Court confirms staged approach to appropriate assessment is lawful (Oceana UK v Secretary of State for Energy Security)
Planning analysis: In Oceana UK v Secretary of State for Energy Security, the court confirmed that appropriate assessment under the Habitats regime can lawfully operate on a genuinely staged basis, with detailed evaluation of accidents, climate impacts and in-combination effects deferred until later consents where project specifics are not yet known. It held that, provided the initial decision is shown to be innocuous on a precautionary basis and the regulatory framework guarantees further assessment ‘at every relevant stage’, early-stage authorities may lawfully conclude that certain impacts cannot presently be assessed with site-specific precision.