Changes in the quality of environmental assessment statements for planning projects : research report

This publication sets out the findings of research commissioned by the Department of the Environment and undertaken by the Impact Assessment Unit of the School of Planning at Oxford Brooke's University.

The main aim of the research was to clearly establish what changes, if any, there have been in the quality of environmental statements since the earlier Department of the Environment commissioned study which covered the period from July 1988 to December 1989.

The focus of the research is limited to environmental statements produced for projects which require applications for planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Regulations, 1988, and the Environmental Assessment Regulations, 1988.

This approach covers approximately 75 per cent of the environmental statements produced in the UK to date.