Draft Planning Obligations SPD

Thank you for your consultation on the above dated 30 May 2014, which was received by Natural England on 30 May 2014.

Natural England is a non-departmental public body. Our statutory purpose is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced, and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development.

We support the principle of meaningful and early engagement of the general community, community organisations and statutory bodies in local planning matters, both in terms of shaping policy and participating in the process of determining planning applications.

Whilst we welcome this opportunity to give our views, the topic of the Supplementary Planning Document does not relate to our remit to any significant extent. We do not therefore wish to comment.

Strategic Environmental Assessment/Habitats Regulations Assessment

In principle SPDs should not be subject to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive or the Habitats Directive because they do not normally introduce new policies or proposals or modify planning documents which have already been subject to a Sustainability Appraisal or Habitats Regulations Assessment. However a SPD may occasionally be found likely to give rise to significant effects which have not been formally assessed in the context of a higher level planning document. This may happen, for example, where the relevant high level planning document contains saved policies within a saved local plan which predates the need to carry out a SA or HRA and therefore no higher tier assessment has taken place. If there is any doubt on the need to carry out a SA or HRA a screening assessment should be carried out.

We now ask that all planning consultations are sent electronically to the central hub for our planning and development advisory service at the following address: consultations@naturalengland.org.uk. This system enables us to deliver the most efficient and effective service to our customers.

We really value your feedback to help us improve the service we offer. We have attached a feedback form to this letter and welcome any comments you might have about our service