Agenda item

The Principal Planning Policy Officer presented a report that explained that the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) were processes that were separate to the Local Plan but were carried out alongside it’s preparation.

The Panel was advised that the SA was required under Section 19 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, with its role to promote sustainable development by assessing the extent to which the emerging plan, when tested against reasonable alternatives, would help to achieve to relevant environmental, economic and social objectives.

The Panel was advised that the SEA process was separate to the SA and was a requirement of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, more commonly known as the SEA Regulations. An SEA focussing solely on the environmental impacts of the plan and the likely significant effects that the plan would have on the environment.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer explained that the SA and SEA scoping document should identify any plans, policies and programmes that may impact on the plan area. This could include local or regional plans such as the local transport plan or international programmes such as the Kyoto protocol or UN sustainable development goals.

The Panel was advised that the SA and the SEA scoping document should also identify the baseline conditions of the area such as population characteristics or greenhouse gas emissions. The document should also identify future trends and what the situation might be like without the implementation of the Local Plan. All of this information led to a number of SA and SEA objectives which created a framework that would be used to test the policies and site options in the emerging Local Plan. The Principal Planning Policy Officer set out the social, environmental and economic issues that should be considered by the scoping document. The list of particular environmental criteria were set out in table 1.1 of the scoping document.

The Panel was advised of a number of changes had been proposed for the scoping document in consultation with the Executive Member for Planning and Growth and these were largely in relation to table 11.2 and the indicators that would be used to assess the policies against the objectives.

The Panel asked about the statutory recommendations and the new process about the likely response from the statutory consultees listed in the regulations. The Principal Planning Policy Officer explained that the council had to consult with those three bodies, and this was carried over from the previous local plan system.

The Chair said that the statutory guidance did not preclude anyone else from making comments to the council. The Panel commented on the matter of water quality in the rivers and water supply in terms of what residents and stakeholders could expect to be done in that regard.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer said that a water cycle strategy would identify issues and solutions in the water cycle and the network and create an evidence base to inform future policies. The SA and the SEA would test those policies to ascertain whether they would make a positive impact for the environment and water quality. 

The Principal Planning Policy Officer replied to a question on the matter of land designations i.e. Green Belt, grey belt and brownfield land. She said that the SA and the SEA focussed on testing the sustainability of all types of land when these areas come forward. The Panel were advised that this matter would be tested against the objectives of the SA and SEA.

The Team Leader (Planning Policy) explained that officers were already in discussion with HCC education colleagues, and this would inform future thinking about strategy and the likely positioning of communities and where growth might be.

Officers responded to questions relating to Gypsy and Traveller sites and provision of sites for Travelling Showpeople. The Principal Planning Officer commented that the site to the East of Stevenage had been granted full planning permission for the settled community. She said that the Section 106 legal agreement for Gilston would ensure delivery in a timely manner for Gypsy and Traveller provision.

The Panel referred to table 1.2 in the report and the proposed SEA objectives for population health and wellbeing. A question was asked about access and open space and leisure spaces being provided and improved and whether the wording of provided and improved allowed some leeway in access or leisure facilities.

The Chair asked if this matter could be looked in terms of the wording. The Principal Planning Policy Officer said that the decision-making questions in the table that were part of the framework had to be considered in terms of how positive or negative the impact would be.

The Panel made a number of comments regarding the wording in table 3.2 and whether the wording of the third question could be amended to read utility standards instead of water efficiency or energy standards.

The Panel discussed the scoring principles in the context of the methodology for assessing policies. The Principal Planning Policy Officer said that the scoring criteria did not allocate an actual numbered score, and the considerations would include mitigations to push up a score in terms of how they positively or negatively they are marked in table 11.3 of the scoping document.

Councillor Dumont proposed the following amendment:

C)                 subject to the approval of the ‘Local Plan Scoping Consultation’, the SA/SEA Scoping document will be made available alongside the Local Plan Scoping Consultation and will include a period of activity between 11 June 2026 and 10 July 2026.

Councillor Crystall seconded the amendment. Having been proposed and seconded, the amendment was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

Councillor Crystall proposed and Councillor Dumont seconded, the substantive motion following the amendment. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that Council, via the Executive, be advised that (A) subject to the publication of the ‘Notice to Commence Local Plan Preparation and the Local Plan Timetable’, the content of the SA/SEA Scoping document (Appendix A) is approved;

B)         that the SA/SEA Scoping document be formally consulted upon with the Environment Agency (EA), Historic England (HE) and Natural England (NE) in accordance with statutory requirements;

C)         subject to the approval of the ‘Local Plan Scoping Consultation’, the SA/SEA Scoping document will be made available alongside the Local Plan Scoping Consultation, and will include a period of activity between 11 June 2026 and 10 July 2026 through a range of different forums, including online on the Council’s website; and

D)         any minor amendments required to the content of the SA/SEA Scoping document prior to the consultation period be delegated to the Director of Place in consultation with the Executive Member for Planning and Growth.