the plaintiff challenged the planning permission to build a biomass renewable energy plant connected through a pipeline to a combined heat power in the area where she lives.

The plaintiff challenged the decision on the basis that those two projects, the biomass renewable energy plant and the combined heat power, shall in fact be considered to be just one important project and consequently should result in one environmental impact assessment assessing the impact of the two projects together. The judge of first instance followed the plaintiff’s claim and considered that the interdependency between the two plans was obvious as that they could not work without each other. Therefore an environmental impact assessment was required because this project crossed the legal threshold for environmental impact assessment.

The defendant sought appeal in front of the Court of Appeal. The judges of the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the court of first instance and held that domestic regulations, including planning decision, have to be constructed in the light of the purpose of the EU Directive on environmental impact assessment. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed.

Full text
Barbara Burridge.pdf
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