SEA IN THE CONTEXT OF LANDTUSE PLANNING

which “[This] poses additional challenges to the formalised application of SEA, as assessors are faced with anew and untested planning system. Whilst SEA guidance of the new system is currently in preparation, itremains to be seen how effectively new SEA requirements can be implemented within a new planning system”(Fischer 2005).The change that the planning reform induces on the roles and responsibilities of thedifferent authorities with regard to planning is also potentially of major importance. With theeradicating of the structure plans by county councils, and the redefinition of the planprepared at the local authority levels with the introduction of spatial planning strategies forthe Local Authority Planning area, the LPAs have got an enhanced role for strategic planning.Simultaneously, the strategic aspects have been moved up to a higher level with the newstatutory role of the regional level with regard planning, with the requirements of apreparation of regional spatial strategies that establish broad location and criteria fordevelopment. This new arrangement will give new solutions with regard to tiering, and interms of SEA that must be prepared for both regional and local spatial strategies, the levelresponsibility for environmental issues and assessment must be found.Last but not least, the experience of the sustainability appraisal (SA) clearly colours theSEA discourse in UK documentation. According to Jones et al (2005) the experience andpractice achieved prior to the SEA regulations is now being incorporated into the formalSEA system via official guidance. The existing practice of SA that has been encouraged bynational authorities, and has been practiced and developed at the local levels is the ‘model’that national policy guidance builds upon, i.e. PPS 12, Planning and Compulsory PurchaseAct. Furthermore, the national guidance for SEA application open up for the possibility tointegrate the SA and SEA processes, but the PPS and the Planning and Compulsory PurchaseAct take this a step further, recommending that the SEA shall be incorporated in the existingSA process. The result of studies carried out at the local level, it is the experience ofenvironmental and sustainability appraisal that forms the basis on which the implementationof the SEA requirements are based upon.In this discussion it is relevant to note that the Scottish Executive has chosen a differentroute in their guidance and recommended SEA as a separate process (Scottish Executive,(2003). Strategic Environmental Assessment, Consultation Paper, Paper 2003/31, ScottishExecutive, Edinburgh). In that way the Scottish proposals for implementation of the SEADirective extend the scope of SEA well beyond the coverage envisaged in the rest of the UK,and so will test whether, given the choice, the public sector and others who deliver UK publicservices will opt for minimal compliance with environmental legislation (Jackson, 2004).6.9 Issues for further studiesOn the basis of the discussion above, it is the author’s view that the relation between the twoprocesses, and the consequence for the SEA introduction, that presents the most interestingresearch aspect when comparing the UK’s SEA application to other countries. This calls for acloser study of what SA entails. The notion of Sustainability Appraisal includes a broaderapproach to assessment, including not only the environmental aspects, but also the social andeconomic aspects included in the concept of sustainable development. This includes a muchbroader definition to the environment (some similarities can be found to the requirementsand practice of impact assessment in Sweden, where some of the municipalities have chosento include social and economic aspects as well as the environmental ones, making it asustainability assessment). The concern that environmental issues will be marginalised hasbeen expressed by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (2002); “This hasraised questions about whether environmental issues are being marginalized, and whether SEA’s objectives canbe properly achieved if they are subsumed into broader SA”.93