2.1 Overview of the SA process
Planning authorities must ensure that their Local Plans are centred around the concept of sustainable development and balance economic, social and environmental needs. SA is a tool to help to assess the contribution that planning policies and allocations make to sustainable development and to use this information to inform decision making.
SA is a process that identifies and reports on the likely effects of a plan. SEA focuses on environmental objectives, whereas SA also includes social and economic objectives. Government have proposed that there will be a future change to Environmental Outcomes Reports, which would just focus on environmental issues, but this has not yet been implemented, and the SA / SEA process should still be followed at this time. If the Environmental Outcomes report approach is brought in at a later stage in preparation of the Local Plan, this SA scoping report will be updated accordingly if required. This should not cause any difficulties, as all relevant environmental issues have been considered in this SA scoping report.
The SA process and documents must meet the requirements of two principal pieces of legislation:
- The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and
- The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, which transpose the EU SEA Directive 2001/42/EC into UK law.
2.2 SEA
A SEA screening process for the Local Plan was undertaken prior to the production of the scoping report. This involved preparation of a SEA screening opinion by the Council to establish whether the Local Plan is likely to have potentially significant environmental effects. The screening opinion concluded that the Local Plan is likely to have significant environmental effects and will therefore require SEA. The Council consulted the statutory environmental bodies on the SEA screening for a five-week period. The statutory bodies who responded all either agreed with the decision or had no comments. A SEA screening determination was then prepared, and this is included at Appendix A. The Council is of the view that the Local Plan is likely to have potentially significant environmental effects and as such, the SA of the Local Plan will incorporate the requirements of an environmental assessment, in line with the SEA Directive.
2.3 SA methodology
The following sections contain a brief summary of the key SA stages the Council will complete during preparation and use of the Local Plan. The methodology used follows national guidance on the appraisal of Local Plans.
There are several stages in the SA process:
- Stage A – Setting the context and objectives, establishing the baseline and deciding on the scope
- Stage B – Developing and refining plan options
- Stage C – Appraising the effects of the plan
- Stage D – Consulting on the Local Plan and SA report
- Stage E – Monitoring and implementation of the plan
2.4 Stage A - Scoping
This is the current stage and includes five key elements:
- Stage A1 – the identification of key national, regional and local plans, policies and programmes which will impact on the emerging Local Plan (see chapters 3 to 12).
- Stage A2 – the collection of baseline information to provide a picture of past, present and likely future conditions within the area (see chapters 3 to 12). Where possible, data trends have been identified. For the purposes of assessment, it has been assumed that these trends will continue as identified, without the implementation of the new policies. Key sources of information include census data, population forecasts, commissioned studies, internal monitoring work and previous stakeholder consultation. This stage enables indicators to be developed assess and monitor the effects and performance of the Local Plan.
- Stage A3 – identification of sustainability issues and problems affecting the area, which can be addressed through the development of strategies and policies within the Local Plan (see chapters 3 to 12).
- Stage A4 – development of a SA framework to assess the impacts of the emerging Local Plan objectives, policies and proposals (see chapter 13).
- Stage A5 – consultation on the appropriateness and robustness of the scope of the SA and proposed appraisal framework.
2.5 Stage B: Developing and refining options and assessing effects
Stage B will be undertaken alongside the development of the Local Plan. The emerging Local Plan objectives will be tested against the sustainability objectives identified in the Scoping Report.
The likely effects of policy options and any reasonable alternatives will then be predicted and evaluated in terms of their significance. This assessment will be based on the SA objectives identified in this document, where appropriate. Where any potential adverse impacts are identified, mitigation measures will be proposed accordingly and there may also be opportunities to maximise any beneficial effects.
Similarly, proposed allocations and any reasonable alternatives, will also be assessed. To adequately assess sites, detailed information about the proposed sites will be required.
Monitoring mechanisms for evaluating the significant effects of implementing the Local Plan will also be put in place.
2.6 Stage C: Preparing the Sustainability Appraisal report
The SA report will set out how sustainability issues have been considered in preparation of the Local Plan. It will show how proposals have been assessed against the sustainability objectives, identify mitigation measures for any significant adverse effects and identify opportunities to maximise positive effects. It will also identify monitoring mechanisms.
The SA report will incorporate HIA and EqIA. HRA will be undertaken separately, but the findings will be incorporated into the SA report where relevant.
2.7 Stage D: Consulting on the draft Local Plan and SA report
Consultation will be undertaken on the draft Local Plan and accompanying SA report with statutory consultees and other relevant stakeholders. The results of the consultation will inform development of the Local Plan.
2.8 Stage E: Monitoring the significant effects of implementing the Local Plan
Following adoption, the Local Plan will be monitored to test its effects against those predicted in the SA report, and to identify any need to respond to any unforeseen adverse effects. This will be done through the Annual Monitoring Report where possible.
The Local Plan will include a range of policies and allocations. The policies will need to be assessed in a slightly different way to the allocations. As such, the SA framework may differ slightly for policies and allocations.