Environmental assessment in the UK planning process A review of practice

Environmental assessment (EA) has been a feature of UK planning legislation and practice since 1988. This paper presents data on 40 case studies in order to provide an overview of the process to date. The various findings are presented for each stage of the EA process, and are compared with results previously published elsewhere. The study indicates that the performance of environmental assessment in the UK is mixed; however, the overwhelming response was that it had been of benefit. The research undertaken indicates a number of steps that could be taken to improve the process further.