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Amendment of section 4 of Principal Act.
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5.— Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended—
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(a) in subsection (1)—
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(i) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (i):
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“(i) development consisting of the thinning, felling or replanting of trees, forests or woodlands or works ancillary to that development, but not including the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer species;”,
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(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (i):
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“(ia) development (other than where the development consists of provision of access to a public road) consisting of the construction, maintenance or improvement of a road (other than a public road) or works ancillary to such road development, where the road serves forests and woodlands;”,
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(iii) in paragraph (l), by the insertion of “or works consisting of land reclamation or reclamation of estuarine marsh land and of callows, referred to in section 2 of that Act” after “the works are commenced”, and
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(b) by the substitution of the following for subsection (4):
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“(4) (a) Notwithstanding subsections (1)(a), (i) or (l) and any regulations made under subsection (2), development commenced on or after the coming into operation of this section shall not be exempted development if an environmental impact assessment of the development is required.
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(b) The Minister may, for the purposes of giving further effect to the Habitats Directive and requirements of efficiency and effectiveness in the control of proper planning and sustainable development, prescribe development or classes of development (whether or not by reference to an area or a class of areas in which the development is carried out) which, notwithstanding subsections (1)(a), and (h) to (j), and any regulations made under subsection (2), shall not be exempted development.”.
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