A Manual of Nature Conservation Law

Edited by Michael Fry
2nd Edition

Reviews

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Graham Machin Barrister Ropewalk Chambers

The Common Law did not concern itself with the conservation of nature or the countryside, so the legal bedrock is wholly statutory, and all professionals, and lay activists, whose work involves such conservation issues need direct access to the statutory provisions on a regular basis.

As a member of the Planning Bar I have owned the First Edition of the Manual since its publication in 1995. It is one of the most used volumes in my library, now faded, tattered, and full of flags and manuscript annotations linking its contents to the major legislation issued since the turn of the century. The publication of the second edition is for me a red-letter day.

I could almost have written this review without opening the new edition, in view of the excellence of the original, the continuance of Michael Fry as editor, and the known involvement of other expert members of UKELA’s Nature Conservation Working Group. In fact, I have taken great pleasure in scrutinising the work in detail, and it fully meets expectations.

The utility of the Manual derives from two main virtues. The more obvious of these is that, uniquely, it brings together in a single volume all the principal legislation, international and domestic, which governs nature and countryside conservation in England and Wales. Selection has been necessary, but has ensured that in the great majority of cases it will be unnecessary to look to legislation outside the Manual.

The second, less obvious virtue, is the excellence of the footnotes, which are meticulous yet unfussy, including cross-references, reminders of definitions, and references to leading cases and practice guidance. These annotations have become the more essential, given that the operational legislation dates back to 1949, and since then many major reforms have been effected, not by consolidation, but by repeated amendments to, and substitutions within, existing Acts and regulations. The is especially true as regards the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994. Thus the notes provide the lubrication, which transforms the Manual into a resource much greater than the sum of its individual legislative scripts.

The new edition contains a brilliantly concise introduction to Nature Conservation Law, which explains the relationship between the successive enactments included in the Manual. The decision no longer to cover Scotland is unfortunate, but inevitable given that, even with that exclusion, the new edition exceeds the first in length by more than 300 pages. The introduction of a separate part for International and European material reflects its central and continuing importance, though the Birds and Habitats Directives (alongside the Ramsar Convention) were included in the 1995 edition as appendices to PPG9: Nature Conservation (1994). PPS9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation (2005) is rightly included, although its scope is confined to England. This is much shorter than was PPG9, because the extensive administrative guidance as to the operation of the law relating to planning and nature conservation has been hived off into the lengthy (but excellent) ODPM Circular 06/2005. Although PPS9 and the Circular need to be read together, I agree with the exclusion of the circular not only on grounds of length, and as a dangerous start to a potentially long and slippery slope, but also because certain parts have now been overtaken by the amendments made to the 1994 Regulations in August 2007, themselves resulting largely from the failures of the original text correctly to transpose the Habitats Directive, as identified by the European Court of Justice in Commission v United Kingdom (Case C-6/04). Nevertheless, the circular remains a key text and will continue to stand on my shelf alongside the Manual.

At all events, I welcome the new edition of the Manual with unreserved delight. It will replace the First Edition as an indispensable resource for anyone working regularly in this field, and I would recommend its acquisition to even an occasional or potential user, because it will probably pay for itself in saved time even at the first visit.

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