Category Archives: Evidence Base

Evidence Sources

As well as being in conformity with the NPPF and the Cornwall Local Plan, the Saltash Neighbourhood Development Plan policies established to tackle the issues of local concern, must be based on local evidence. This means that the available evidence needs to be analysed carefully and drawn upon to design and explain the intention and rationale of the policies in the Draft Neighbour-hood Plan. 

There are two main sources for this evidence – the various statistics available from local and national organisations that tell us something about the conditions in the area, and the results of the comprehensive community engagement activity that tell us of local community aspirations.

Section 3 of the Saltash Neighbourhood Development Plan document summarises all the evidence. The sources of this evidence are given in the document below:

Saltash NDP Green Space Assessment

The NPPF 2018 (under which this NDP is being prepared) says that Green areas of particular importance to local communities can be designated to rule out new development other than in very special circumstances (Para 99—101).

Saltash Environmental action (SEA) have carrried out a study of the sites identified for this special protection under policies LEI2 and LEI3 of the Saltash Neighbourhood Development Plan.

The report will be published here when it is ready: Saltash NDP Green Space Assessment

You can find out more about SEA here: Saltash Environmental Action

Views and Vistas Appraisal

The draft Saltash Neighbourhood Development Plan will include a policy helping to ensure that development does not harm key viewpoints or vistas of the townscape or surrounding landscape. To support this a ‘Views and Vistas Appraisal’ has been carried out. This sets out the rational for protecting certain views and vistas, and then identifies the important & significant views around and within Saltash, to which the protective NDP policy will apply. 

Here is a copy of the draft report: SALTASH NDP 2018 VIEWS AND VISTAS ASSESSMENT

 

Cornwall Council Biodiversity Supplementary Planning Document 2017

The Biodiversity SPD sets out a new approach by Cornwall Council for achieving a gain for nature, or at worst no net loss, within development sites. It does this by encouraging green and blue space within development sites, such as parks, ponds and corridors of open green space along rivers and hedges.

For the first time the SPD contains clear guidelines for how developers should approach hedge protection and creation as these are very important features for wildlife within our landscape. Importantly it also gives prescriptive measures for the provision of bat and bird boxes, and bee bricks which are to be built into dwellings, to make sure that our built environment makes space for nature. It also sets out more clearly the quality of ecological reporting which we expect, including the requirements of the British Standard for Biodiversity, BS42020.

For a copy see here: CC Biodiversity SPD v4

Historic Environment

Cornwall Council’s Supplementary Planning Document, currently in draft, can be found here:

Historic Environment SPD Draft

The proposals in the Saltash NDP have been assessed for their heritage impact. Detail can be found in the Village Boundary and Sites Appraisal report and the Sustainability Checklist.

Local buildings of note that are not on the Statutory List if Buildings of Architectural or Historic Interest have been assessed for inclusion in a Local Listing under Saltash NDP Policy ENV4: Local Listing of Heritage Assets