The Court of Appeal recently ruled that where the granting of planning permission may have an environmental impact outside the works which are proposed in the application, this must also be taken into account.
It is the cumulative effect of a particular development that has to be assessed. Where the works envisaged by the planning permission constitute only part of the environmental impact, the whole picture must be considered: the cumulative effect of the works is a matter of fact.
This case confirms that developers considering making a planning application must give due weight to the overall impact of their plans.