Wise words from environmental lawyer Phil Michaels, who offers practical advice about starting a legal action
There are many useful campaign resources available from Friends of the Earth, including those mentioned in UKWIN’s Knowledge Bank.
One resource that has come to our attention is the 4-page briefing written by Phil Michaels, entitled How to: use the law to win a local campaign.
The briefing gives:
2 questions to consider before taking any legal action
5 reasons for taking legal action
5 reasons for avoiding legal action
6 potential ways to fund legal action
and much more
Phil urges waste campaigners to think carefully before using lawyers for some waste issues, noting that:
Arguing at a judicial review that an incinerator breaches Human Rights legislation or EU legislation is ineffective. Although incinerators pose health threats, judges are very conservative and will generally accept the advice of statutory bodies such as the Environment Agency [and the Health Protection Agency] which claims “no problem”.
You can download the “How to guide” from the Friends of the Earth’s website, and you can contact Friends of the Earth’s (Freephone) Environmental Legal Helpline on: 0808 801 0405 on Wednesdays from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, and on Thursdays from 11 am – 2 pm.
A planning inspector has reject an appeal by those wanting to build an incinerator at Sinfin Lane Derby, November 2010.
The Inspector cited amongst main reasons for the decisions as:
• Local residents’ fears about harm to their health is a material consideration of some weight
• Living conditions of local residents would be adversely affected .…
• The NO2 emissions, principally from traffic, .… would cause exceedences of the AQMA’s NO2 air quality objective