Requirement for Sustainability Appraisal (SA)
The council has started work on the production of its Local Development Framework Core Strategy which will set out, with regard to economic, environmental and social considerations, the spatial vision and objectives for Basingstoke and Deane up until 2026. This document requires a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which also incorporates the requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) under the SEA Directive and Regulations.
Scope of the SA
Part of the SA / SEA process involves consultation with statutory authorities and other stakeholders on the scope of the SA. The Scoping Report has been written in order to facilitate this consultation and ensure that the final SA report is robust enough to help the council in achieving its sustainable development objectives.
A copy of the Scoping Report, together with a Non-Technical Summary, can be downloaded below. Hard copies can also be viewed at the Civic Offices (Parklands Reception) and the borough’s public libraries.
Comments on the Scoping Report were welcomed for a six week period ending early November 2007, during which time we received responses from 12 organisations. The document below, called SA Consultation Responses summarises and responds to the comments that were received and includes recommendations for changes to the Sustainability Appraisal. It also provides an assessment of the compatibility of the draft Sustainability Appraisal objectives.
Approach to key issues facing the Borough
It should be noted that the Sustainability Appraisal should be read in conjunction with the Issues and Options document associated with the Core Strategy. The Core Strategy Issues and Options document sets out a draft vision and objectives, as well as identifying 30 'issues' facing the Borough over the next 20 years. For each issue, a number of approaches for achieving the vision and objectives have been identified. There are a number of different ways of achieving the Core Strategy objectives and, as part of the Sustainability Appraisal process, the overview document, available to download below, provides some justification as to why those approaches identified in the 'Issues and Options' document have been included and why other approaches rejected.
Draft Core Strategy
We have carried out an assessment of the compatibility of the draft Core Strategy objectives against the SA objectives, and an initial appraisal of the draft Core Strategy approaches (as set out in the Issues and Options document) against the SA objectives (SA Document set out below). This document is available to download below, together with a summary document of the appraisal outcomes.
Update - Manydown Judicial Review (April 2012)
The council has received a Judgement from the High Court, in the case of the Manydown Company Limited v Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council which requires the council, within a reasonable timeframe to reconsider the form of the pre submission strategy in relation to the proposed allocated sites and locations for development. The decisions previously made by the council’s Cabinet on 23 January 2012 to re-affirm the council’s position in respect of the proposed allocated sites and locations for inclusion in the core strategy and to approve the pre-submission Core Strategy for consultation have been quashed by the Court. Officers are now reviewing this judgement and considering the way forward with regard to the Core Strategy.
If you have any queries, or wish to obtain hard copies of any of these documents, please contact a member of the LDF Team on 01256 845796, e-mail LDF@basingstoke.gov.uk
