Miscellaneous 9

United Kingdom

Hedges

12.1 The Government is seeking views on the problem of high boundary hedges in a consultation paper "High Hedges: possible solutions. A consultation paper covering England and Wales". The consultation paper, which includes Leylandii, has been issued in response to the growing number of complaints and criticisms of hedges grown as windbreaks or visual screens which block out light from surrounding gardens and accommodation. The DETR has corresponded with the horticultural and landscape industries to offer alternatives to fast-growing species such as Leylandii to produce a leaflet which will be widely available through garden centres and other sales outlets. The consultation paper is also seeking views on neigh-bour disputes related to high boundary hedges. (DETR, November 1999)

Countryside

12.2 The Queen's Speech of 17 November 1999 included an environment Bill promising a "right to roam" on open countryside. The Bill promises improved protection of wildlife sites, stiffer penalties for landowners who damage sites of special scientific interest, an increase in penalties and powers to prosecute for wildlife species offences (including possible jail sentences for collectors of wild birds' eggs) and a modernisation of the existing system of footpaths and other rights of way. Access terms are to be agreed between landowners and Access Forums, currently being established by the Countryside Agency, with access allowed to be restricted where necessary for conservation or land management. (The Queen's Speech, 17 November 1999)

Food Standards

12.3 The Food Standards Bill received Royal Assent on 11 November 1999 thereby giving the go-ahead for the establishment of a Food Standards Agency. The Agency has been the subject of extensive consultation which started in May 1997. Under the new Act, the Agency will be a UK body accountable to Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly. It will operate at arm's length from Ministers under the responsibility of a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and members. MAFF and the Department of Health have worked in close co-operation to build consumer confidence in the safety and quality of food and hope that the new Agency will take a strategic view of food safety and standards across the whole food chain, promoting new standards for openness and transparency. (MAFF News Release, 11 November 1999)

Transport

12.4 The current planning policy guidance for transport (PPG13) has been revised with a draft issued for consultation by the DETR. The draft guidance follows the 1998 Transport White Paper in emphasising choice and promoting integration in transport and reducing the need to travel, especially by car. The guidance recommends that policies and development plans should set maximum levels of parking for broad classes of development which encourage sustainable transport choices and promote development in locations well served by public transport, walking and cycling and that there should be no minimum requirements for development. To promote consistency, national maximum parking standards are proposed for a wide range of major developments. The guidance addresses various methods of managing demand for travel, with quick and easy interchange identified as essential for integration of modes of transport. There will also be a system of variable restrictions on new connections to trunk roads with the most severe restrictions applied where roads join motorways. The draft urges local authorities to locate developments generating substantial freight movement away from congested central areas and nearer to main transport routes. (DETR, October 1999)

Green Ministers

12.5 Following the appointment of seven new members to the Green Ministers Committee due to Ministerial portfolio changes last year, the Committee has held a meeting to discuss its work programme. In particular the Committee agreed to take an active role in this year's review of Government spending to ensure that sustainable development is a key consideration. From April 2000 the Committee will review proposals for new energy targets for government estate and consider possible approaches for raising awareness in Government of sustainable development. (DETR News Release, 22 November 1999)

Sustainable Development

12.6 "Quality of Life Counts: Indicators for a Strategy for Sustainable Development in the United Kingdom" follows on from "A Better Quality of Life: a Strategy for Sustainable Development for the United Kingdom" which was published in May 1999. Published by the DETR, this latest report includes 14 "headline" indicators of sustainable development including economic growth, investment, employment, qualifications at age 19, expected years of healthy life, housing quality, crime, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, traffic levels, water quality, wild bird populations, new homes built on greenfield sites and waste. A fifteenth indicator on poverty and social exclusion has been added showing elderly people experiencing fuel poverty, working-age people with no qualifications, working-age people living in households with no-one in full-time employment and children living in households with persistently low incomes. The report includes a further 132 more detailed indicators including water leakage, landscape features, ethical trading and respiratory illness. For each of the indicators, the report includes an assessment of whether the indicator has been moving in a direction consistent with sustainable development over the last 30 years and over the last decade. The report shows that a child born at the turn of the millennium has improving air quality, education standards and housing but will have to deal with climate change, rising levels of waste and an increase in crime. (DETR, December 1999)

