The Committee was informed of the outcome of public consultation on a draft Sustainability Appraisal (SA) incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Scoping Report for the Runnymede 2040 Local Plan .The  approval of the Committee was sought to publish the final SA Scoping Report, with the amendments as shown tracked in Appendix A and as listed in Appendix B to the agenda, and to approve the Sustainability Framework, as the basis for undertaking the SA/ SEA Appraisal of the various stages of the forthcoming Runnymede 2040 Local Plan.     

SA/SEA was now an established mechanism for assessing the sustainability and environmental performance of plans and programmes, such as the Runnymede 2040 Local Plan, and was a legal requirement under the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and Environmental Assessment of Plans & Programmes Regulations 2004 (SEA Regulations).

The first stage of SA/SEA was the scoping stage. This stage sought to understand key messages/objectives from other legislation and guidance, establish the baseline environment and how this might change in the future in the absence of the Runnymede 2040 Local Plan. The SA/SEA Scoping Report should also identify any issues and problems arising from the key messages and baseline information and how these could be addressed in the Runnymede 2040 Local Plan. The Scoping Report included a Sustainability Framework, which would form the basis for the Sustainability Appraisal work on the forthcoming Runnymede 2040 Local Plan.

A draft version of the SA/SEA Scoping Report was open to public consultation for a period of five weeks from 22 April to 28 May 2022, including with the three consultation bodies (Environment Agency, Historic England, Natural England). In total 18 representations were received and a summary of these with officer responses was reported

Given the representations received and a number of other material circumstances since consultation, a number of amendments were proposed by officers to the Scoping Report.. The key amendments were as follows:-

·         Additional baseline information on green/blue infrastructure and green corridors in      Section 3;

·         Update to population data in Section 4 to account for first release of Census 2021 data;

·         Addition of information from the Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) on housing mix and identification of housing mix as an issue/problem in Table 4-2;

·         Additional information on air quality monitoring station on Byfleet Road;

·         Update to CO₂ emissions baseline following government’s latest release of data;

·         Recognition of A318 as a major local highway in the Borough;

·         Addition of information on employment baseline and future baseline;

·         Additional decision aiding criteria in SA Framework for SA Objectives 2, 4, 5 and 7 to strengthen consideration of climate change;

·         Additional plans, policies, programmes and their key messages/objectives added to   Appendix A for Water, Climate and Transport.

The following points raised by Members would be addressed by officers:

·                    Reinforcement of the point that Virginia Water and Thorpe did not have a good public transport service.

·                     Langham Pond-amend location to refer to Egham/Englefield Green.

·                     Amend  heading of column 3 in tables to refer to ‘Plan’.

·                    Consider inclusion of separate paragraph regarding the downward trend on ‘Under           18 conception rate’

The Committee thanked Officers for their work on the SA/SEA and agreed to the publication of the final SA incorporating SEA scoping report with changes shown tracked in Appendix A and listed in Appendix B of agenda report and on addendum.

The Committee also approved the Sustainability Appraisal framework as set out in scoping report as the basis for the SA/SEA appraisal of the new Runnymede 2040 Local Plan at each stage of plan making.

Resolved that:

i)              the final Sustainability Appraisal (SA) incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Scoping Report with the changes as shown tracked in Appendix A and listed in Appendix B and on addendum be published; and

ii)            the Sustainability Appraisal Framework, as set out in the Scoping     Report, be approved as the basis for the SA/SEA appraisal of the new      Runnymede 2040 Local Plan at each stage of plan making.