SEA IN THE CONTEXT OF LANDTUSE PLANNING

sustainable development (HMSO 1994, Stationary Office 1999). The two processes bearmany similarities, although the approach integrated in Sustainability Appraisal includes abroader approach, with the aim of integrating social, environmental and economicconsiderations into the plan preparation. The new aspects introduced by the SEA directiveinclude a further focus on the environmental considerations, as well as requirements on theconduction on the assessment, including environmental baseline, prediction methods andconsultation. The ODPM’s Practical Guide for transposition of the EU requirements on SEAto the English planning system identifies the possibility of continuing the already establishedpractice and demands on Sustainability Appraisal. The guide states that those responsibleauthorities that so wish can cover the full range of SD issues in their assessment, i.e. alsoincluding social and economic effects of their plans and programmes in addition to theenvironmental effects. On the basis of the review it can be considered likely that thoseauthorities that already have some experience of sustainability appraisal will continue on theprocess established, with the necessary addition to fulfil the legal requirements of thedirective. This has raised some concerns among researchers that the focus on thesustainability appraisal will be at the cost of the environmental components in the assessment(Jones 2007).7.4 Implications of the different planning contextsThe three countries represent different approaches to land use planning, both with respect tolegal structures, roles and levels of government, as well as the history of the planning system.The English planning system is by far the most established, both as a history of statutoryplans as well as planning as a separate profession. Land use planning is Iceland has the mostrecent history of the three countries. Although the first Icelandic planning Act dates to 1921the present planning system is based upon a Planning Act from 1997 that restructured theland use planning, including placing the responsibility for planning is largely placed with themunicipalities, which was previously with the national Planning Agency. In Sweden land-useplanning has been characterised by strong position of the local authorities in land useplanning, which is however regulated by requirements on consultation and participation inthe planning process and the consideration of environmental aspects.All the three countries have a most developed system of statutory planning at themunicipal level with the preparation of plans encompassing the whole of the municipalityarea as well as detailed plans covering detailed parts of the municipalities. None of thecountries have a history of planning at the regional level, nor spatial planning at the nationallevel although all the countries have recently developed tools for establishing planning atthose levels with the development of Regional Spatial Strategies (England) and Regional Plansin Sweden and Iceland and coordinated sector plans and the national level. Hence, withregard to the application of the SEA requirements nationally, the relation between the legalintroduction at the national level and the level of implementation, i.e. the municipal/localauthority level stands in focus. All the countries have, or are in the process of revising thenational planning legislation, which has bearings of the application of SEA.In the case of Sweden, the planning system is currently undergoing a revision, with themain aims of simplifying the system and making it more effective. Previous legal revision in1997, strengthened the role of the municipal comprehensive plans (MCP) and underpinnedthe requirements on environmental aspects in planning and the municipal authorities have atradition of environmental and sustainability initiatives with the support of centralgovernment, most notably within the context of Local Agenda 21 (Bjarnadóttir and Bradley2003). The requirement of impact assessment in the preparation of municipal comprehensiveplans has been included in the Planning and Building Legislation since 1997, so some104