The purpose of this report is to outline the scope of the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) for the Area Action Plan. It will also introduce and explain the SA Framework, illustrate the characteristics of the subject area and highlight any key issues that have emerged from evidence gathering. This document also seeks to meet the relevant requirements of the EU Directive on Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA).

The findings of this report will assist in the development and appraisal of options for the emerging Action Plan and has been issued for consultation to the relevant statutory consultees.

Any comments or views that are received will be considered and the scope and level of information provided within this report amended, as appropriate.

To assist in the consultation process, a number of questions  - 12kb - have been put forward about the report. Answering these will help to improve the quality of the SA Framework and provide a sound basis for testing future options.

The document is available for download. These files have been produced at a lower resolution to reduce download times. If you require a higher resolution electronic version they are available on CD Rom at a charge of £5 (inclusive of postage and packing). Hard copies of the report are available at a charge of £20 (inclusive of postage and packing).

Main Report -1.7mb
Appendix A  - 1.3mb
Appendix Bi  - 214kb
Appendix Bii  - 1 kb
Appendix C  - 123kb

Consultation on this report took place between August and September 2005

If you require any further information, or would like to discuss any matters within the report, please feel free to contact the Plans and Policies Section on 01332 255074, minicom 01332 256666.

Next Steps

The next stage in the Sustainability Appraisal process will involve refining the ‘Sustainability Appraisal Framework’ and methodology based on the responses to consultation. Following this, options and proposals developed through the Area Action Plan preparation process will be appraised against this methodology (see ‘Production’ of AAP).

The Sustainability Appraisal Report which results from this process will be published for consultation alongside the ‘Preferred Options’ and ‘Submission’ versions of the Area Action Plan.