Annual Monitoring Report

Accessibility: The ability of people to move around areas and reach places and facilities.

(The) Act: The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

Affordable housing: Housing accessible to households who cannot afford open market rental or purchase. It includes a range of tenures, i.e. shared ownership, discounted market housing, First Homes, key worker housing, subsidised social renting etc.

Aggregates – the mineral materials, such as sand or stone, used in making concrete.

Air Quality Management Area (AQMA): Air Quality Management Areas have to be declared by Local Authorities for any parts of their areas where air quality is unlikely to meet Government objectives as set out in the Environment Act 1995, and where people are expected to be exposed to the poor air quality.

Allocations – Sites identified in the Local Plan to meet future development needs.

Annual Monitoring Report (AMR): Part of the Local Plan, the annual monitoring report will assess the implementation of the local development scheme and the extent to which policies in local development documents are being successfully implemented.

Area Action Plan: A type of Development Plan Document focused upon a specific location or an area subject to conservation or significant change (for example, major regeneration).

Biodiversity: The whole variety of life on earth; all species of plants and animals and the ecosystems of which they are part.

Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP): A plan which sets out proposals to protect and improve the places where trees, plants, animals and insects live.

Biomass: Plants and trees when used to create energy.

Broad locations for growth: Indicative areas of major development.

Brownfield (previously developed) land: Land that is or was occupied by a permanent structure.

Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM): This is a tool to measure the sustainability of non-domestic buildings.

Bulky goods: Retail categories that include furniture, white goods, electrical equipment, bedding, lighting, automotive parts, camping and outdoor equipment, tools, building materials and DIY and homemaker products.

Carbon emissions: Gasses, such as carbon dioxide, caused by burning fossil fuels in transport and energy generation which contribute to global warming and climate change.

Combined heat and power: The use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat.

Community Infrastructure Levy: A form of planning gain tax, where a proportion of the increase in value of land, as a result of planning permission, is used to finance the supporting infrastructure, and strategic infrastructure such as road improvement and schools arising from that development.

Comparison goods: These can be described as goods that consumers buy at infrequent intervals and normally would compare prices before buying eg. TV, fridges, clothes etc.

Conservation Area: An area, usually part of a settlement, designated by a local planning authority for preservation or enhancement because of its special architectural or historic interest under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act, 1990.

Contextual indicators: Measure changes in the wider social, economic, and environmental background against which policies operate. They help to relate policy outputs to the local area.

Convenience goods: A consumer item that is widely available, purchased frequently and with minimal effort. Examples of convenience goods include newspapers and sweets.

Core Strategy: Sets out the long-term spatial vision for the local planning authority area, the spatial objectives and strategic policies to deliver that vision. The Core Strategy has the status of a development plan document.

Density: The number of buildings in a given area. In the Local Plan it is used mainly in relation to housing, being expressed as dwellings per hectare or ‘dph’.

Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra): The government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities.

Designations: Areas of land where specific policies apply.

Development Plan: As set out in Section 38 of the Act, an authority’s development plan consists of the development plan documents contained within its local plan. It sets out the local planning authority’s policies and proposals for the development and use of land and buildings in the authority’s area.

Development Plan Documents (DPD): Spatial planning documents that undergo independent examination. They can include a core strategy, site specific allocations of land, generic development control policies, and area action plans (where needed). Proposals are shown on a policies map for the Borough. Individual development plan documents or parts of a document can be reviewed independently from other development plan documents. Each authority must set out the programme for preparing its development plan documents in the local development scheme. A development plan document within the Local Plan is used to make decisions on proposals for development.

Ecosystem: A biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight.

Energy crops: Energy crops are a carbon neutral energy source and when substituted for fossil fuels can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to renewable energy generation. An example of an energy crop is short rotation coppice (e.g. willow and poplar), which is densely planted and then harvested on a 2 to 5 year cycle.

Equality impact assessment: A process designed to ensure that a policy, project or scheme does not discriminate against any disadvantaged or vulnerable people.

European Landscape Convention: This promotes the protection, management and planning of European landscapes and organises European co-operation on landscape issues.

Evidence base: Information gathered by a planning authority to support preparation of local development documents. It includes quantitative and qualitative data.

Front loading: Front loading encourages more active involvement of communities, stakeholders and commercial interests early in the Local Plan process. The aim is to seek agreement on essential issues early in the process. Where agreement is difficult to achieve, front loading allows the maximum opportunity for participants to understand each other's positions and to negotiate a way forward.

