Scottish Government

NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY

i. As part of the preparation of the National Planning Framework ( NPF), the Scottish Government is carrying out a Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA). SEA is a systematic method for considering the likely environmental effects of certain plans, programmes or strategies produced by public sector organisations. It aims to:

• Integrate environmental factors into policy and decision making;
• Improve policies, and enhance environmental protection;
• Increase public participation in decision making; and
• Facilitate openness and transparency of decision making.

ii. SEA is required by the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. The key stages of the NPFSEA to date have been as follows:

• Scoping. A Scoping Report was prepared and submitted to the Consultation Authorities (Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and Historic Scotland) in February 2007. This set out the intended scope and level of detail to be included in the Environmental Report, and the proposed consultation periods. The Scoping Report was also published for general public information on the NPF website.
• Interim Assessment of Alternatives. The findings of the initial assessment of alternatives were published in Summer 2007 on the NPF website and sent to the Consultation Authorities for discussion. The purpose of the report was to ensure that consultees had an early opportunity to consider and comment on several high level policy options, which were considered during the drafting of the NPF itself. This paper remains open for consultation, and has been supplemented by a short paper describing the alternatives which have been taken forward in the preparation of the draft NPF.
• Environmental Report. This NTS reflects the content of the Environmental Report, which in turn describes and evaluates the likely significant environmental effects of the Discussion Draft NPF, allowing for comparison with the alternatives which were considered during the policy preparation process.

CONSULTATION ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT AND DISCUSSION DRAFT NATIONAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK

iii. A key purpose of the Environmental Report is to equip consultees with the environmental information they need to respond to the NPF consultation in an informed way. The Environmental Report is currently available for the public to view and respond to. The consultation period will run until 15 ^th April 2008. Responses should be directed to the NPF Team in writing, either by email or in hard copy. Contact details can be found at the end of the document. To help structure responses, consultees are invited to consider the following questions. Consultees should, however, also feel free to comment more generally on its content if they would prefer to do so.

• Do you disagree with any of the assessment findings?
• Should any further baseline evidence, wider environmental policies or sources of information be taken into account?
• Do you have concerns about significant or cumulative environmental effects on particular areas or environmental resources?
• Are there opportunities to limit the adverse effects of the NPF that have not so far been noted in the proposals for mitigation?
• Can the NPF deliver more positive aims and aspirations for the environment in the long term?

iv. When the consultation period has closed, all comments and responses will be reviewed and taken into account in the revision of the NPF itself. Adoption of the finalised NPF is expected to take place towards the end of 2008. At that time a Post Adoption SEA Statement will be published which sets out the way in which consultation comments have been taken into account, and provides commitments to future monitoring of predicted environmental effects. It is currently proposed that this should be built into future monitoring and review of the NPF.

OUTLINE OF THE CONTENTS AND MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE DISCUSSION DRAFT NPF

v. The second NPF provides a Scotland-wide perspective on planning. It identifies the high-level and long-term issues that are relevant to planning in Scotland, including sustainable economic growth and the need to reduce and adapt to climate change, and defines a spatial strategy for the period to 2030. This includes a commitment to city-driven economic growth, whilst maintaining environmental quality. The Discussion Draft NPF also sets out priorities for improving transport connections between the main cities, international gateways and areas for economic growth. The Discussion Draft NPF identifies planning priorities for each part of Scotland:

• Central Belt: collaboration between Edinburgh and Glasgow to promote the Central Belt in a coherent way. Ensuring sufficient land is available for housing, and investment in transport and environmental infrastructure to support planned development. Continuing commitments to urban regeneration, particularly the Clyde Waterfront and Gateway. Long-term creation of a strategic green network.
• East Coast: improved transport connections between cities and better links with the rest of Europe. Recognition of the importance of small and medium sized towns, and coastal conservation and management. Strengthening of Aberdeen's role as a northern gateway to Scotland and ongoing regeneration in Dundee.
• Highlands and Islands: recognition of the importance of environmental quality. Providing development infrastructure to support planned population growth. Development of Inverness as the Highland Capital, and growth along the A96 corridor. Port and canal development for timber and wider freight transport. Targeted support for peripheral rural areas and islands.
• Ayrshire and the South West: Developing the area's gateway role by continuing to improve connections by air, sea, road and rail. Regeneration of towns and environmental improvements in former mining areas.
• South of Scotland: promoting the area as a vibrant rural economy. Strategic transport, water and drainage infrastructure improvements to expand capacity to accommodate growth. Environmental improvements along the M74 corridor and expansion of native woodland. Continuing support for further education facilities.

vi. The NPF identifies nine 'National Developments'. These are proposed under the provisions of the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act, 2006. Their confirmation in the final NPF would establish the need for them, but their precise siting and design would require further consideration and assessment through development plans, development management and environmental impact assessments. The National Developments included in the Discussion Draft NPF are:

• Replacement Forth Crossing.
• Edinburgh Airport Enhancement.
• Glasgow Airport Enhancement.
• Grangemouth Freight Hub.
• Rosyth International Container Terminal.
• Scapa Flow International Container Transhipment Facility.
• Grid Reinforcements for renewable energy development.
• The Glasgow Strategic Drainage Scheme.
• 2014 Commonwealth Games Facilities.

