The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) to be carried out for all Development Plan Documents and Supplementary Planning Documents as part of the new planning system.  The purpose of the SA is to assess the likely social, environmental and economic impacts of implementing the proposed plans and programmes.

In order to comply with European legislation (Directive 2001/42/EC), a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) must also be carried out to assess the likely effects of the plan or programme on the environment.

The requirements of both pieces of legislation can be combined into a single SEA/SA process.  This is carried out alongside the development of the plan/programme to ensure that any issues are identified and assessed and is used to inform the decision making and plan implementation process.

All SEA/SAs required for Braintree District Council’s Core Strategy are being prepared by the SEA Team at Essex County Council.  The findings of the SEA/SA are published in a final ‘Environment Report’.  This is accompanied by a ‘Non-Technical Summary’.

CORE STRATEGY SEA/SA

- Baseline Information Profile 2007 - 2008

Issues and Options

- Non-Technical Summary
- Environment Report
- Environment Report, Annex 1 - Baseline Information
- Environment Report, Annex 2 - Review of Plans and Programmes
- Appraisal Matrix