“A person who proposes to carry out development may request the relevant planning authority to state in writing their opinion as to whether the development is EIA development (a ‘screening opinion’).”
⚖️ Case law support:
🧾 R (on the application of Wingfield) v Canterbury City Council [2019] EWHC 1975 (Admin)
- Confirmed that an EIA screening must apply to the actual development proposed by the applicant.
- Cannot rely on a screening opinion for a different proposal — even on the same site.
🧾 R (Burridge) v Breckland DC [2013] – also confirms project-specific EIA obligations, especially when components are linked.
🧷 Simple conclusion you can rely on:
You cannot transfer or reuse a screening opinion from one developer to another, or from one application to another, even on the same land.
If EHDC allowed this — it’s a breach of the EIA Regulations 2017.