Widening the scope: strategic environmental assessment - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 375

other. They provide a basis for early scoping discussions with statutory authorities about
how the rest of the SEA should be carried out.
The SEA Directive requires a description of the baseline environment but does not
specify how this should be done. UK experience with sustainability appraisal suggests
that environmental objectives provide a good framework for assessing the plan, and
indicators are useful for describing and monitoring the baseline environment. Box 12.5
lists possible SEA objectives organized by Directive topic, but this would need to be
updated and adapted for the plan in question.
Using the SEA objectives as a framework, the current environmental/sustainability
baseline, likely future environmental trends and any significant gaps in the data should be
described. Ideally, for each indicator, a description should be made of:

• The current environmental/sustainability status of the area covered by the plan.
• Comparators and targets: how does the authority compare with other similar authorities
or with agreed targets?
• Trends: are things getting better or worse? If time series are available, any trends can be
noted. If they are not, planners' “expert judgement” can be used.

Table 12.1 SEA pilot studies carried out as part of
the development of the ODPM (2003) guidance on
SEA

Authority Plan Key issues considered in the case

study

Full pilots*

Vale of White Horse
District Council

Local Plan 2011 First
Deposit Draft

• linkages between the different stages of
SEA

• feasibility of carrying out entire SEA in
50-100 person days

Oxfordshire County
Council

Minerals and waste local
plan review

• scoping stages of SEA: links to other
plans and programmes; baseline

• monitoring

Partial pilots

Cotswold District Council Local Plan First Review

2001-11

• the level of detail feasible in the
prediction of effects of plan policies

• how to deal with uncertainty
• SEA objectives, in particular their
relationship with the Regional
Sustainable Development Framework
and SA objectives

East of England Local
Government Conference

Regional Planning
Guidance (RPG14) for the
East of England 2021

• options generation and appraisal at a
regional level