Sustainability Appraisal

When preparing a Local Development Document, the local planning authority has to carry out a formal assessment of its contribution to sustainable development - its likely social, economic and environmental effects. As long as it follows Government guidance, a Sustainability Appraisal should meet EU requirements for plans and policies to be checked by a Strategic Environmental Assessment before they are adopted.

The Sustainability Appraisal involves a number of stages, matching those involved in the preparation of the Local Development Document. After setting the context and scope of the appraisal the authority has to issue separate sustainability appraisal reports at the 'issues and options' and the 'preferred options' stages, consulting on both, and then issue a final sustainability appraisal report with the submission document taking into account the consultations. This then has to be taken into account by the Planning Inspector at the Independent Examination.

Sustainability Appraisals are also carried out for Regional Spatial Strategies.