ABSTRACT
A lthough EIA has been with us for 20 years o r m ore, its in troduction into the UK p lanning system in 1988 cam e into effect with little p reparation. Perhaps many o f us accepted too readily the G overnm ent’s assertion tha t it would involve only a few cases a year and the process for planning authorities was ju s t a bolt-on procedure to developm ent control. As Peter Bulleid has discussed in C hap ter 1, experience has taught us that the G overnm ent underestim ated the n um ber o f EIAs by a large m argin. O n the o th e r h and procedurally they seem, to a large degree, to have got it right. Most projects tha t are covered by the R egulations1 are incorpora ted into p lanning adm inistration and in tegrate well in to developm ent control case work.
