G Glossary

G Glossary

Affordable housing – Includes social rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market.  Affordable housing should: meet the needs of eligible households including availability at a cost low enough for them to afford, determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices; and include provision for the home to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or, if these restrictions are lifted, for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.

Aggregate - Sand, gravel, crushed rock and other bulk materials used in the construction industry for purposes such as the making of concrete, mortar, asphalt or for roadstone, drainage or bulk filling materials

Allocated land/sites - Land which is defined in the development plan as being acceptable in principle for development for a particular purpose and which is not already in use for that purpose.

Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) - Assesses the implementation of the Local Development Scheme and the extent to which policies in Local Development Documents are being successfully implemented.

Apportionment - A specified amount of aggregates to be produced annually on a sub-regional basis.

Appropriate Assessment - Undertaken as part of a Habitats Regulations Assessment to establish the impacts a Local Development Document will have on a range of European designated sites.

Area of Search - A technique used to identify areas of land which are considered to contain mineral resources and which are generally free from major mappable constraints

Biodiversity - A measure of the number and range of species and their relative abundance in a community.

Brownfield land -  See previously developed land.

Coalbed Methane (CBM) -Natural gases produced during coal formation which are either adsorbed onto the coal or dispersed into pore spaces around the coal seam. Can be extracted and used as an energy source.

Community facilities - Facilities providing for the health, welfare, social, educational, spiritual, leisure and cultural needs of the community.

Community Infrastructure Levy - A levy allowing local authorities to raise funds from owners or developers of land undertaking new building projects in their area.

Conservation Areas -Areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. Such areas are designated by Local Planning Authorities under the Town and Country Planning Acts. 

Contaminated land - Land that is polluted by noxious or toxic substances.

Derelict land - Land so damaged by industrial or other development that it is incapable of beneficial use without treatment.

Development brief - Document providing detailed information to guide developers on the type of development, design and layout constraints and other requirements for a particular, usually substantial, site.

Economic development - Development, including those within the B Use Classes, public and community uses and main town centre uses (but excluding housing development).

Edge of centre - For retail purposes, a location that is well connected and up to 300 metres of the primary shopping area. For all other main town centre uses, a location within 300 metres of a town centre boundary. For office development, this includes locations outside the town centre but within 500 metres of a public transport interchange. In determining whether a site falls within the definition of edge of centre, account should be taken of local circumstances.

Employment land - Development of land falling within use classes B1, B2 and B8 or applicable sui generis uses of the Use Classes Order 1987 as amended.

Exception sites - Small sites solely for affordable housing which would not otherwise be released for general market housing.

Financial viability - An objective financial viability test of the ability of a development project to meet its costs including cost of planning obligations, whilst ensuring an appropriate site value to the land owner and a market risk adjustment return to the developer in delivering that project.

Green Belt - Area of land, largely rural in character, which is adjacent to the main urban areas and which is protected from development by restrictions on building.

Greenfield - Land on which no development has previously taken place unless the previous development was for agriculture or forestry purpose or, the remains of any structure or activity have blended into the landscape.

Housing land supply - The number of additional dwellings becoming available, either under construction or on land with planning permissions, or allocated within a local plan.

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) - Key source of evidence of deprivation at Lower Super Output Area level across England.  It measures disadvantage and consists of 7 domains, income, employment, health deprivation and disability, education, skills and training, barriers to housing and services, crime and living environment.

Listed building - A building included in a list compiled by the Secretary of State for National Heritage as being of special architectural or historic interest. 

Local Development Document (LDD) -The collective term for documents prepared by a local planning authority which contain statements and policies regarding the development and use of land and the allocation of sites.

Local Development Framework (LDF) – A portfolio of local development documents which include the Local Development Scheme, development plan documents, Supplementary Planning Documents, the Statement of Community Involvement and the Annual Monitoring Report.

Local Development Scheme (LDS) - A public document setting out the Council’s programme for the production of its Local Development Documents. 

Local Plan - A plan setting the statutory planning framework for the area.

Local Planning Authority - The body responsible for carrying out the statutory planning functions. 

Local Strategic Partnership - Set up under legislation in 2000, LSPs operate across an authority area and are an overarching community partnership to help deliver change.  Often led by the local council, their membership should be representative of the local community.

Main town centre uses - Retail development (including warehouse clubs and factory outlet centres); leisure, entertainment facilities the more intensive sport and recreation uses (including cinemas, restaurants, drive-through restaurants, bars and pubs, night-clubs, casinos, health and fitness centres, indoor bowling centres, and bingo halls); offices; and arts, culture and tourism development (including theatres, museums, galleries and concert halls, hotels and conference facilities).

MSA - Minerals Safeguarding Area - Areas where proven mineral resources exist identified to alert against potential sterilisation.

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) - Sets out the government's policies for Local Plans and planning decisions.

North West of England Plan Regional Spatial Strategy to 2021 (RSS) - A document prepared by the North West Regional Assembly on behalf of the Secretary of State which set a spatial development framework for the region.  It was adopted in September 2008 and was revoked on 20 May 2013.

Neighbourhood Development Order - An Order made by a local planning authority (under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) through which Parish Councils and neighbourhood forums can grant planning permission for a specific development proposal or classes of development.

Neighbourhood Plan - A plan prepared by a Parish Council or Neighbourhood Forum for a particular neighbourhood area (made under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004).

Out of centre - A location which is not in or on the edge of a centre but not necessarily outside the urban area.

Out of town - A location out of centre that is outside the existing urban area.

Preferred Areas- Preferred Areas are defined by the Government as areas of known resources where planning permission might reasonably be anticipated by industry. These areas will contain viable mineral deposits and have been assessed against planning criteria as the least environmentally damaging sites. They are areas of land with reasonable evidence for the existence of commercially extractable minerals, which are largely unaffected by substantial planning constraints and which are adequate, collectively, to meet the anticipated need for the mineral.

Previously Developed Land (PDL) – Land which is or has been occupied by a permanent (non-agricultural) structure and associated infrastructure, including the area of land attached to a structure as well as the structure itself (e.g. residential property and garden).  It excludes land and buildings used for agricultural purposes, forest and woodland and urban open space such as parks, allotments and recreation grounds.  Also know as brownfield land.

Primary Aggregates/Minerals - Minerals that are extracted or won from where they naturally occur.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)- An assessment of the housing land supply and potential within a local authority area with the intention of demonstrating that sufficient housing supply exists/likely to exist over different time bands.

Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) - An assessment of a housing  market produced by authorities or partnership authorities.

Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) - Guidance notes produced by the local authority, which give advice on particular aspects of policies in development plan documents.  They can provide a guide for developers.  They do not form part of the development plan and are not subject to independent examination.

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) - A means of appraising the social, environmental and economic effects that policies and plans may have in the long term.  Sustainability appraisals are required for each development plan document and must fully incorporate the requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive.

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) - A sequence of management practices and control structure, often referred to as SuDS, designed to drain water in a more sustainable manner than some conventional techniques. Typically these are used to attenuate run-off from development sites.