The Scottish Government

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NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY

Introduction

i. As part of the preparation of SPP 23: Planning and the Historic Environment, 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 SPP 23 to date have been as follows:

• Screening. A screening report was submitted to the Consultation Authorities that confirmed that an SEA of SPP 23 would be required, as it was considered likely to have significant environmental effects.
• Scoping. A Scoping Report was prepared and submitted to the Consultation Authorities (Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and Historic Scotland) in April 2007. This set out the intended scope and level of detail to be included in the Environmental Report, and the proposed consultation periods.
• Environmental Report. The SPP reflects the content of the Environmental Report, which sets out the findings of a detailed assessment of the SPP. It aims to inspire as wide a consultation response as possible, by providing a clear statement of the predicted environmental effects of the SPP.

Consultation on the Environmental Report and SPP 23

iii. A key purpose of the Environmental Report ( ER) is to equip consultees with the environmental information they need to respond to the SPP consultation in an informed way. The ER is currently available for the public to view and respond. The consultation period will run for 12 weeks until 9 ^th May 2008.

iv. When the consultation period has closed, all comments and responses will be reviewed and taken into account in the revision of the SPP itself. Any changes to the SPP will be reviewed and on publication of the final version, 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.

Purpose of the Environmental Report

v. The ER provides information on SPP 23 and identifies, describes and evaluates its likely significant environmental effects. The aim of the ER is to continue to provide an early and effective opportunity for the Consultation Authorities and the public to offer views on its content and to respond to the broader SPP 23 consultation in an informed way.

vi. SPP 23 sets out the Scottish Government's policy on planning and the historic environment. The overarching aim is to consolidate and update the policy set out in NPPG 5 Archaeology and Planning and NPPG 18 Planning and the Historic Environment. It sets out the national planning policy for the historic environment with a view to its protection, conservation and enhancement and indicates how the planning system will contribute towards the delivery of Scottish Ministers' policy as set out in the Scottish Historic Environment ( SHEP) series produced by Historic Scotland.

vii. The key objectives of the SPP are to:

• Outline national policy on the historic environment which local authorities should consider in formulating development plans and assessing development proposals.
• Explain how the protection of the historic environment and the promotion of opportunities for change can contribute to sustainable development.
• Identify a range of planning action designed to achieve conservation objectives, including implications for development plans and development management.

viii. The SPP reduces the level of background information and elaboration contained in the NPPGs. It provides guidance on the role and content of strategic and local development plans, seeking to avoid duplication between these two levels of plan and to reflect changes to the planning system introduced by the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006. The SPP does not introduce any significant policy changes. Although the proposals on model policies represent a new part of the SPP, they are provided on an advisory basis only.

Current state of the Scottish environment, and existing environmental policies and problems

ix. The assessment is based on analysis of the baseline environment of Scotland. The assessment benefited from recent information on the current state of Scotland's historic environment, which highlighted key challenges for this specific policy sector. This showed that although Scotland is rich in historic buildings, archaeology and broader cultural heritage assets, there is an ongoing need to protect them from the adverse effects of development and unsympathetic land use.

x. The following key environmental problems formed a particular focus for the assessment:

• Loss of viable use of historic buildings/deterioration in condition of buildings and Scheduled Monuments;
• Inappropriate development affecting historic remains and their settings, directly and indirectly;
• Land use change - e.g. forestry, biomass, agricultural activities affecting historic remains and their settings;
• Settlement expansion and incremental development resulting in loss of designated and non-designated landscape features and distinctiveness, and pressure on historic resources;
• Loss of traditional skills, leading to increased risk of decline of historic buildings;
• Biodiversity decline and the consequent drive to achieve an improvement in the ecological quality of some key species and habitats. Ongoing commitments to protecting internationally and nationally designated habitats and species;
• Climate change - altered patterns of precipitation and changing temperatures, and increased frequency of extreme weather events.

xi. Analysis of broader environmental policy objectives showed that the planning system has a role to play in contributing to a range of commitments associated with many different environmental agendas. In particular, the emerging series of policies on Scotland's Historic Environment produced by Historic Scotland provide an up-to-date policy framework within which the SPP is set. Other objectives relate to protection and enhancement of habitats and species and landscapes. Climate change is a key policy driver, with associated policies seeking to reduce energy consumption and increase the share of energy which is generated from renewable sources. Social inclusion and reducing health inequalities are also key relevant policy commitments.

xii. If SPP 23 was not to be updated, little variation in established and ongoing environmental trends are expected to occur. However, in the absence of up-to-date planning policy on the historic environment, it might be reasonable to expect an acceleration of negative effects on the historic environment from development.

Likely significant effects of SPP 23 on the environment

Outline of methods for undertaking the assessment

xiii. Having established the current state of the environment, the assessment brought together key environmental problems and objectives to provide a series of SEA criteria against which the SPP could be assessed. These formed a structure for the assessment: each of the key policies within the SPP was considered in turn, and positive, negative or neutral effects on the environment were predicted as far as possible. A commentary was provided which explained the reasoning behind each determination of environmental effects.

Likely significant effects of the Consultative Draft SPP 23

xiv. SPP 23 sets out the national planning policy for the historic environment with a view to its protection, conservation and enhancement. The ER identified, as expected, that the SPP would have a predominantly positive effect on the environment, particularly in relation to cultural heritage. Secondary benefits for other aspects of the environment, including biodiversity and landscape were also identified.

xv. Recognition that heritage assets are a "positive adaptable resource" and provisions for strategic and local development plans to address their management also contribute to safeguarding and enhancing the historic environment, though many impacts will only become clear when taken forward in new development plans and through development management.

xvi. Some potential environmental challenges were identified in the assessment. These included a need to ensure that measures that aim to fulfil cultural heritage objectives, such as archaeological excavation, do not adversely affect natural heritage resources. Ongoing commitments to addressing and adapting to climate change were identified as potentially conflicting with, but also being supported in part by, the historic built environment.

xvii. Positive cumulative effects are expected on the whole from the SPP, with model policies for the historic environment particularly helping to achieve greater consistency across local authority and plan areas. Secondary benefits are also expected from protecting the cultural heritage in relation to positive benefits for tourism.

xviii. As proposed at the scoping stage, no reasonable policy alternatives were included in the assessment, given that the content of the SPP was largely defined by the existing policy framework.

xix. Proposals for mitigation arising from the assessment focus mainly on more detailed levels of planning - particularly strategic and local development plans. They include:

• Ensuring that planning authorities promote high quality design to minimise adverse effects of development on the wider built heritage, and successfully accommodate change within and around historic buildings.
• Development management to ensure that solutions for cultural heritage also reflect potential ecological sensitivities.
• Provision of further advice on how energy efficiency and micro-renewables can be accommodated into historic buildings.
• Ensuring development plans build characterisation of the historic environment, into forward strategies that positively harness historic resources to help maintain quality of life and investment.
• Give further consideration to the implications of climate change adaptation for the historic environment. Ensure that adaptation measures are developed to protect historic resources.
• Consider scope for archaeological protocols to build in sensitivity to natural heritage resources.

Monitoring proposals

xx. SPPs are reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure that they remain relevant and reflect their broader policy context. The environmental effects of SPP 23 should be built into this future review work, to ensure that any unexpected or significant effects are addressed within subsequent policy revisions. No specific monitoring in addition to this process is currently proposed.

Next Steps

xxi. The table below lists future milestones and key dates in the development of the SPP.

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