Strategic Environmental Assessment

Scoping Report

for the

Orkney Local Development Plan

October 2024

IMAGE: The Orkney Islands Council crest appears above the title “Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report for the Orkney Local Development Plan”, dated “October 2024”.

Cover Note

PART 1

To: SEA_Gateway@gov.scot, SEA Gateway, 2 H (South), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ

PART 2

An SEA Scoping Report is attached for the plan, programme or strategy (PPS) entitled:

Orkney Local Development Plan

The Responsible Authority is:

Orkney Islands Council

PART 3

☑ The PPS falls under the scope of Section 5(3) of the Act and requires an SEA under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005.

☐ The PPS falls under the scope of Section 5(4) of the Act and requires an SEA under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005.

☐ The PPS does not require an SEA under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. However, we wish to carry out an SEA on a voluntary basis. We accept that, as this SEA is voluntary, the statutory 5 week timescale for views from the Consultation Authorities cannot be guaranteed.

PART 4

Contact name: Nina Caudrey

Job Title: Environmental Planner

Contact address: Development and Marine Planning, Neighbourhood Services and Infrastructure, Orkney Islands Council, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY

Contact tel no: 01856 873535

Contact email: nina.caudrey@orkney.gov.uk

PART 5

Signature
(electronic signature is acceptable): Nina Caudrey

Date: 23 October 2024

Table of Contents

1. Context
   • Background
   • Environmental protection objectives in other plans, programmes and strategies
2. Scoping information
   • Topics considered
   • Topics scoped in
   • Environmental baseline
3. Proposed assessment methodology
   • Process
   • Assessment templates and SEA objectives
   • Longevity and permanence of effects
   • Alternatives and mitigation
   • Cumulative and in-combination effects
   • Other environmental assessments
4. Next steps
   • Scoping advice sought from consultation authorities
   • Environmental Report proposed consultation period
   • Indicative timescales for plan preparation and consultation
5. Annex I: Other plans, programmes and strategies
6. Annex II: Baseline environmental data
7. Annex II: Protected area condition data

Note: Baseline environmental information is provided in a separate document.

1. Context

a. Background

The plan being assessed is the future Orkney Local Development Plan (LDP). The Plan is a ten year plan covering the whole of the Orkney Islands Council area (figure 1) for the period 2027 – 2037.

Having a Local Development Plan is a legislative requirement under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended). The purpose of the LDP is to set out a spatial strategy and the planning authority’s policies and proposals about how land is developed and used in the Orkney Islands Council area.

IMAGE: Map of the Orkney Islands showing the area covered by the Local Development Plan, including the main islands, settlements, transport routes, ferries, airports, lochs and hills.

Map of Orkney by Mikenorton [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 1 – the area covered by the LDP

b. Environmental protection objectives in other plans, programmes and strategies

There are a large number of other plans, programmes and strategies (PPS) that are of relevance to the LDP. Due to their number, these are listed in Annex I: Other plans, programmes and strategies. The PPS are categorised according to their international, national and local scales and are accompanied by information on their purpose, relationship with the LPD and their relevance to the environmental assessment.

2. Scoping information

a. Topics considered

Schedule 3 of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 lists categories of potential environmental effects that should be considered as part of the environmental assessment process. These have been grouped together into eight Topic areas. The Topics are:

• Topic 1: Climatic Factors
• Topic 2: Air
• Topic 3: Water
• Topic 4: Soil (including geodiversity)
• Topic 5: Material Assets
• Topic 6: Biodiversity
• Topic 7: Landscape and Cultural Heritage
• Topic 8: Population and Human Health

b. Topics scoped in

All the SEA Topics identified in section 2.a have been scoped in, as the LDP has the potential to influence all topics.

c. Environmental baseline

The separate Topic papers present information on the environmental baseline, ordered by the eight different topic areas: climatic factors, air, water, soils and geodiversity, material assets, biodiversity, landscape and cultural heritage, population and human health.

