13 SA methodology and framework
This scoping report aims to set out a framework to assess the sustainability effects of the new Local Plan as it is being prepared. The framework is central to the SA process and is made up of a series of sustainability objectives covering environmental, social and economic issues.
The complete set of sustainability objectives and sub-criteria that form the sustainability framework are listed in the table below. The objectives will provide a benchmark ‘intention’ against which the sustainability effects of the Plan can be tested. Each objective includes one or more sub-objectives, which will be used to help to understand the extent to which the objective is being met for each policy or allocation. Each sub-objective has an indicator to provide a way of measuring the progress towards achievement of the objective. The indicators are set out in the thematic chapters. The indicators may need to be amended in future as additional work is undertaken on baselining and monitoring for the Local Plan.
| Topic | Objective | Sub objective |
|---|---|---|
|
Climate change, energy and air quality
|
Minimise carbon emissions and climate change
|
Will it ensure that new development is in accessible locations? |
| Will it reduce the need to travel? | ||
| Will it enable a shift to more sustainable modes of transport? | ||
| Will it encourage the use of lower carbon technologies and working practices? | ||
| Will it protect or enhance peat resources? | ||
| Reduce air pollution | Will it improve local air quality or minimise air pollution? | |
|
Reduce energy consumption, promote energy efficiency and increase the production of energy from renewable resources
|
Will it reduce energy consumption? | |
| Will it promote energy efficiency? | ||
| Will it result in an increase in the installed renewable energy capacity? | ||
|
Waste
|
Minimise wate generation and manage waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy
|
Will it help to reduce the amount of waste generated? |
| Will it encourage increased re -use, recovery, recycling or composting? | ||
| Will it reduce the amount of waste sent for incineration or landfill? | ||
| Will it result in new or enhanced waste management facilities? | ||
|
Land and resources
|
Protect, conserve or improve natural resources
|
Will it achieve remediation and re-use of contaminated land? |
| Will it protect the extent and quality of soils? | ||
| Will it focus development on PDL? | ||
| Protect, enhance and manage geodiversity | Will it protect or increase the number and areas of RIGS? | |
|
Provide a steady and adequate supply of minerals
|
Will it safeguard mineral resources? | |
| Will it enable delivery of a steady and adequate supply of minerals? | ||
| Will it promote the use of secondary/recycled aggregates? | ||
|
Water
|
Protect and improve water quality, promote sustainable water use and support climate-resilient water management | Will it protect or enhance water quality? |
| Will it improve water efficiency? | ||
|
Manage and reduce the risk of flooding
|
Will it reduce the risk of flooding from all sources? | |
| Will it direct development towards areas of least flood risk? | ||
| Will it promote or increase the number of relevant development proposals that incorporate SuDs? | ||
|
Landscape, townscape and cultural heritage
|
Protect, enhance and manage the character and appearance of the landscape and townscape, maintaining and strengthening local distinctiveness | Will it protect or enhance landscapes or townscapes? |
| Will it increase the quantity or quality of open space? | ||
| Will it provide high quality design? | ||
|
Conserve and enhance the historic environment, cultural heritage, archaeological resources and historic character of places
|
Will it conserve or enhance designated heritage assets and their settings? | |
| Will it conserve or enhance non-designated heritage assets and local character? | ||
| Will it protect archaeological resources and areas of archaeological potential? | ||
|
Biodiversity
|
Protect, enhance and manage biodiversity and geodiversity
|
Will it protect and promote effective management of the borough's sites of ecological and nature conservation importance? |
| Will it provide opportunities for the enhancement, creation or connection of habitats and to foster species conservation, diversity and resilience to climate change? | ||
| Will it maintain, enhance and increase (rural and urban) tree cover and woodlands? | ||
|
Population and housing
|
Provide high-quality, well-designed housing to meet identified needs
|
Will it help to meet identified housing needs? |
| Will it help to provide an appropriate mix of housing types, sizes and tenures? | ||
| Will it provide well designed housing? | ||
|
Health, wellbeing and equality
|
Improve health, safety and wellbeing
|
Will it promote active lifestyles? |
| Will it increase the quantity or quality of open space? | ||
| Will it reduce opportunities for crime? | ||
| Will it affect the fear of crime and feelings of safety? | ||
| Will it improve road safety? | ||
| Will it help to protect existing health or community facilities and services? | ||
| Will it provide new or improved health or community facilities or services? | ||
| Reduce noise pollution | Will it reduce noise pollution? | |
|
Economy and employment
|
Support a sustainable, resilient and inclusive economy and provide opportunities for economic growth and investment
|
Will it help create the conditions in which businesses can invest, expand and adapt? |
| Will it support sustainable economic growth? | ||
| Will it provide a balanced portfolio of employment land for the area by type and location? | ||
| Will it maintain/safeguard high quality employment land and premises? | ||
| Will it contribute to meeting the employment needs of the rural/urban area? | ||
| Will it promote tourism and the visitor economy? | ||
| Will it improve accessibility to jobs? | ||
| Will it take account of the different locational requirements of different sectors? | ||
|
Promote regeneration, particularly of deprived areas and reduce inequalities
|
Will it deliver regeneration? | |
| Will it improve economic conditions, particularly in deprived areas? | ||
| Will it improve equality across the borough? | ||
|
Infrastructure
|
Improve sustainable transport options
|
Will it increase the percentage of journeys made by walking, wheeling or sustainable modes of transport? |
| Will it reduce congestion and travel times? | ||
| Will it provide infrastructure that maximises accessibility by sustainable modes of transport? | ||
| Protect and enhance the vitality and viability of city, town and local centres | Will it safeguard shops and services in existing centres? | |
| Will it safeguard or improve retail, leisure or service provision? | ||
| Ensure the timely provision of infrastructure to support sustainable growth | Will it support the provision of education infrastructure to meet needs arising from development? | |
| Will it support the provision of healthcare infrastructure? | ||
| Will it support the provision of community, cultural, sport or leisure facilities? | ||
| Will it support the provision of digital infrastructure? |
As soon as objectives are set out in the new Local Plan, they will be checked against the sustainability objectives to draw attention to any potential conflicts.
13.1 Methodology
The detailed SA of the new Local Plan will involve screening of the policies and allocations against each of the sustainability topics. The screening will consider whether the impact on the SA objective would be significant and if not, it will be screened out. This allows the appraisal to focus on the significant issues and reduce the amount of ‘uncertain’ or ‘no impact’ scores.
The policies and allocations will then be scored to identify whether the impacts on each objective are likely to be very positive, positive, neutral, negative or very negative. The scoring will identify whether the impacts are: short, medium or long term; permanent or temporary; secondary or indirect; synergistic or cumulative; and the likely areas to be significantly affected.
The appraisal process will also involve identification of any potential mitigation measures. This includes measures that would reduce negative impacts or would increase positive impacts.
The Local Plan policies will then be amended in light of the SA findings and the SA will be taken into account in decision-making on options for the wording of policies and potential reasonable alternatives to the policies. It will also be taken into account when deciding which allocations to take forward. The appraisal process will then be undertaken again, to assess the sustainability effects of the updated policies and allocations.
13.2 Monitoring
The success and effectiveness of the SA process will be monitored by the collection of baseline data relating to the identified indictors. This is likely to be done through the preparation of the Annual Monitoring Report, but a cost-effective and reasonable monitoring scheme will be developed and reported on in the SA report.