Environmental Law News Update

In this latest Environmental Law News Update, William Upton KC and Victoria Kaye consider the Welsh approach to Environment Principles as well as why you should aim to get planning application and any objections ‘appeal ready’ from the start.

The direct effect of Egwyddorion Amgylcheddol – the Welsh approach to Environment Principles

It will be worth keeping an eye on how Environmental Principles will soon apply in Wales. The Sennedd passed the wide-ranging Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill on 24 February 2026. The Bill now awaits Royal Assent, which is expected within four weeks or so. It has the potential for much greater impact than we have seen the equivalent legislation have in England.

Environmental Principles
Part 1 deals with the Environmental Objective and Principles. The four Principles will be familiar to those who know the equivalent provisions in England in the Environment Act 2021, and to practitioners with any EU law background. They have been part of the fabric of environmental regulation for decades. Part 1 enshrines four environmental principles into Welsh law: the precautionary principle (so far as relating to the environment), the principle that preventative action should be taken to avoid environmental damage, the principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source, and the polluter pays principle.

The novelty lies in what the Act requires to be done with them. Under section 3, Welsh Ministers must have ‘special regard’ to the environmental principles when making policy that has, or could have, any effect on the environment. They must integrate environmental protection into that policy-making. The same duty is imposed on Natural Resources Wales (NRW) by (s.4, by amending the Natural Resources Body for Wales Establishment Order 2012). Welsh Ministers must also publish a statement explaining how the principles relate to each other, how they relate to the environmental objective, and how compliance is to be demonstrated (s.6).

These principles should be real working tools. For those familiar with the Environment Act 2021, the English duty on Ministers is to ‘have regard to’ a policy statement about how the principles are to be applied. Wales will require Ministers and NRW to ‘have special regard to’ the principles themselves, directly, when making policy. The difference in drafting is deliberate. ‘Special regard’ is a well-known term of art, importing a more elevated obligation than ordinary ‘have-regard’ duties. Requiring it to be applied to the principles directly – rather than to a higher-level statement about the principles – brings the obligations closer to the point of decision. Wales also expressly includes NRW, whereas the English legislation does not impose equivalent direct duties on Natural England or on the Environment Agency.

Biodiversity Targets

The Act is less effective on its face when it comes to biodiversity targets. The story is one of deferred ambition. Part 3 of the Bill does not set any targets itself – despite that being a long-standing aspiration and part of the Bill’s very title. Instead, Welsh Ministers are required to bring forward draft regulations setting targets within two years of Royal Assent. Whether that reflects the difficulty of getting an agreed set of targets ready in time, or the pressure of legislating before the May 2026 Senedd elections, or some combination of the two is a matter of inference. The commitment is real; the targets are not, yet.

The Governance part of the Bill: Part 2 and the OEGW

The Bill finally establishes the Office for Environmental Governance Wales (OEGW). There has only been a temporary person in post to date, the Interim Environmental Protection Assessor in Wales, who has had no investigation or enforcement role. This is in contrast to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP, covering England and Northern Ireland) and Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) which became statutory environmental governance bodies in 2021. Wales is the last of the UK nations to establish an environmental governance body, to cover the gap left when we exited the EU.

Wales has learnt something from its neighbours’ experiences. The new OEGW will monitor the effectiveness and implementation of environmental law (including the progress against targets), as well as having the ability to issue compliance notices if there is or has been a failure to comply with environmental law by public authorities. It can back these up by asking the High Court for an order requiring the specified action to be taken. They can issue improvement reports to Welsh Ministers and other Welsh public authorities. A duty is placed on Welsh Ministers to respond with an improvement plan. The body’s remit will still not include decisions on specific cases made by public authorities. Much of the work is likely to be by persuasion – as it is with the OEP. The OEGW can give advice to Ministers and also (unlike the OEP) to other public authorities, and ask to intervene in court cases. At least there will now be more than one person doing this job in Wales.

Prepare to get your planning application and any objections ‘appeal ready’ from the start

One important note from the planning sphere, which has more importance than its procedural nature might suggest. The Planning Inspectorate have had charge for while of deciding the mode of an appeal – whether an appeal is determined on paper (by way of written representations), or is allowed to have an informal hearing, or – rarely now – a public inquiry.  The drive towards the more dirigiste and bureaucratically convenient written route has got stronger.  There has now been an expansion of what is called the ‘expedited written representations’ appeal procedure (or Part 1) to all planning appeals under section 78.  PINS advice is now that “All appeals made in relation to applications submitted on or after 01/04/2026 that are made under section 78(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, will follow the part 1 procedure.”

In this expedited procedure, there are no submissions of new information or further representations at the appeal stage by any party – including Interested people. You have to anticipate problems, and aim to get it right first time, in dealing with the application. Otherwise you can only hope to persuade the Inspectorate that it should not apply Part 1, if you do find that you need to amend or respond to the reasons for refusal. That does raise issues of fairness, and it is going to be even more difficult to submit late documents.

The main exceptions are that this does not apply to appeals against non-determination, or appeals relating to an application for listed building consent. Sometimes, PINS says, it may decide to follow a more complex written procedure (or ‘Part 2’) and gives, as the example, that appeals against an LPA’s refusal of a biodiversity gain plan will usually follow the part 2 procedure.

The Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure) (England) (Amendment and Saving Provision) Regulations 2026 will apply to applications made on or after 1 April 2026.