Flood alleviation: The avoidance of the possibility of flooding by controlling the flow of water in rivers.

Flood and Water Management Act 2010: The Act aims to improve both flood risk management and the way we manage our water resources.

Geodiversity: The variety of rocks, fossils, minerals, landforms and soils, and all the natural processes that shape the landscape.

Green Belt: An area of open land where strict planning controls apply in order to check the further growth of a large built-up area, prevent neighbouring towns from merging or to preserve the special character of a town.

Greenfield: Land (or a defined site) that has not previously been developed. (Not to be confused with Green Belt.)

Greenhouse gas: components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect (the process by which an atmosphere warms a planet).

Green Space: Breaks in the urban environment formed by open areas such as parks, playing fields, woodlands, allotments and landscaped areas. These spaces may exist as definable linear routeways, forming part of a network linking urban areas to the surrounding countryside.

Green infrastructure: The network of multi-functional green space, both new and existing, both rural and urban, which supports the natural and ecological processes and is integral to the health and quality of life of sustainable communities.

Gross Value Added (GVA): This measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector - the value of outputs (goods or services) less the value of inputs (labour & materials) used.

Monitoring: Regular and systematic collection and analysis of information to measure policy implementation.

National Character Areas: Describes how England has been divided up into areas with similar landscape character.

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF): The National Planning Policy Framework (revised July 2021) sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. Local planning authorities must take account of the NPPF when preparing their Local Plans and determining planning applications.

Non-bulky goods: Includes items such as clothes and footwear.

Non-potable water: Water that is not of drinking quality, but which may still be used for many other purposes.

Outcomes: Macro-level (global, national and regional), real world changes which are influenced to some degree by the Local Plan.

Output indicators: Measure the direct effect of a policy. They are used to assess whether policy targets are being achieved in reality using available information.

Outputs: The direct effects of a policy, e.g. number of houses built, amount of employment floorspace developed, etc.

Plan, Monitor and Manage (PMM): Means of measuring and reviewing policy, involving the adjustment of policy through monitoring if necessary.

Planning Act 2008: This legislation was intended to speed up the process for approving the development of major new infrastructure projects such as airports, roads, harbours, energy facilities such as nuclear power and waste facilities. The Localism Act 2011 also makes changes to the regime under the Planning Act.

Planning gain: The benefits and safeguards, often for community benefit and including strategic infrastructure provision, secured by way of a planning obligation as part of a planning approval and usually provided at the developer’s expense, e.g. affordable housing, community facilities or mitigation measures.

Planning Inspectorate: A government organisation which makes recommendations about the policies and proposals in development plan documents through a formal independent examination. The inspectorate is a neutral organisation which arbitrates where people and organisations do not agree with a council's draft development plan document. They also check whether a council's proposals are in line with relevant government policy.

Planning obligations and agreements: Also known as S106 agreements. A legal agreement between the Council and a developer which is needed before a development can go ahead. It will usually deal with things that need to happen away from the development site, including improvements to roads and open spaces and the provision of affordable housing.

Policies Map: A plan which shows Local Plan policies and proposals for specific sites and locations. These are shown on an Ordnance Survey map.

Policy implementation: Assessment of the effectiveness of policies in terms of achieving their targets. Measured by use of output and contextual indicators.

Policy directions: These pulled together broad issues that were taken into account in preparing the final policies for the Core Strategy.

Preferred Options document: Produced as part of the preparation of development plan documents for formal public participation.

Principal Settlement: Where there is a full range of social and community infrastructure to meet current needs but the opportunities for growth are limited.

Principal Settlement for Growth: Where new social infrastructure and community services exist, or are able to be provided as part of a major development scheme to support new growth opportunities

Recycling: The reprocessing of waste either into the same product or a different one.

Regional Econometric Model (REM): The Regional Econometric Model is an economic database and model used within the Yorkshire & Humber region to provide historic and projected labour market information on employment, output, and productivity.

Register of Historic Parks & Gardens: The register aims to 'celebrate designed landscapes of note, and encourage appropriate protection', so safeguarding the features and qualities of key landscapes for the future. Each park or garden included is of special historic interest.

(The) Regulations: Legal documents prepared by the Government. They provide detailed information about how acts should be applied, i.e. The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Renewable energy: Energy obtained from naturally occurring sources that are essentially inexhaustible, unlike fossil fuels, of which there is a finite supply. Renewable sources of energy include wood, wind and solar thermal energy.

