Strategic Environmental Assessment Development plans: 2 nd time around 13 May 2014

1. Strategic Environmental Assessment Development plans: 2nd time around 13 May 2014

2. William CarlinSenior Policy Manager:Environmental AssessmentScottish GovernmentFiona RicePolicy and Advice Manage: Environmental AssessmentSNH

3. Development Plans: What to consider second time around?

4. What does proportionate mean to you?  × Small Little Wee • Balanced • Matched • Aligned

5. Proportionality Dictionary: Properly related in size, degree, or other measurable characteristics; corresponding: e.g. Punishment ought to be proportional to the crime.

6. The challenges • Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 doesn’t cover the concept of 2nd time assessments, • Requires the ability to balance pragmatism and compliance, • Development plans are high profile, can be a source of conflict, so risk of challenge is higher, • How do you cover reasonable alternatives satisfactorily, • There is no room for complacency.

7. Proportionality:learning to focus

8. An SEA of two halves THE ASSESSMENT THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT • In terms of 2nd time around, the assessment stage is where greatest opportunities for proportionality rest. • For example: • Improved scoping, • Opportunity to recycle some of the baseline data where possible, • Assessment techniques already established, • Refresh of some material rather than drafting from scratch. As the content of Environmental Report is outlined within the 2005 Act, practitioners have to indicate where significant environmental effects of a plan are likely to arise. New Development Plans cannot be treated as modifications to the previous plan and therefore have to cover the whole plan.

9. What you cannot ignore? • What new environmental data has become available? • Have new plans, programmes or strategies been produced that impact on yours? • Has new legislation come into force? • The CAs comments on the previous plan consultation? • What has monitoring, if available discovered?

10. Where to start? The Development plan: • What has been added? e.g. new housing allocations, roads, new growth targets or policies. • What has been modified? e.g. vision; housing numbers; waste targets, • What has been removed? e.g. potential mitigation policies • What has stayed the same? e.g. policies, targets

11. Where to start? The previous assessment: • What is new? e.g. air or water quality data, monitoring outputs, other PPS • What has happened? e.g. flooding within plan area, drop in air quality • What has stayed the same? e.g. elements of baseline, assessment method

12. What is important? • Use scoping more effectively, • Take the Consultation Authorities with you, • Learn from your mistakes (Learning opportunities), • Remember with the reasonable alternatives, nothing is set in stone • Its not like modifications. Previous plan New × 

13. 2nd time around Remember it’s about: • reviewing what worked and what didn’t last time, • opportunity to focus the assessment based on experience, • using different methods of assessment where its beneficial, • not setting unrealistic expectations of being able to slash the size of the previous assessment, • clarity is more important than the size of the report.

14. Any questions?

15. In Groups • Mind mapping exercise: SDP/LDP (15 mins) • Split into three groups, each covering one of the headings below and considering, based on personal experience within group, what is likely to have changed over the past 5 years? • Environmental baseline, • other plans and programmes, & • internal policies

16. Mind map

17. Next • Still in your groups look at the results from all the groups and consider what elements of the SDP/LDP assessment is likely to fall within the headings below.

18. Broad headings of LDP • Housing needs / settlement strategy • Retail / Supporting business • Transport / infrastructure • Design / Historic environment • Energy / energy efficiency • Natural Resources (incl. landscape, forestry, rivers) • Waste management • Education • Sport • Flooding • Agriculture / Aquaculture