The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is seeking permission to intervene in a Court of Appeal case relevant to how regulations in place to protect and improve water are put into practice.
It has filed an application with the Court for permission to intervene in the appeal of R (Pickering Fishery Association) v the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The aim of seeking 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.
The OEP’s intervention is prompted by this alleged failure of the Secretary of State to comply with environmental law and follows on from the OEP’s recently published report into implementation of the WFD Regulations and River Basin Management Planning in 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.
“We will now wait to hear whether the Court of Appeal grants permission for the OEP to intervene.”
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.
- Full 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.
- Under section 41 Environment Act 2021 the OEP must publish a statement where it applies to intervene in a case.