CURRENT STATE OF THE SCOTTISH ENVIRONMENT, AND EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES.

vii. Scotland has a unique environment, with a wide range of natural and cultural features which together play an important role in defining national identity.

viii. Scotland's total population has increased in recent years as a result of in-migration, although some parts of the country have continued to experience population loss. Household sizes have decreased, and their characteristics vary significantly within and between local authority areas. In some parts of the country there is high demand for affordable housing. There are particular concentrations of social, economic and health deprivation in Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, and Edinburgh. Scotland's overall health record is poor.

ix. Scotland has many natural areas and features which are recognised and safeguarded at the international, national and local levels for their special qualities. Special Protection Areas ( SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation ( SACs) together make up Scotland's Natura 2000 network. In addition, Ramsar sites, National Nature Reserves ( NNRs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSIs) are of national significance for biodiversity. Around three quarters of the special features of nature conservation sites are in 'favourable' condition but many of our natural resources are under growing pressure, and further work is needed to safeguard them for future generations. Scotland's biodiversity will be affected by climate change during the period covered by the NPF, with some important habitats in danger of being lost or becoming more fragmented, with particular consequences for some species.

x. Scotland's identity and history is reflected in its many listed buildings, conservation areas and scheduled monuments. There are many more remains, buildings and townscapes which have not been formally designated for protection, but which together make our landscapes and settlements attractive and distinctive. Scotland's mountains, moorlands and coasts are particularly renowned and distinctive at a national scale, but are subject to constant pressure for change.

xi. Scotland has generally good quality soil resources, but they can be adversely affected by both natural and human activities. Soil sealing and erosion are of particular concern, and there is a continuing need to address longstanding problems with contamination on vacant and derelict sites. This problem has declined substantially in the last decade, largely as a result of targeted regeneration and development. Scotland has good air quality overall, but there continues to be a need to monitor this and prioritise action in targeted areas where pollution is highest.

xii. Up to one third of Scotland's water bodies may not reach water quality targets by 2015, unless action is taken to address a wide range of pressures on them. Flooding is a continuing challenge which requires a long-term perspective to avoid exacerbating existing problems and to anticipate the additional effects of climate change. Scotland has a rich marine environment and an attractive but often vulnerable coastline.

xiii. The effects of climate change are already becoming apparent. Longer term predictions include substantial increases in levels of rainfall, reduced snowfall, changing temperatures, and increased risk of storms and high winds. These effects will vary between different parts of the country and seasons. International commitments to reducing emissions which contribute to climate change and the need to also adapt to its effects, provide a challenging context for the NPF. Partly in response to this challenge, Scotland is on course to meet its waste recycling targets, and there has been a substantial increase in the amount of energy generated from cleaner, renewable and natural sources. Our transport patterns, however, remain unsustainable, with road transport accounting for 29% of our total energy consumption with a continuing growth in road and air travel and decline in bus and rail passenger numbers.

xiv. The key environmental challenges taken into account in the assessment of the NPF are as follows:

• Decline in overall areas of semi-natural habitats and a continuing need to ensure that protected sites are in favourable condition. Climate change, urban development and other processes are leading to habitat loss and fragmentation. Habitat connectivity will become more important as climate change progresses.
• Growing numbers of households and changing household structures, together with a new impetus to deliver increased housing in a sustainable way, and an ongoing need to reduce social deprivation and health inequalities.
• Soil sealing, which interferes with the ability of the land to process water, increasing flood risk and depleting groundwater flows. Soil erosion is also a concern.
• Pressure on water bodies. Flooding is a longstanding problem in parts of Scotland, which may be exacerbated by further development, infrastructure expansion and climate change.
• Climate change, requiring further mitigation and adaptation responses. Scotland's wetter winters and warmer drier summers could undermine quality of life if we do not begin to adapt to them.
• A continuing rise in emissions from the energy and transport sectors, despite our commitment to reducing them. There continues to be a need to generate more energy from renewable sources and reducing road and air transport by increasing our use of public transport, walking and cycling.
• Localised air quality problems.
• A continuing need to reclaim and reuse vacant and derelict land.
• Loss or damage to the historic environment as a result of inappropriate development.
• Landscape change leading to loss of character and distinctiveness.

xv. If the NPF were not revised, many of these existing environmental trends might continue. This includes continuing growth in greenhouse gas emissions, and threats to biodiversity. Whilst there might continue to be progress towards achieving some environmental targets, such as air and water quality, the contribution of planning to these environmental objectives may prove to be limited without clear strategic direction. Some positive environmental policies, such as green networks and woodland expansion, might prove more difficult to achieve in practice, without the support of the NPF.

