6.0 CONCLUSION
6.1 This Post Adoption SEA Statement concludes the SEA of SPP3. In accordance with Section 18 of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act (2005) it sets out the key environmental issues which were identified during the course of the process, and explains how these issues have been addressed in the development and finalisation of the SPP.
6.2 The SEA of SPP3 was a very high level assessment of a strategic policy, and as a result it often proved difficult to identify its environmental effects with any degree of certainty. Indeed, the actual implications of SPP3 for the Scottish environment remain somewhat uncertain, because they will be largely dependent on the way in which development plans interpret and take forward the policy objectives. However, the SEA did help to ensure that the SPP itself guides local authorities towards a carefully planned approach to new housing provision, which avoids or minimises potentially adverse effects on the environment. The extent to which this is achieved in practice should be identified through future monitoring of new housing construction at both the national and development plan level.