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STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT of

BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET LOCAL PLAN INCLUDING MINERALS AND WASTE POLICIES

STATEMENT UNDER REGULATION 6 of the ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF PLANS AND PROGRAMMES REGULATIONS, 2004

Introduction

1.         On 15th July, 2004 Full Council delegated authority to the Head of Planning Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Sustainability and the Environment to prepare a Statement under regulation 6 of the draft Regulations setting out why it was not feasible to carry out an environmental assessment [Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) under the European Directive 2001/42/EC] of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan including Minerals and Waste Policies (“the Plan”).

2.         Since that decision Parliament has approved the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations, 2004 (“the Regulations”) and this Statement is made under regulation 6 thereof.

The Plan timetable

3.         The Plan is at a very advanced stage. Pre-Inquiry Changes were approved in July 2004 and published for public consultation in August. The consultation period has expired. Further pre-inquiry changes were agreed in November 2004 and the consultation period ends in January 2005. The pre-inquiry meeting took place on 19th October, 2004 and the public inquiry itself starts on 8th February, 2005.

4.         The process of preparing further changes to the Plan, presenting them to Council for approval and then publishing them for public consultation takes several months. This fact alone demonstrates that it is not “feasible” to consider the preparation of further changes to the Plan now. If such changes were to follow a further environmental assessment of the Plan it is probable that any such changes could not be prepared until 2005 and only approved for consultation after the start of the Local Plan Inquiry. In practice, therefore, any such changes could only be considered at a further Modifications Inquiry.

Plan Assessment to date

5.         The preparation of the Plan has been undertaken against the background of a series of assessments of the Plan’s impact on the environment and sustainability issues under the Sustainable Development Appraisal (SDA) process. Attached to this Statement is a brief summary of the various stages at which the Plan has been assessed. As the summary shows, there have been several stages at which an SDA has been undertaken (1999, 2001 and 2004) and there has been consultation on the first two of these in 2000 and 2002. The Local Plan Inspector will have an opportunity to consider the SDA currently being undertaken at the Inquiry in 2005.

6.         The SDA process to date has covered most of the issues which would need to be assessed at this stage of the Plan process under the Regulations. In these circumstances it is considered that the steps taken by the Council to date secure substantial compliance with the objective of the SEA Directive (2001/42/EC), which is to

“provide for a high level of protection of the environment and to contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes with a view to promoting sustainable development …”

Conclusion

7.         It is not practicable or feasible to undertake an SEA and then make consequential changes to the Plan within the existing Plan timetable (paras. 3 and 4). Accordingly, an SEA at this stage would be merely informative and is considered unnecessary given substantial compliance with the objective of the SEA Directive (para. 6).

8.         The alternative of postponing the Local Plan Inquiry to enable an SEA to be undertaken would have serious consequences for planning throughout the district, quite apart from the more direct cost and manpower implications of a delayed inquiry. Any additional compliance with the Directive would be wholly disproportionate to these adverse consequences.

9.         The Council therefore considers that it is not “feasible” to undertake an SEA of the Plan at this stage.

David Davies

Head of Planning Services

8th December 2004

 

ANNEX

Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan including minerals and waste Policies

Statement under Regulation 6; Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004

Sustainable Development Appraisal (SDA) of Issues Report, 1999

Sustainable Development Appraisal of the Local Plan Issues Report 1999, was conducted in November/December 1999 and public consultation took place for a period of six weeks from March to May 2000.  SDA recommendations were used to inform policy direction in the formulation Deposit Draft Local Plan.

SDA of Deposit Draft, 2002

Sustainable Development Appraisal of the Local Plan Deposit Draft 2002 conducted in October 2001 and public consultation took place for a period of six weeks in January/February 2002.  The comments on the SDA were considered by the Council on 15th July 2004.

 

The recommendations of the SDA were reported to the 17th July 2003 Full Council meeting.  The Council made responses to the recommendations, some of which led to revisions to the Local Plan.

 

SDA of Revised Deposit Draft, 2003 and Pre-Inquiry Changes 2004

This has been conducted and its conclusions and stakeholder comments have been forwarded to the Inquiry Inspectors.