The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has been granted permission by the Court of Appeal to intervene in the case of R (Pickering Fishery Association) v the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The aim of this intervention is to highlight the importance of clarity in the law to promote positive outcomes for English water bodies.
The appeal concerns a judicial review of the Secretary of State’s approval of the Humber River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Regulations. The Court of Appeal will consider whether planned programmes of measures to achieve the environmental objectives for the Upper Costa Beck water body in North Yorkshire were sufficient to meet the requirements of the WFD Regulations.
The appeal has wider ramifications for what should be contained in planned programmes of measures to achieve environmental objectives for water bodies across England.
OEP General Counsel, Peter Ashford, said: “Our recently published Water Report finds that over four in five of our rivers, lakes and other surface waters are not in good ecological condition, or on a trajectory towards it. Having adequate programmes of measures to achieve environmental objectives is key to reversing this trajectory and improving outcomes for water bodies in England. We are interested in this case because of the opportunity to clarify the law here to ensure proper decision-making that promotes positive outcomes for English water bodies.”
Notes to Editors
- Full reference for case subject to appeal: R (on the application of Pickering Fishery Association by Martin Smith) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2023] EWHC 2918 (Admin).
- Full statutory reference: the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017.
- Report reference: OEP, A review of implementation of the Water Framework Directive Regulations and River Basin Management Planning in England (May 2024), available here: OEP, OEP finds ‘deeply concerning’ issues with how the laws in place to protect England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters are being put into practice (2024) <www.theoep.org.uk/report/oep-finds-deeply-concerning-issues-how-laws-place-protect-englands-rivers-lakes-and-coastal> accessed 10 September 2024.
