Sustainable Development is the core principle and key aim of the new planning system.

Planning legislation requires that the Local Development Plan (LDP) is subject to Sustainable Appraisal (SA), a process designed to evaluate the predicted social, economic and environmental effects of development planning. European & UK legislation requires that the LDP is also subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), a process that considers the effects of development planning on the environment. Government guidance advises that these two processes should be carried out together in an integrated approach such that the LDP is subject to SA incorporating SEA.

The purpose of SA/SEA is to achieve better integration of sustainability objectives during the plan preparation and implementation. Where significant effects are predicted, the SA/SEA aims to identify means to avoid or mitigate such effects.

A progress table has been drafted to enable you to follow the process.

To date we have produced: