Stafford Road Corridor Area Action Plan

Corridor. These included climate change; deprivation;economic factors; health; historic environment andtownscape; material assets (including energy andwaste); and population and equality.To complement the current stage of development for theAAP, the SA process has appraised the options andproposals put forward for each of the Policy Areasincluded in this Options Report. This has taken astrategic level assessment which has assessed each setof options and proposals against the SA Framework ofobjectives and indicators developed during scoping forthe SA. The Options SA Report, which accompanies thisOptions Report, presents the findings of the appraisaland sets out a number of recommendations forconsideration during the next stages of development forthe AAP.Summaries of the appraisal findings for each Policy Areaand Character Area have been included in this OptionsReport in the relevant sections.Habitats Regulations AssessmentThe AAP is also required to have a Habitats RegulationsAssessment (HRA) to demonstrate that the AAPproposals and policies will not adversely affect anyEuropean sites protected for their nature conservationimportance (such as Special Areas of Conservation(SACs)). This assessment will include looking at thepotential for population growth in the AAP area toincrease visitor activities at Cannock Chase SAC. If asignificant adverse impact is identified, the AAP will needto demonstrate proportionate measures to mitigatethis impact.opportunities are yet to be added. Issues raised throughinitial HRA scoping should aid and shape the futuredevelopment of the AAP to ensure that likely significanteffects are dealt with prior to re-screening following therelease of a final draft of the AAP.Equality AnalysisThe AAP is being informed by an Equality Analysis whichwill assess potential effects of the policies on differentpeople. The analysis has due regard to the three aims ofthe Equality Duty 1 , and will be informed by the publicconsultation on this Options Report (for example, we willtalk to local groups / people about equality issues inrelation to the AAP and the impacts it could have).This will ensure that any impacts are fully consideredand inform the final version of the AAP.1 The three aims of the Equality Duty are to eliminate unlawfuldiscrimination, harassment, victimisation and any otherconduct prohibited by the Act; advance equality of opportunitybetween people who share a protected characteristic andpeople who do not share it; and foster good relations betweenpeople who share a protected characteristic and people whodo not share it.A Cannock Chase visitor survey and impactassessment, to be completed during 2012, will informthe HRA of the Draft AAP (Publication stage). Althoughthe results of this work were not available to inform thisOptions Report, an outline HRA Report has beenprepared and Part Two highlights policy options to dealwith any potential identified impacts.At this stage the outline HRA Report has not been ableto rule out potential impacts from development in theAAP on European Special Areas of Conservation.However the AAP options are yet to be finalised andsupportive detail for policy areas and development8Options Report for the Development of the Stafford Road Corridor