3. Proposed assessment methodology

a. Process

The intended SEA process is to:

• Gather environmental baseline data and information, identify draft methodology.
• Consult on the scoping report, to confirm the environmental baseline is complete and agree the assessment methodology with consultation authorities (current stage).
• Alongside the preparation of LDP, carry out environmental assessment and prepare a draft Environmental Report for the LDP, using the assessment methodology and taking into account consultation authority advice on the scoping report.
• Consult on the draft Environmental Report and LDP, followed by consideration of consultation feedback, before final sign off by the Council to submit to Ministers.
• Issue a post-adoption statement on the Environmental Report.
• Monitor environmental effects, identify and implement mitigation where unexpected adverse effects occur.

b. Assessment templates and SEA objectives

At this stage, it is intended that the assessment will focus on the elements that have the potential to result in changes, development or activities on the ground that may have environmental effects. Tables 1, 2 and 3 will be used as a basis for carrying out the environmental assessment and recording the findings. Table 1 provides the intended scoring matrix that will be used to ensure consistency during the environmental assessment. Tables 2 and 3 provide the main objectives and template for scoring and recording potential environmental effects during the environmental assessment. It incorporates proposed SEA objectives and sub-objectives that each element of the LDP will be scored against.

Where available, guidance published by the consultation authorities has been used as a basis for setting the SEA objectives and sub-objectives. These relate to the specific SEA environmental receptors and issues that have the potential to be affected by the LDP. The information and issues identified as part of the baseline have also been used to inform which objectives and sub-objectives are relevant to the environmental assessment of the LDP.

The SEA objectives and questions are provisional and may be modified during the SEA process – for example, as a result of comments from the Consultation Authorities, changes in the baseline data when it is fully collected and/or if the content of the LDP covers different subject matter than currently expected.

Table 1 – proposed scoring matrix

Table 2 – proposed main environmental objectives

Table 3 – proposed environmental assessment template

c. Longevity and permanence of effects

Consideration of longevity and scale of effects is built into the assessment table template, so will form an integral part of the environmental assessment for each element assessed.

d. Alternatives and mitigation

At this stage, initial thinking is that consideration will be given to an LDP approach that focusses the majority of new development around existing settlements and to an alternative that spreads new development throughout settlements and the wider countryside. Other alternatives will be considered and assessed if different options emerge during the preparation of the consultation draft as well as from the public consultation itself.

e. Cumulative and in-combination effects

Consideration of the potential for cumulative and in-combination effects will be included as an integral part of the environmental assessment process for individual elements of the plan. A review of the assessment results will also be undertaken to double check any cumulative or in-combination effects that may not have been apparent during individual assessments.

f. Other environmental assessments

A Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) will be undertaken to inform the LDP. While the HRA is required under different legislation, as a matter of good practice the HRA will be used to inform the Environmental Report and vice versa as part of an iterative process.

1. Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, commonly referred to as the Habitats Regulations.

4. Next steps

a. Scoping advice sought from consultation authorities

As described in the previous sections, all Topics have been scoped in. OIC wish to seek the particular advice of the consultation authorities on:

• the proposed methodology (section 3)
• whether there are gaps in the environmental baseline information identified in separate Topic papers
• if there is new information that is expected to become available over the next 3 months that could be useful to add to the environmental baseline.

The advice of the consultation authorities will be valuable for informing the environmental assessment going forward.

b. Environmental Report proposed consultation period

A round of public consultation events and a public call for sites was undertaken in Orkney during the summer of 2024, closing at the end of September. All proposed allocation sites will be subject to SEA (and HRA where required). At the current early stage of plan preparation, it is considered that the majority of the policies in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) will be appropriate for use in the Orkney context. As NPF4 policies have already been subject to SEA (and HRA), such policies will be scoped out of the SEA of the Orkney LDP. However any new policies and any NPF4 policies that require local adaptation for the Orkney LDP will be subject to SEA (and HRA where required). A twelve week consultation period is therefore anticipated for the Environmental Report.

c. Indicative timescales for plan preparation and consultation

It is anticipated that the LDP and the Environmental Report will be consulted on at the same time via the SEA Gateway. They will also go out for public consultation during this time.

Annex I: Other plans, programmes and strategies

Annex II: Baseline environmental data

Please see the separate Topic paper infographic document.

Annex II: Protected area condition data

Data correct at time of download from https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/ProtectedNatureSites/ using Orkney Islands Council area as a locational filter on 23 August 2024.