Wildlife and Countryside Link has welcomed a Supreme Court judgment upholding the Habitats Regulations. In today’s judgment in C G Fry & Son Ltd v SSCLG and another the Supreme Court confirmed that public authorities must carry out an “appropriate assessment” for development proposals that may harm wildlife sites protected under the Habitats Regulations at all relevant stages of the planning process. 

The ruling makes clear that the Habitats Regulations provide continuing protection for sites of international and national importance throughout the development process. By rejecting arguments that duties to assess environmental impacts are limited to the earliest stages of planning, the Court has ensured that nature protection remains a live duty throughout the entire planning consent procedure.

However, the judgment also said that different rules apply to Ramsar Sites (globally important wetlands). Government policy in the form of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) offers Ramsar sites the same level of policy protection as the Habitats Regulations. However, the judgment stated that “the Court of Appeal erred in giving a statement of policy… the same status and force as a legal rule set out in legislation” (para 60).