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Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 29 August 2007. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
Name | Iain Hossack |
Job title | Policy Officer (Environment) |
Organisation | North Ayrshire Council |
Address | Perceton House, Irvine, KA11 2DE |
Telephone | 01294 225199 |
Fax | 01294 225184 |
Email | Ihossack@north-ayrshire.gov.uk |
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
3 Tick one nomination category
Title of entry | Strategic Environmental Assessment: Delivering Knowledge, Efficiency and Compliance in Accordance with Sustainable Development Principles and Holistic Planning Needs |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
North Ayrshire Council initiated a small steering group to oversee development of best practice for strategic environmental assessment ( SEA). Its focus is efficiency of process, a prime consideration, in respect of sustainable development principles, for plan creation and implementation. To facilitate state of the art practice of SEA, professional knowledge, guidance and assistance are delivered via an electronic knowledge base. This innovative approach facilitates efficient, paperless, use of management resources by providing readily accessible information and written templates of consistently required documentation to all plan makers within the council. Updates to the system are communicated throughout all services of the council via regular emails. This has optimised awareness raising of legislation, resources and one-one assistance without the need for expensive (time and financial) workshops or capacity building forums. It has facilitated relaxed contact between plan makers and the Policy Officer (Environment), proving resourceful in encouraging partnership working, together with 'buy in' and absorption of environmental assessment principles and requirements. |
Describe the background to the project
SEA legislation requires all public sector plans and programmes to be assessed on their impact on the environment. SEA is a vital component of sustainable development. SD seeks to ensure that social, economic and environmental aspects of plans are delivered without detriment to each other. It was recognised that a process such as SEA has potential to become a resource (time and money) intensive exercise in its own right. This is detrimental to SD as it would (a) slow down or restrict developments addressing economic potential/social justice and (b) allocate monies away from financial initiatives for tangible 'on the ground' improvements. This project seeks to identify efficiencies of SEA while maintaining legal compliance. |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
To provide awareness and knowledge on all aspects of strategic environmental assessment in a manner that can be accessed rapidly and quickly understood To provide templates of required information for SEA that can be quickly utilised by plan makers e.g. wording for "determination" adverts. To identify areas of efficiency of process for SEA and demonstrate by example
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Over what timescale has the project been developed?
The project has been in inception since the post of Policy Officer (Environment) commenced in September 2005. The bottleneck was an appropriate mechanism to deliver this information electronically to all staff within council. It is an open-ended project that is always maturing, bringing in ever more refined and detailed aspects of the environment for consideration. |
Explain the process and action taken
Enlisting the assistance of the council's IT service, an appropriate online platform was identified. This facilitated rapid upload of appropriate information, stored in categories that are named, managed and ordered in the same way. Knowledge on SEA is generated from a variety of sources and techniques. This includes preparing 'learning briefs' through attendance at conferences, workshops and seminars; collating guidance documents from all sector agencies and businesses; sourcing information from national and international journals and sector specific magazines; storing correspondence on SEA both within and between local authorities; and gathering SEA process documentation as it materialises (e.g. determination adverts sent to newspapers). The process of developing this knowledge has facilitated advice on streamlining SEA while ensuring legal compliance. |
Explain the role of the key partners
Iain Hossack - Policy Officer (Environment) - To lead on development of SEA knowledge and identify areas of efficiencies for SEA process while delivering desired outcomes in accordance with the 'spirit' of the legislation. Robert Forrest - Planning Services Manager - To demonstrate the demanding role of plan development, while providing advise and vigilant steer to the Policy Officer (Environment) Sandra Bale - Policy Officer (Corporate Services) - Providing corporate level guidance on SEA strategy for all other service plans/programmes/strategies Andrew Fraser - Manager Legal Services - To provide legal advice on SEA legislative compliance. |
What results were achieved?
There is now an extensive online database for SEA in North Ayrshire Council. The information includes appropriate European and national legislation documents; PowerPoint presentations explaining SEA legislation and processes; available guidance for SEA (including the Scottish executive SEA toolkit); internal and external lessons and best practice; environmental data sources; environmental issues, closely following those which are proscribed in the legislation (e.g. biodiversity); Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs) with answers; "How to" guides (e.g. Submit (screening/scoping) reports for determination). There are external links to other SEA knowledge sources, encouraging dissemination and awareness of other environmental resources, groups and organisations. The resource has ultimately facilitated the generation of Scotland's shortest, but compliant, SEA scoping and environmental reports and significantly reduced timelines for SEA consideration within NAC plan-making. |
In summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
Although local authorities and others agencies are engaging with the SEA process, none are initiating measures that focus on achieving both streamlined methodologies, with legal compliance. By pro-actively streamlining SEA, this council is demonstrating that environmental considerations can be absorbed within plan development without being detrimental to either time or financial resources. Greater simplicity and efficiency of process has encouraged 'buy-in' from plan makers, allowing many more plans to be 'front-loaded' for environmental considerations, a key priority for both the spirit of SEA and sustainable development. This unique, courageous and innovative approach is thus firmly based on sustainable development principles, providing a welcome beacon for all local authorities in Scotland. |
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