June 2011 -
Publication of deposit LDP
The SA documentation accompanying the deposit LDP is available on the Deposit Local Development Plan webpage.
Please
click here to access the page.
Detailed guidance on conducting and integrated SA is given in the ODPM guide Sustainability Appraisal of Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Documents (November 2005). This defines five main stages in conducting a SA:
Stage A – setting the context and objectives, establishing the baseline and deciding on the scope;
Stage B – developing and refining options and assessing effects
Stage C – preparing the SA report
Stage D – consulting on the preferred option of the development plan and SA Report; and
Stage E – monitoring significant effects of implementing the development plan
Stage A – The SA Scoping Report
The SA Scoping Report was the first stage of the SA/SEA process and set the context for the SA of the Carmarthenshire Local Development Plan (LDP). The Scoping Report was important because it determined the key sustainability objectives for the County, which will in turn be used as a means to test the LDP in due course.
The Council received feedback on the appropriateness of the approach set out in the Scoping Report following consultation with all interested persons and groups. A consultation period ran from 3 September 2008 to the 8 October 2008 and the draft SA Report was then reviewed in light of the consultation responses received.
} You can view the SA Scoping Report, the Non Technical Summary and the public notices by clicking on the links in the Downloads section to the right.
} To view all of the responses received to the SA Scoping Report consultation please click in the Downloads section to the right. The document also contains the responses and recommendations of officers with regards to the responses received.
Stage B – Compatibility Testing the LDP Strategic Objectives, Spatial Options and Strategic Policies against the SA Framework – Initial SA Report – published November 2009
The strategic objectives of the LDP Preferred Strategy have been tested against the SA/SEA objectives in order to ensure that the plan’s objectives are sustainable.
In developing the LDP Preferred Strategy, the Authority is also required to generate a range of strategic spatial options. The options identified have been evaluated to determine how the plan best reflects the diversity and character of the county and its development needs and constraints, as well as supporting the aims of other strategies, plans and policies operating internationally, nationally and at the County and local level. The strategic spatial options have been assessed against the sustainability objectives as part of the Stage B SA/SEA Assessment process.
The LDP Strategic Policies as set out within the Pre-Deposit Preferred Strategy have also been assessed against the SA/SEA framework to identify the likely effects of the implementation of the policies. An ‘in-combination’ approach to the assessment is undertaken, whereby the effects of other strategic policies are also considered in establishing the residual effects of the strategic policies. The intention of this exercise is to identify areas where there may be gaps and where predicted effects might not be currently managed through policy interventions. This provides an early opportunity to identify additional elements or changes in wording that can be included in the detailed LDP policies as they are drafted.
The Stage B compatibility tests are set out within the Initial SA Report. The Initial SA Report is now available in the Downloads section to the right. Comments are invited on the Initial SA Report as part of the wider consultation on the Authority’s pre deposit proposals documents.
Comments were received by the Council between 4 November 2009 and 4 January 2010. It will be useful to view to Initial SA Report in conjunction with the Preferred Strategy (see the Preferred Strategy page of this website) as the two documents are closely interlinked.
l A feedback form and guidance notes are available within the Downloads section to the right
l An online feedback form is available
here(The consultation period has now expired).
The consultation responses received, together with the recommendations of JACOBS in relation thereto, are available in the Downloads Section to the right. This document was reported to County Council Executive Board on the 22 March 2010 and was reported to full Council on the 22 April 2010.