ANNEX 6: SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ( SEA)
01 A draft Environmental Report under the terms of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (Scotland) Regulations 2004; SSI no. 258, otherwise known as a Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) has been undertaken alongside this draft West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006 and deals more fully with the environmental situation in West Edinburgh and with the forecast impacts of different strategy options.
02 A Scoping Report was prepared which set out the basis of the assessment, and views were received from the consultation authorities (Historic Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage). The Assessment set out clear objectives and based the assessment on three scenarios to give a meaningful comparison. By comparing the West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006 objectives against the SEA objectives, pointers to the strategic environmental impacts of West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006 enable responses to be made. Such responses could be changes of approach, mitigation strategies, or rebuttal/justification of West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006 policy.
03 The Consultation Draft of West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006 has been developed in the knowledge of the development of the draft SEA, and has adopted elements of the mitigation strategies raised by the SEA in respect of the options adopted in the draft West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006.
04 The three scenarios include a base case (the West Edinburgh Planning Framework 2006 as it would be without benefit of the SEA), a general economic development scenario, and a scenario giving overriding precedence to environmental factors.