WIDER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OBJECTIVES

xvi. The Discussion Draft NPF draws together a range of Government policies to provide a coherent vision for Scotland's long-term development, cutting across the full range of policy topics. This includes a broader framework of environmental protection commitments and goals. Many of these objectives have been set at the international and national levels.

xvii. Key objectives of relevance to the NPF include:

• Protection of priority habitats and species, improving and maintaining the condition of features for which sites have been designated.
• A duty of biodiversity protection and enhancement.
• A need to provide sufficient land to meet the housing needs of growing number of households, and to meet affordable housing needs.
• A right of responsible access to land and inland water bodies.
• Reducing social deprivation, and achieving community regeneration in targeted areas.
• Improving health through increased physical activity, and reducing health inequalities.
• Improving the ecological quality of water bodies, by protecting them from the adverse effects of development, securing sustainable water supplies and drainage infrastructure and taking forward the measures identified in river basin management plans.
• Addressing current and future flood risk by identifying sustainable solutions, and avoiding contributing to risk by inappropriately located or designed development.
• Protecting soil from sealing, erosion, pollution and loss of organic quality.
• Maintaining and improving air quality, by reducing harmful emissions.
• Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly CO ₂, and adapting to climate change as it progresses.
• Reducing emissions from the transport sector, by encouraging people to use more sustainable public transport options, and supporting sea and rail freight options.
• Reducing energy sector emissions by increasing renewable energy generation. Developing options for carbon capture and storage to support this.
• Meeting targets for waste recycling and composting, and continuing to reduce the proportion of waste which goes to landfill.
• Continuing to reclaim and reuse derelict and vacant land, including areas which have been contaminated by previous activity.
• Protecting heritage resources, including listed buildings, conservation areas, scheduled monuments and historic gardens and designed landscapes, from the adverse effects of development.
• Protecting landscapes and enhancing those which have previously been degraded.
• Valuing and respecting environmental resources which contribute to quality of life and sense of place, including local and undesignated wildlife sites, unlisted historic buildings, archaeological remains, and wider townscapes and landscapes.

OUTLINE OF METHODS FOR UNDERTAKING THE ASSESSMENT

xviii. Having established the current state of the environment and reviewed the wider policies which are relevant to the NPF, the assessment brought together key environmental issues and policy objectives to provide a series of SEA criteria against which the NPF could be measured. These formed a structure for the assessment: each of the key policies and proposals with the Discussion Draft NPF was considered in turn, and positive, negative or neutral effects on the environment were predicted as far as possible. Further sourcing of relevant environmental information was undertaken as the assessment progressed, including more detailed information which helped to refine and focus the assessment of the proposed National Developments.

xix. At an early stage in the SEA process, a series of high level alternatives was identified and considered for inclusion in the Discussion Draft. The effects of these alternatives were assessed, and used to inform the eventual selection of preferred policy options. An interim paper was produced which describes these policy alternatives and sets out their environmental effects. These options remain open for debate, and a supplementary paper can be accessed by consultees from the NPF website. This paper also defines which of the alternatives have been taken forward in the Discussion Draft, and which have been wholly or partially excluded, and explains the reasons for these decisions.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE ASSESSMENT AND PROPOSED MITIGATION MEASURES

xx. The NPF is seeking to advance sustainable economic development. In developing the NPF, the Scottish Government has sought to produce a spatial strategy which balances environmental objectives with the need to accommodate population, business and infrastructure growth over the coming years. The environmental assessment identified the following effects from the Discussion Draft NPF:

REASONS FOR SELECTING THE POLICY PROPOSALS INCLUDED IN THE DISCUSSION DRAFT NPF.

xxi. The Discussion Draft NPF is a 'preferred option', which remains open for further discussion. It has partly emerged from consideration of the options tested early in the SEA process. Consultation responses also played an important part in informing the policy development process. In many cases, the best possible environmental options have been adopted. In others, however, the content of the draft NPF was determined by wider programmes and existing policy commitments, and it has not been possible to take forward the most positive environmental option in every case. The accompanying paper on the policy alternatives explains how the preferred alternative was identified in more detail and provides more information on the environmental effects of the early, high level policy options.

MONITORING

xxii. The Environmental Report sets out a detailed framework for monitoring the environmental effects which have been identified during the course of the assessment. This focuses on the effects of the NPF on existing environmental problems as a means of prioritising future monitoring activities. Many of the issues will be reviewed as an integral part of the ongoing monitoring programme for the NPF itself. Others may require liaison with specialist environmental organisations and specific planning policy topic areas to ensure that any unforeseen or early environmental effects are recognised and acted upon.

NEXT STEPS

xxiii. The next steps for consulting on and finalising the NPF are as follows:

MAKING CONTACT

xxiv. If you require further information or would like to discuss any aspect of the NPFSEA, please contact the NPF Team using the details below:

• E-mail: NPFTeam@scotland.gsi.gov.uk; or
• Write to: National Planning Framework Team, The Scottish Government Planning Directorate, Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.
• Telephone: The Planning Helpline 08457 741741.