Sustainability Appraisal and the Strategic Environmental Assessment

When preparing the Local Development Framework (LDF), the Council must legally undertake a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), as required by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended).

Sustainability Appraisal is a methodical evaluation which promotes sustainable development through the integration of social, environmental and economic considerations when preparing Development Plan Documents (DPDs).

Strategic Environmental Assessment is required by the European Directive 2001/42/EC (the SEA Directive). It assesses the impact of plans and programmes (such as DPDs) on the environment.

Whilst the objectives of SA and SEA are different, their methodologies are similar and can be co-beneficial. Therefore the continual SA process of each DPD incorporates the assessment requirements of the SEA Directive, ensuring sustainability and environmental issues are embedded into the strategic decision-making process.

Development Plan Documents that require a Sustainability Appraisal (SA):

• The Core Strategy DPD;
• The Development Control DPD;
• The Site Allocations DPD;
• The Gypsies and Travellers DPD

Current Position

Core Strategy Preferred Options Report

As part of the production of its Core Strategy, the Council has undertaken a Sustainability Appraisal of the Core Strategy Preferred Options Report.

The purpose of this appraisal was to determine the performance, in sustainability terms, of the Core Strategy to assist with the identification of the appropriate policies, predict implications for sustainable development and put forward recommendations for improvement where necessary.

A Sustainability Appraisal Report (SA Report), documenting the findings of the SA process, is being published alongside the Core Strategy Preferred Options, in accordance with the SEA Regulations and SA Guidance.

Anybody has the opportunity to comment on both documents, during the public consultation which is taking place between the 27^th February and 11^th April 2012.

The SA Report for the Core Strategy Preferred Options Report and its appendices are available below:

•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy Preferred Options - February 2012 [687kb]
•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy P O App 1 SEA Directive Compliance [17kb]
•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy P O App 2 Scoping Report Consultees list [11kb]
•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy P O App 3 Plans, Programmes and Policies Review [67kb]
•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy P O App 4 SA matrices of Strategic Objectives [451kb]
•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy P O App 5 SA matrices of Spatial Options [470kb]
•  Basildon Council - SA Report Core Strategy P O App 6 SA matrices of Core Policies and PADC [728kb]

Previous Stages

The SA/ SEA Scoping Report and Site Assessment Methodology

All SAs are subject to a Scoping stage, where Statutory Consultees and other bodies are invited to comment on the scope and level of detail of the SA to be carried out for each document.

The Council has consulted on both its Core Strategy SA/SEA Scoping Report and its Site Assessment Methodology & Criteria. This consultation lasted for five weeks (2 July - 6 August 2008) and 32 statutory and specialist organisations were invited to comment on the draft.

The responses are set out in this document  Responses to the SA/ SEA Site Assessment Methodology and Criteria [241kb]

Before adopting the SA/SEA Scoping Report and the Site Assessment Methodology and Criteria, the Council consulted, between 21 March and 26 April 2011, the statutory consultees (the Environment Agency, Natural England and English Heritage) in order to confirm they had no further objections.

The responses to this consultation are set out in the following document  Statutory Consultee responses to the Consultation on SA/ SEA Criteria [156kb]

On the 2 June 2011, Cabinet adopted:

•  Core Strategy Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report - June 2011 [1Mb]
•  Site Assessment Methodology and Criteria Adopted June 2011.pdf [477kb]
•  LDF Contextual Baseline Report - May 2008 [17Mb]

The SA/SEA Scoping Report defines the Sustainability Appraisal Framework and the 19 Sustainability Appraisal Objectives against which each DPD's objectives and policies will be assessed.

The Site Assessment Methodology and Criteria, based on the 19 Sustainability Appraisal Objectives defined in the Scoping Report, was developed to assess the sustainability of potential sites. It is part of the overall SA/SEA process and provides a basic level of assessments to help considering options for land allocations.