Cairngorms National Park Local Development Plan 2020 Proposed Plan Strategic Environmental Assessment

Strategic Environmental Assessment

25th January, 2019

The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Cairngorms National Park Local Development Plan 2020 is a statutory requirement under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. SEA is a systematic process developed to ensure that potential environmental impacts of Plans, Programmes and Strategies (PPS) (both positive and negative) are assessed and considered during the course of their preparation.

SEA aims to:

integrate environmental factors into Strategy preparation and decision making;
improve the Strategy and enhance environmental protection;
increase public participation in decision making; and
facilitate openness and transparency of decision making.

The SEA process is divided into five main stages which are:

Stage A: Setting the context and objectives, establishing the baseline and deciding on the scope;
Stage B: Developing and refining alternatives and assessing effects;
Stage C: Preparing the Environmental Report.
Stage D: Consulting on the draft Strategy and its Environmental Report; and
Stage E: Monitoring implementation of the Strategy.

This environmental report presents the assessment of the Proposed Plan, building on the work carried out in Stages B to D. The assessment has not identified any substantial changes between the preferred options assessed in the first report and the policies assessed in this one and indeed none that would result in any negative effects, minor or significant. In fact the assessment identified a number of additional positive effects. It has not therefore been considered necessary to conduct a formal consultation on this Environmental Report as all matters have been covered in the previous one.

This environmental assessment therefore establishes the likely significant (positive and negative) environmental effects of implementing the LDP as adopted. The effects of the LDP and any potential reasonable alternatives have been considered, along with viable mitigation measures to avoid, reduce or offset adverse effects

Documents relating to earlier stages of the SEA process can be accessed via the following link:

17 files