Local Development Framework
Under the Government's new development planning system local authorities are required to undertake a sustainability appraisal (SA) during the preparation of local development documents. This is to ensure that sustainable development is at the heart of decisions at every stage of plan-making and is an integral part of the process. The purpose of SA is to appraise the social, environmental and economic effects of the spatial planning strategies and policies to ensure that they accord with sustainable development. The Council commissioned environmental consultants Enfusion to progress the SA work in January 2005.
SA Scoping Report
The Council published a Scoping Report for the SA of the South Hams and Local Development Framework (LDF) and Community Strategy in early 2005. It sets out the key sustainability issues and objectives for the South Hams to be addressed in the SA, Community Strategy and LDF. It contains the SA Framework to be used for the appraisal of the LDF and Community Strategy documents. The Scoping Report was available for consultation and comments were received from a number of organisations which helped improved the appraisal framework.
Sustainability Appraisal Reports
Sustainability appraisal is undertaken at several stages during the formulation of development plan documents as an iterative process. This helps integrate sustainability considerations into these plans. Two Sustainability Appraisal Reports (incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment) have been published to date.
The Sustainability Appraisal Report of the Adopted Core Strategy
| Appendices |
Title |
 Appendix I |
Review of Relevant Plans and Programmes |
| Appendix II |
Collation and Analysis of Baseline Information |
| Appendix III |
Summary of Response to Consultation |
| Appendix IV |
SA of Core Strategy Options |
| Appendix V |
Initial SA of Core Strategy Objectives, Spatial Strategy and Strategic Policies |
| Appendix VI |
Detailed SA of Core Strategy Preferred Options Spatial Strategy and Strategic Policies |
| Appendix VII |
Detailed SA of Core Strategy Submission Document Spatial Strategy and Strategic Policies |
| Appendix VIII |
Progression of Initial SA Recommendations |
| Appendix IX |
Progression of Detailed SA Recommendations – Preferred Options |
| Appendix X |
Progression of Detailed SA Recommendations – Submission Document |
The Sustainability Appraisal Report of the Sherford Area Action Plan: Preferred Options Report:
Other Sustainability Appraisal Work
The Council published theDraft Sustainability Appraisal of the Issues & Options Reports for "The Strategy" and "Town and Village" (Oct 04) in October 2004. This is a draft appraisal of the following LDF documents:
- The Strategy: Core Strategy and Policies - Issues and Preferred Options
- Town & Village: Area Action Plans/Sites Specific Allocations - Issues, Options and Preferred Options.
Sustainability Appraisal Trial Methodology
A working group was set up by the Council to undertake a sustainability appraisal of the First Deposit Local Plan Review (January 2002) independent of the Forward Planning team. The group incorporated both district councilors and officers from various Council services. The group produced the sustainability appraisal methodology and this was tested on three key chapters of Part 1: General Policies document. The results of this trial are available in the 'Sustainability Appraisal - Trial of Proposed Methodology' (January 2002).
South Hams Local Plan Review: Sustainability Appraisal - Trial of Proposed Methodology (Jan 2002)
