December 15th, 2023
A Profile of Helen Hamilton; Tenacious Environmental Champion
As many of our readers will know, ELF is completely reliant on our professional members, the experts in planning and environmental issues who generously donate their time and knowledge to help the citizens who come to us with problems that their local authority and government are failing to resolve. In this profile, we want to celebrate one of our incredible members Helen Hamilton, who has been working with us for 6 years and has been invaluable in tackling the many large-scale operations causing copious pollution around the country with no consequences.
Helen is an expert in industrial farming and its environmental impacts including issues related to anaerobic digestors and intensive poultry units. She is currently assisting us on a case against Davidstow Creamery in Cornwall and the Cranswick pig-finishing unit in Norfolk for the mass pollution being caused by these operations. She has a practical, comprehensive, and insightful approach and leaves no stone unturned, which has often meant great successes in seemingly hopeless cases.
Below, Helen shares her experiences and the motivations behind her impactful work.
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Inquiring, Tenacious, Passionate (about my work)
How did you get into this career and what motivated you to do so?
By accident really. I began my working life as a journalist (with Reuters), but after I left London and began freelancing I found myself a bit pigeon-holed and bored. I started helping out clients of my husband’s construction business with planning problems and became intrigued with the planning system, especially its legal complexity. After working for a group of property companies for a few years, I set up a consultancy with a colleague and increasingly worked for objectors and local campaign groups on environmental cases, specialising in Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations cases.
What made you want to start working with ELF?
I wanted to use my knowledge to help protect the environment and challenge poor planning decision-making, so often resulting from busy planners not understanding the environmental impact of their decisions.
How long have you been an ELF member?
Not sure. 6 years or so?
Do you remember an ELF case of particular interest?
The ongoing Norfolk case involving an application for a huge intensive livestock development – 20 intensive poultry units and 14 pig units – very close to the Breckland Special Protection Area. The planning authority and even Natural England seemed oblivious to the potential air quality impacts of this proposed development. They were concerned only about disturbance to the protected birds and hadn’t thought about the fact that air pollution could destroy their habitats and food sources.
You are an expert on industrial farming and environmental impacts – what is the most egregious case you have seen?
Hard to single out one, but probably an anaerobic digester case, just 200m from the River Wye and within an AONB. Planning permission should never have been granted for this development in this location and after it was, all kinds of pollution and terrible impacts on the landscape and local amenity ensued. Ultimately, the plant was closed by the Health and Safety Executive but only after years of putting pressure on HSE, the local authority and the Environment Agency to act against breaches of both the planning permission and the environmental permit.
If you could change one area of the law on nature, what would it be?
I would extend the same protection to all nature as to designated habitats so that it becomes unacceptable to cause any harm to or loss of biodiversity. I don’t just mean in planning policy and law. An example of the weakness of the system is that while the NPPF seeks to protect ancient woodland and veteran trees, there is very limited protection for these outside the planning system. Substantial areas of woodland can be removed without the need for a felling licence.
If you could pass on advice to new aspiring planners, what would it be?
Read, learn, question, and keep up to date with developments in planning and environmental policy and law. I find the case law updates from barristers’ chambers invaluable and the barristers very generous with their time and knowledge.