DRAFT Sustainability Appraisal Report for the Emerging Local Plan ...

Section 2.
Legal and Statutory Requirements
Legal Requirement for a Sustainability Appraisal (SA)
2.1 The concept of sustainable development is commonly defined by what has become known as the
‘Brundtland Report Definition’ ( 4) :
“…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
2.2 The Government’s strategy, ‘Securing the future – delivering UK sustainable development strategy’
(2005) identified five principles that focus explicitly on environmental limits and four priorities
necessary to achieve sustainable development. The principles are presented in Figure 1 ‐ UK
Governments Guiding Sustainable Development Principles below and the four priorities are;
Sustainable Consumption and Production;
Climate Change and Energy;
Natural Resource Protection and Environmental Enhancement; and,
Sustainable Communities.
Figure 1 ‐ UK Governments Guiding Sustainable Development Principles
2.3 These principles and priorities were translated into the Regional Sustainability Frameworks (RSF) which
set the context for sustainable development in the region of the South East of England within which the
Borough of Runnymede is located. The Council aligned itself to the South East of England RSF [ 5]
objectives for the purposes of SA assessments’ as well as providing a framework for its baseline
monitoring. Following the announcement of the Government’s abolition of the Regional Assemblies
and the publication of the Localism Bill at the end of 2010, the Council is in the process to replace the
RSF. In the interim it will continue to use the RSF as the framework for carrying out SAs.
2.4 The requirements of S.39 (2) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (P&CP Act 2004) make
the achievement of sustainable development central to previous reforms of the planning system. The
purpose of SA was a mandatory legal requirement under S.19 (5)(a) and (b) of the same Act. The P&CP
Act’s intention has been to promote sustainable development through the integration of social,
environmental and economic considerations into the preparation and revisions of DPD and SPD
through a five stage process as outlined in Figure 2 ‐ Five‐stage approach to Sustainability Appraisal
below. The Council’s LDF was caught by the requirements of this act and it follows that components
such as the Local Plan are also subjected to the same rigor.
4 World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). “Our Common Future”. Oxford University Press.
5
The South East Regional Sustainability Framework: Towards a Better Quality of Life, SEERA, 2008 [originally available from:
http://www.southeast‐ra.gov.uk/sustainability_rsf.html]
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