Changes to the definition of 'contaminated land' On 6 April 2012, section 86 of the Water Act 2003 was brought into force. This amends the second limb of the definition of contaminated land in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to refer to “significant pollution of controlled waters and significant possibility of significant pollution of controlled waters”. | 
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Planning case law round-up  | Update on the latest case law, including: can a prosecution for a breach of enforcement notice amount to an abuse of process? Has a change of use by intensification occurred? Planning permission quashed on grounds of insufficient reasoning. Must judicial review proceedings be brought promptly? |
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National Planning Policy Framework | The National Planning Policy Framework was came into force on 27 March 2012, replacing over 1,000 pages of planning policy guidance and circulars in England and setting out the government’s planning policies and their application. The Framework is underpinned by a presumption in favour of sustainable development. | 
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Warning: Environment Agency prosecutions for illegal waste sites  | A landlord was prosecuted by the Environment Agency in April 2012 for 13 offences of knowingly permitting the operation of regulated facilities without environmental permits. He had let his units without any written agreements and without checking whether the tenants had permits for the operations being carried out. |
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