Highways

12.7 "Towards a Balance with Nature" is an environmental strategy the Government has given the Highways Agencies as the first of a series of plans requiring the Agency to make greater efforts to protect the environment along the road network. Included in the new strategy are requirements for the Agency to use noise-reducing surfaces for roads that need to be resurfaced, use environmentally sustainable materials, develop a biodiversity action plan to manage land next to motorways, co-operate with the construction industry on recycling materials, increase the use of environmentally friendly lighting on motorways and develop a research programme for water management in relation to roads. Other plans will cover safety, maintenance, improvement of the network, integration with other transport modes, support for the economy, accessibility for cycling, horseriding and pedestrians. (Highways Agency News Release, 30 November 1999)

Habitats

12.8 The High Court recently judged that the Habitats Directive must apply to all UK waters in a landmark ruling which protects coral reefs, whales and dolphins in Britain's North East Atlantic. The Government announced that it does not intend to appeal against the judgment, claimed as a significant victory by Greenpeace, who lodged nearly 4,000 pages of evidence concerning breaches by the UK Government of the Habitats Directive. The Government and oil companies, to comply fully with the Habitats Directive, must carry out environmental impact assessments for potential drilling areas for up to 200 nautical miles off the UK coast. Before the ruling, they had only been required to complete impact assessments for up to 12 miles offshore. (DTI News Release, 23 November 1999, Greenpeace Business, December 1999/January 2000)

Sustainable Development

12.9 Following the Government's intention to establish a new Sustainable Development Commission, the DETR organised a seminar with the Round Table on Sustainable Development, established in 1995, to consider proposals for the Commission. Following this seminar, a report has been published of the proceedings. It was decided at the seminar that the successes of the Round Table should be built on for the development a Sustainable Development Commission. It was decided that the Commission would need a Chairman and would need access to the Prime Minister and other Ministers. The Round Table has welcomed the proposal to establish a Sustainable Development Commission, believing that sustainable development is a vital national objective. The Round Table favours the Sustainable Development Commission being formerly sponsored by the Cabinet Office and supported in day to day terms by the DETR, rather than being sponsored formally by the DETR. This would then mean that the new Commission would publish its reports for submission to be laid before Parliament to the Prime Minister via the Cabinet Office reflecting the importance of sustainable development policy. It is hoped that the Commission will come into existence in Spring 2000. (Round Table on Sustainable Development, October 1999)

European Union

Sustainable Development

12.10 The European Commission has adopted a Communication on integrating environmental protection into key policy areas. "Integrating Environment and Sustainable Development into Economic and Development Co-operation Policy" presents a comprehensive framework for integrating environmental considerations into EU co-operation ties with developing countries. The paper states that EU economic and development co-operation should support developing countries' efforts to protect their own environment and the shared global environment. It recommends that policies should be coherent in relation to third countries and that the impacts, including environmental impacts of EC policies on developing countries should be analysed. The paper insists on capacity building in both EU institutions and target countries in order to fully integrate environmental considerations into all development programmes. (COM(99)499, 20 October 1999)

Environment Policy

12.11 The Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström, spoke at the European Environment Bureau Annual Conference held in Brussels at the end of November 1999 on the global assessment of the Fifth Environment Action Programme and the Future Programme. The Commissioner announced that despite positive results from some specific sectors, in many respects the quality of the European environment has not improved and that current trends indicate further deterioration by 2010. The positive results have been found in ozone depletion, acidification and surface water quality, where Community legislation has been effective. The Commissioner admitted that European policies are failing to reverse the trend of increasing waste, greenhouse gases are still rising and therefore there are areas where new initiatives are needed. The Commissioner stated that the main principles of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme should be maintained for a Sixth Programme, however, to make a success of a Sixth Programme, major structural changes will be required to alter sectoral policies that drive environmental degradation. Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions must be addressed, as should a revised approach to hazardous chemicals and work should be continued on initiatives aimed at minimising waste. The need for integration, to broaden the range of instruments used to achieve sustainable development was recommended as a key approach for the success of the Sixth Action Programme. The Commissioner is keen to get an agreement on the Sixth Programme quickly, avoiding a repetition of a dispute between the Council and the Parliament on a review of the Fifth Programme in 1996 which delayed a decision on the review until September 1998. (European Commission Speech 99/185, 26 November 1999)