Dividing a 'Project' into Two Separate Planning Applications: Can this Defeat the Need for a Screening Opinion?

摘要

Regulation 7(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment)(England and Wales) Regulations 1999 (now see the 2011 Regulations) provides that where it appears to the relevant planning authority that "an application which is before them for determination is a schedule 1 application or a schedule 2 application" then in the case of Sch.2 applications there is a need for a screening opinion to determine whether the development is likely to have significant effects on the environment. Taken literally it is the description of the proposed development that determines the need for a screening opinion. A consequence of this would be that the need for a screening opinion could be avoided by splitting up a project into two or more separate planning applications.