UKELA – WALES
Newsletter
The work of the Wales Working Party and
its sub-committee
UKELA’s current Wales Working Party was set up in October 2013 at a general
meeting . Under the organisation’s constitution general meetings should be held
biennially so the next meeting will be held on Thursday 8 October 2015 at Cardiff
Law School to appoint new members. It will be a social event at which Peter
Kellett, Head of Legal Services at the Environment Agency, will deliver a key note
address so please put the date in your diary and mention the event to any of your
colleagues who may be interested in coming along.
The role of the Working Party is primarily to comment, as necessary on
consultation responses and other papers, and give suggestions for events. The
Working Party’s sub-committee tends to undertake much of the work in finalising
consultation responses and evidence papers for the National Assembly for Wales,
and agreeing a programme of events for members and others with an interest in
Environmental Law. Over the last two years the sub-committee has met every
couple of months and has been very active in supporting the work of UKELA’s
Wales Coordinator. It is normally chaired by one of the Wales Working Party
Coordinators, Professor Robert Lee or Dr. Haydn Davies. We are grateful to Hugh
James, Morgan Blake and Geldards for hosting our meetings and events. Their
support has been invaluable and much appreciated.
Consultation Responses
The Wales Working Party has been active in responding to UK and Welsh
Government consultation exercises, a number of which have been in partnership
with UKELA expert working parties. These have covered issues such as
contaminated land; noise action plans; sustainable development indicators; the
Water Strategy; fly tipping; the review of designations of National Parks and Areas
of Outstanding Natural Beauty; control of waste regulations; and the Landfill Tax.
Copies of these responses can be accessed through the website or obtained from
the Wales Coordinator.
Influencing Legislation
The Welsh Government’s legislative programme has included a number of Bills of
interest to UKELA and its members. These have been the Well-being of Future
Generations Act, the Planning Act and the Environment Bill. In respect of each of
these legislative proposals UKELA has commented at consultation stage, submitted
evidence papers and appeared before the National Assembly for Wales’s
Environment and Sustainability Committee for oral examination. Wales Working
Party members have also engaged with Welsh Government officials on the draft
Bills, whilst the Wales Coordinator has kept in close touch the third sector activity
in relation to the Bills and offered support, where appropriate. We are now in the
process of considering the guidance to be issued under these pieces of legislation.
Events Programme
The events programme this year has
been varied and relatively well
supported. Due to the intensity of
Welsh Government legislation relevant
to the environment passing through
National Assembly for Wales, seminars
were held on the Well-being of Future
Generations Act; the Environment Bill
and the Planning Bill. The latter
event was organised in partnership
with UKELA South-West and covered a
comparison of the English and Welsh
planning systems. In addition to the seminars on legislative proposals, one was
held on Environmental Crime and Enforcement. The Wales Working Party subcommittee is keen for UKELA members to suggest topical issues for events so
please do get in touch.
Involving
Students
UKELA holds a careers event
for students annually at the
Francis Taylor Building,
Inner Temple, London. The
Wales Working Party’s subcommittee members have
been concerned about the
fact that geographically it
was difficult for law
students at Welsh
Universities to attend the event so organised a Careers evening for students at
Eversheds’s offices in Cardiff. The evening was a huge success with around 70
students attending. Cairo Nicholls of Irwin Mitchell spoke about legal careers
concerning the environment and Bruce Gordon from Ramboll Environ delivered a
presentation on careers in the environmental consultancy sector. Students
networked over a glass of wine and had the opportunity to engage with a number
of companies and organisations to find out more about working in and with
environmental law. We are grateful to Eversheds, Ramboll Environ and Hugh
James: Solicitors for sponsoring and assisting with the event, and also Welsh
Government, Welsh Water, Natural Resources Wales, No. 9 Park Place Chambers,
JCP Solicitors, Geldards, Irwin Mitchell and Swansea University for supporting the
evening.
Membership Development
Recruiting new members and retaining membership continues to be a challenge,
particularly with the current cuts in public expenditure. Nevertheless, we have
been pleased to welcome Blake Morgan and Welsh Water as new corporate
members and a number of new individual and student members.
Other Activities
UKELA has been playing an active part as a member of the Wales Environment
Link. This is a valuable network for keeping abreast of developments within the
environmental third sector. It has also continued to develop partnerships with a
range of institutions in order to widen its reach.
At the prestigious Legal Wales conference held in North Wales in the autumn of
2014, UKELA led a break out session on the Welsh Government’s planning
legislation. There are plans to hold another break out session at this year’s
conference to be held in Cardiff in October. This will be on the Environment Bill
which is currently going through its legislative stages in the National Assembly for
Wales.
The Future
Over the last two years the work of the Wales Coordinator has been funded by the
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. The support ended on 20 May. However, UKELA is
continuing to fund work over the current few months, whilst efforts are made to
secure additional finance to continue with its activities in Wales.
If you have any queries, proposals or suggestions on UKELA’s work, please contact
Norma Barry on 07785 551511 or 029 2022 6263, alternatively
norma.barry@btinternet.com