Sustainability Appraisal

Woking Borough Council is taking steps to replace its adopted Local Plan 1999 with a new Local Development Framework (LDF) as required by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The LDF will comprise a series of Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) which will be prepared in stages as set out in the Council's Local Development Scheme.

Requirement for Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment of DPDs

Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as amended by the Planning Act 2008 and amending Regulations, Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is required for the preparation of Development Plan Documents (DPDs).

When preparing DPDs, the Council must also conduct an Environmental Assessment in accordance with the requirements of European Directive 2001/42/EC on the `assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment' (known as the `strategic environmental assessment' or SEA Directive).

The Government has integrated the two requirements into the one process of Sustainability Appraisal (SA). The purpose of SA is to promote sustainable development through better integration of sustainability considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans. SA is an iterative process that identifies and reports on the likely significant effects of the plan and the extent to which implementation of the plan will achieve the social, environmental and economic objectives by which sustainable development can be defined.

Key Stages of Sustainability Appraisal

Stage A - Setting the context, collecting baseline information, identifying sustainability issues, developing objectives and indicators, production of a Scoping Report for consultation.
Stage B - Testing the objectives of the DPD against the objectives of the SA, appraising the issues and options of the DPD, consulting on the SA of the ermerging options.
Stage C - Predict and assess the effects of the DPD, develop proposals for monitoring, prepare the SA report for full consultation.
Stage D - Consult on the SA Report and the DPD, appraise significant changes to the DPD.
Stage E - Monitor the significant effects of the DPD and respond to adverse effects.