Adopted Stowmarket Area Action Plan - Mid Suffolk District Council

Stowmarket Area Action Plan16 Appendix E - Mid Suffolk District Council's Glossary of TermsAccessibility: The ability of people to move around an area and reach places and facilities,including elderly and disabled people, those with young children and those encumberedwith luggage or shopping.Accessible Natural Greenspace Model (ANGST): Natural England’s model used toidentify levels of provision, distribution, and composition of accessible natural greenspace.Affordable Housing: Housing accessible to households who cannot afford to rent or buyhomes generally available on the open market. It includes social rented housing andintermediate housing. Intermediate housing is housing at prices or rents above those ofsocial rent but below market prices or rents.Amenity: A positive element or elements that contribute to the overall character orenjoyment of an area. For example, open land, trees, historic buildings and theinter-relationship between them, or less tangible factors such as tranquillity.Area Action Plan (AAP): Used to provide a planning framework for areas of change andareas of conservation. Adopted Area Action Plans will become part of the DevelopmentPlan for Mid Suffolk.Authority's Monitoring Reports (AMR): Part of the Local Plans process, the Authority'sMonitoring Reports will assess the implementation of the Local Development Scheme andthe extent to which policies Local Plans are being successfully implemented.Biodiversity: Biodiversity encompasses the whole variety of life on Earth. It includes allspecies of plants and animals, but also their genetic variation, and the complex ecosystemsof which they are part. It is not restricted to rare or threatened species but includes thewhole of the natural world from the commonplace to the critically endangered.Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP): A strategy prepared for a local area aimed at conservingand enhancing biological diversity.Brownfield: See Previously Developed Land (PDL).BREEAM: It is an Environmental Assessment Method (EAM) that is a voluntarymeasurement rating for green buildings. It was established in the UK by the BritishResearch Establishment (BRE), hence, BREEAM.'Building for Life': This is the national standard for well-designed homes andneighbourhoods. The 20 Building for Life criteria are used to evaluate the quality ofschemes at both the pre-planning and post-construction phases.Code for Sustainable Homes: This is an environmental impact rating system for housingin England, setting new standards for energy efficiency (above those in current buildingregulations) and sustainability, which are not mandatory under current building regulationsbut represent important developments towards limiting the environmental impact of housing.Mid Suffolk Stowmarket Area Action Plan (February 2013)119