2.9 Sustainability Appraisal

Every Local Plan must also be informed and accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal which is prepared in stages as the plan progresses*. A Sustainability Appraisal for this consultation stage can be viewed via the website Appendix 3: Integrated Impact Assessment (including Sustainability Appraisal) | Southend Local Plan. The Sustainability Appraisal is an assessment of the potential significant social, environmental and economic impacts of development. It forms an integral part of the plan making process. It ensures that all policies and proposals are prepared with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. The Sustainability Appraisal is also used to assist in choosing the most sustainable plan policies and sites to take forward into the New Local Plan.

The Sustainability Appraisal includes a comparative assessment of the four development opportunity options presented in Section 2.3: Providing New Homes. This includes an assessment against 10 sustainability objectives:

• Biodiversity;
• Climate Change;
• Landscape and the Historic Environment;
• Environmental Quality;
• Land, Soil and Water Resources;
• Population and Communities;
• Health and Wellbeing;
• Equality, diversity and inclusion;
• Transport and movement; and
• Economy.

^{*There will be a fully independent integrated impact assessment which will include Sustainability Appraisal which assesses the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of the New Local Plan proposals. In the case of Southend, the New Local Plan must also be accompanied by a Habitats Regulation Assessment to assess the effects of the plans proposals on habitats or species on the foreshore which are designated as being of international and European importance. It will also assess potential impacts on Health and Well Being.}