Environmental considerations, including consideration for any wildlife that may be affected by development on a site, are also part of planning legislation. As for wildlife law, devolution means that the legislations that apply to the devolved administrations are diverging. The following tables provide a summary of current legislation relating to general development, roads and other transport systems for each of the countries that make up the UK and Ireland which has a direct link, or an obvious indirect link, to wildlife protection. Planning legislation that does not have such links has been omitted from the tables.
The legislation listed in each table is that derived from international directives as well as that generated at the national level. Many of these pieces of legislation are wide ranging; the description in the tables covers only those aspects of the legislation which are most relevant to wildlife on site. Similar legislation also applies to pipelines, electricity works, nuclear power stations, forestry, land drainage, ports and harbours, fish farming, marine dredging and the conversion of semi-natural habitats to intensive farming.