The protection of wildlife habitats from harmful development via legal and regulatory processes

Almost fifty years since the introduction of official habitat protection and systematic town and country planning, wildlife habitats continue to suffer damage and destruction from development. In focusing upon development threat, this paper embraces the interaction between habitat protection law and the planning mechanism. This thesis aims to evaluate the role of legal and regulatory processes in protecting habitats from harmful development. After exploring the historical and political development of this field, current law and regulations are explained, and critically assessed. Consideration is then given to the operation of this protective regime in practice. Cases selected from the planning registers of two local planning authorities, and supported by other high profile planning cases from around the UK, are assessed to ascertain the weight attached to ecology in the consideration of planning applications. The thesis then turns to the enforcement process; two detailed studies facilitating investigation of this. Both cases concern development threats to habitats of international importance. Cardiff Bay Barrage focuses upon the role of the European Commission in enforcing Community law; Lappel Bank is the subject of litigation on behalf of a voluntary conservationist plaintiff The main conclusion drawn is that wildlife habitats do not receive adequate protection from legal and regulatory processes vis-à-vis harmful development. The continuation of such a state of affairs will ultimately result in substantial losses of habitat types and species. However, the emergence of European environmental law, and the continued growth of voluntary organisations prepared to intervene in this field, give cause for optimism.