We began a strategic environmental assessment
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a process for assessing the likely significant effects of the local plan before it is adopted. We are legally required to identify, describe and evaluate likely significant effects on the environment of:
- Implementing the local plan
- reasonable alternatives, taking into account the plan's objectives and scope.
This process will consider how community, national and international environmental protection objectives and any other environmental challenges are considered in the plan. It will help us to predict significant environmental effects and develop ways of preventing, reducing and offsetting these.
AECOM has been commissioned to undertake an independent SEA in support of the emerging local plan. As part of the first stage of the SEA, we consulted on an SEA scoping report for five weeks from May to June 2026. This included consultation with government organisations, service providers and relevant local planning authorities. The consultation version of the SEA scoping report was also published as part of the local plan scoping consultation in June 2026.
SEA scoping has been explored under a series of themes that relate to the anticipated scope of plan effects.
The SEA themes were informed by work undertaken jointly with Suffolk Local Authorities to establish a consistent approach in the preparation of SEA baseline information in scoping reports.
The themes are as follows:
- accessibility (community infrastructure)
- air quality and noise
- biodiversity
- climate change adaptation
- climate change mitigation
- communities and health
- economy and employment
- historic environment
- homes
- landscape
- soils and natural resources
- transport
- water.
Developing the draft scope for the SEA of the emerging local plan has involved the following steps:
- Exploring the policy context for the emerging local plan and SEA to summarise the key messages arising.
- Establishing the baseline for the SEA (for example, the current and future situation in the area in the absence of the emerging local plan) to help identify the key issues and opportunities for plan making.
- Considering this information, developing an SEA framework comprising SEA objectives and assessment questions, which can then be used as a guiding framework for assessing impacts of the local plan.
The latest information on background evidence documents including the strategic environmental scoping report and note is available on our website.