Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) &
Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)
Because we are allocating sites in the Plan, we are required to make strategic environmental and habitats regulations assessments of the Plan. This is a specialist task, so using a technical support package from Locality, AECOM has been commissioned to undertake both assessments. The processes for both are dictated by national and EU regulations.
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As the title suggests, the SEA reviews any environmental impacts that might arise if the Plan's policies are implemented. More detail is given in the Scoping Report, which you can download from the link below.
That report sets out the proposed scope of work for the SEA, and that must first be agreed by 3 specialist bodies, via a 5-week consultation - those bodies being Natural England, Historic England and the Environment Agency. While not obligatory, we have decided to also invite the environmental team at Norfolk County Council to make comments. Once agreed, the Scoping Report provides a framework for the actual assessment. It was published on 5 February and the consultation will run until 11 March. |
The HRA, as its title suggests, reviews if any negative impacts on protected habitats might arise if the Plan's policies are implemented. It involves a somewhat simpler process than the SEA.
The first stage of the assessment, based on the Regulation 14 version of the Plan, has recently been completed by AECOM, and you can download the report from the link below. It explains more about what the HRA deals with. We are required to consult only Natural England on the HRA report, and then only on the final report. However we have decided to invite their comments on the current version of the report, to get an earlier understanding of any concerns they may have. The report makes a few recommendations for changes / additions to the text of various policies, which we have agreed to implement in the next version of the Plan. |
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Once the scope has been agreed, AECOM will review what are termed 'reasonable alternatives', based on the Regulation 14 version of the Plan. In addition to the sites allocated in the Plan, the alternatives that will be reviewed are:
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For the HRA, the consultation period is 3 weeks, and the first stage consultation runs from 21 February until 13 March. As with the SEA, once we have assessed any comments and made all the other necessary updates to the Plan, AECOM will make a final assessment of any impacts due to any changes to the Plan. Their final report will then be consulted on for another 3-week period by Natural England. We will incorporate any agreed recommendations before final submission of the Plan. The final HRA report will be published for a 6-week public consultation at the same time as the final version of the Plan.
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We will then implement any necessary changes in the Plan in parallel with other updates we are making due to responses we received during the consultation of autumn 2019, and the results of various other new studies. Once a draft of the final version of the Plan is ready, AECOM will make a final assessment of any environmental impacts due to the changes we make, and we will incorporate their recommendations before final submission of the Plan. The final SEA report will be published for a 6-week public consultation at the same time as the final version of the Plan.
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WATCH THIS PAGE FOR UPDATES ON BOTH SEA & HRA AS THE WORK PROCEEDS
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