Greater Norwich Joint Core Stategy Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainable Appraisal

The Greater Norwich local planning authorities, Broadland District Council, Norwich City Council and South Norfolk District Council, working with Norfolk County Council (the Authorities), are preparing a Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP). The GNLP is a review of the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) adopted in 2011, with amendments adopted in 2014. The GNLP will include areas of policy covered by the JCS and also includes well as site specific policies. The GNLP will not include development management policies, which will be reviewed locally by the individual local planning authorities.

The Greater Norwich Local Plan will be a Development Plan Document, and as such a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) will be required in accordance with EC Directive 2001/42/EC. This will be undertaken as part of the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) process, which is required by section 19 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Ensuring that the development of the plan is informed by the findings of SA is one of the key ‘Tests of Soundness’ for authorities to demonstrate at the time of development plan submission. A Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) of the growth options’ impacts on sites of international wildlife protection will feature at a later stage of the overall GNLP process.

SA is an iterative process intended to ensure that the emerging GNLP policies will be informed by identified sustainability issues. It will identify where there may be shortcomings, and suggest mitigation measures where necessary. The basis of ‘testing’ each policy and option as they are developed will be established through a Scoping Report. This ultimately produces a framework matrix, which is used to assess the impacts of each policy and/or option.

This requirement is for a consultant who will be required to: a. Review the SA approach taken and the outcomes produced by the authorities at the early stages of the plan making process and b. Produce the SA reports for the later stages of the process.