TRANSITION OR TRANSFORMATION? -ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY UNDER THATCHER

The degree of fundamental change or continuity in environmental policy under the Thatcher governments since 1979 is explored in terms of three functional areas of policy-making. The impact of Thatcherite ideology has been strongest in the development function. Deregulation has weakened the role of strategic land use planning. A strong central state allied to a free market has enabled primacy to be given to the promotion of private sector development. Compromise has been characteristic of the conservation function where the Government has had to arbitrate between its farming and rural preservationist constituencies at a time when the rural economy has shifted from an emphasis on food production to the problem of surplus. International concerns about transboundary pollution and EEC environmental directives have constrained the Government's freedom of action in the ecological function of policy. Overall, environmental policy shows a mixture of transformation where ideology is strong and pragmatism where political and structural constraints ensure the longer term continuity of policy.