June 7th, 2023
Public Participation: A Key Principle of the Aarhus Convention and Our Commitment to Empowering Communities
Recap of Our Previous Blog Post
In our previous blog post, we introduced the Aarhus Convention and discussed the importance of access to environmental information in the UK context. As a grassroots environmental law charity, we are dedicated to promoting the principles of the Aarhus Convention, including public participation in environmental decision-making. In this second blog post of our series, we will explore the significance of public participation in the UK and the challenges we face in promoting this crucial aspect of environmental democracy.
Public Participation: A Pillar of the Aarhus Convention
The Aarhus Convention’s second pillar emphasises the importance of public participation in environmental decision-making, recognizing that citizens should have a say in decisions that impact their environment and well-being as this enhances the quality of decision-making. The Convention requires public authorities to provide opportunities for citizens to express their opinions and have their concerns considered during the decision-making process.
Public Participation in the UK Context
In the UK, public participation has been incorporated into various environmental decision-making processes, such as via the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. These directives mandate public consultation in the development of plans, programmes, and projects that may have significant environmental impacts.
However, there is still room for improvement in the UK’s public participation processes. Critics argue that consultations are often too limited in scope and duration, and that public input is not always given adequate weight in decision-making. This is especially true in non-affluent areas.
Our Role as a Charity and the Challenges We Face
As a small environmental law charity, we aim to facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making through our day-to-day activities. We organise meetings, workshops, and events to engage local communities and provide a platform for their voices to be heard.
We work with a collection of volunteers, partners, and donors who share our vision of empowering communities and fostering environmental democracy. Together, we aim to create a more inclusive and informed decision-making process that reflects the needs and concerns of all stakeholders.
Case Study: The Tale of Keyhole Bridge
Let’s look at a real-life example to illustrate the importance of public participation and our role in it. Keyhole Bridge, located on the boundary between Poole and Parkstone wards, serves as a key underpass used by pedestrians and cyclists to access local amenities, including the local hospital, schools, leisure centre, library and beaches. However, it was also misused by motorists as a shortcut to avoid congestion on the area’s major roads.
An Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) trial was undertaken to exclude vehicle traffic from the underpass, a measure that was met with great approval by local residents who had previously regarded the route as unsafe. However, when the council administration changed in October 2020, the new portfolio holder for transport and sustainability, Councillor Greene, announced that the underpass would reopen to motorised traffic. This decision was met with disappointment by residents, who felt their safety concerns were being dismissed.
Here, we identified multiple issues including a pre-determined decision by the Council, a failure to uphold the procedural legitimate expectation of effective public consultation, and a disregard for consultation responses. We, with the help of our partners, were able to instruct Georgina Fenton, a pupil at Landmark, to give her opinion. After a positive response, we sent a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter, assisting the community to issue a challenge.
This was referred to Buxtons and crowdfunded, ultimately proving successful. This case, despite its subsequent challenges, underscored the importance of the principles we stand for – effective public consultation and active participation in decisions that affect the community’s environment and safety.
Retrospective Case Study: The BBC and Climate Change Reporting
Before we sign off this post, let’s reflect on a case that exemplifies the theme of our previous blog post – the importance of access to environmental information.
The BBC, a hybrid public authority under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), found itself in the spotlight over concerns it was not sufficiently reporting on climate change. This concern was evident in many instances, such as the lack of coverage on the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology report, the failure to report on UK wildfires in 2019, as well as numerous other climate events in 2019 & 2020 that made headlines in other countries and elsewhere but not on the BBC.
A series of Freedom of Information requests was submitted, probing the BBC’s fulfilment of its public duty to inform and educate the British public on this global emergency. These requests asked, among other things, whether the BBC considers understanding the severity of the climate change emergency as necessary for the public, and if climate change impacts the BBC’s duties to “inform,” “educate,” and “entertain”.
Initially, the BBC refused to provide the requested information. We appealed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who upheld our complaint. Following this, the BBC provided some of the requested documents after an arduous six-month process.
This case highlights the critical role of access to information in facilitating public participation in environmental decision-making. It underscores the importance of holding public bodies accountable in providing necessary environmental information, a topic we explored in our previous blog post. Despite the challenges, this case reminds us of the necessity and value of persevering in our pursuit of environmental information, which in turn empowers communities to participate effectively in decisions impacting their environment.
Looking Ahead: The Next Blog Post
In the next blog post of this series, we will explore the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention: access to justice in environmental matters. We will discuss the importance of this principle in the UK context, the challenges we face as a charity in promoting access to justice, and the ways in which we can work together to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to seek redress for environmental grievances.
Stay tuned for our next blog post, and join us in our mission to promote the principles of the Aarhus Convention and create a more inclusive and sustainable future for all.
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