Safeguarded land: This is land which is set aside in case it is needed for development in the long term beyond the plan period of the current Local Plan. The need to develop safeguarded land will be considered when the Local Plan is reviewed.

Scheduled Ancient Monument: This is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.

Sequential approach: Considering options for sites for development in a particular order. For example, in terms of new shops, looking first for sites within a shopping centre and then for sites on the edge of the shopping centre before looking at sites outside the centre.

Settlement hierarchy: A way in which towns, villages and hamlets are categorised depending on their size and role. It can help make decisions about the amount and location of new development.

Sheffield City Region: This covers an area spanned by local authorities within South Yorkshire and the northern part of the East Midlands region. Over recent years, the Sheffield City Region Forum has overseen work in the City Region to increase the pace of economic growth through collaboration. Following Government's invitation to come forward with proposals to establish a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), a LEP was set up and the Forum stood down in 2010.

Significant effects: Effects which are significant in the context of the plan. Annex II of the SEA Directive [see later definition] gives criteria for determining the likely environmental significance of effects.

Significant effects indicators: An indicator that measures the significant effects of the plan or programme.

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI): Representative examples of nationally important wildlife and geology. SSSI are notified by Natural England under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as being of special value for nature conservation and are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006.

Sites & Policies Development Plan Document: This shows specific development sites and contains policies to guide the release of land and design of new development.

Social inclusion: Making sure that everyone has access to services and opportunities no matter what their background or income.

Soundness: At the independent examination, the Inspector must assess whether the development plan document is ‘sound’. This includes assessing whether the document has been prepared in the right way using the right procedures and if it is broadly in line with national planning policy and guidance.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE): Responsible for the various public transport services in the sub-region.

Spatial planning: Goes beyond traditional land use planning to bring together and integrate policies for the development and use of land with other policies and programmes that influence the nature of places and how they function. Spatial planning includes policies that can impact on land use, for example by influencing the demands on, or needs for, development, but that are not capable of being delivered solely or mainly through the granting or refusal of planning permission.

Spatial planning zone: These are defined by considering various characteristics including housing markets and travel to work factors.

Statement of Community Involvement (SCI): Sets out the standards that local planning authorities will work to by involving local communities in the preparation of local development documents and development management decisions.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): This term is used internationally to describe the environmental assessment of plans, policies and programmes. This environmental assessment (the SEA Directive) looks at the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.

Strategic Flood Risk Assessment: These are a required part of the planning process and are intended to form the basis for preparing appropriate policies for flood risk management at the local level.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment: This provides information on the opportunities that exist to meet housing need within a specified area over the Local Plan period.

Strategic Housing Market Assessment: Housing Market Assessments use primary and secondary data to establish the level of need and demand for housing.

Strategic Road Network: This consists of motorways (such as the M1 & M18) and significant trunk A roads (such as the A57).

Sub-region: An area larger than a single local authority with common characteristics or functional geography. For example, the South Yorkshire sub-region consists of the administrative areas of Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield now identified as the MCA or Mayoral Combined Authority.

Submission: This is the stage at which people and organisations have the legal right to make a formal objection that will be considered by a government Inspector. Submission also refers to the point at which a development plan document is formally sent to the Secretary of State.

Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD): Provide supplementary information in respect of the policies in development plan documents. They do not form part of the development plan and are not subject to independent examination.

Surface Water Management Plan: A framework through which key local partners with a responsibility for surface water and drainage in their area, work together to understand the causes of surface water flooding and agree the most cost effective way of managing that risk.

Sustainability Appraisal (SA): Describes the form of assessment that considers social, environmental and economic effects of Local Plan policies and allocations. It includes the requirements of the SEA Directive, referred to above. This must be produced at each main consultation stage when preparing development plan documents.

Sustainable communities: A sustainable community is one in which most of the services and facilities people need, including schools and shops, are easy to get to, preferably without the need to use a car.

Sustainable development: Development that has an acceptable or positive effect on the economy, the environment and social conditions, and which uses natural resources carefully. It is defined as: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". This concept offers the prospect of reconciling the pressures for growth with the need for conservation.

Sustainable settlements: See Sustainable Communities.

Targets: These are thresholds used to identify the scale of change to be achieved by policies over a specific time period (e.g. number of affordable homes to be built by a set date).

Transport nodes: Areas where transport links are concentrated or cross each other, e.g. bus and train, tram train stations, interchanges.

Tree Preservation Order: These are used to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate damage and destruction.

Urban cooling: Cooling and shading provided by green open spaces can help counter the tendency of buildings, structures and hard surfacing to retain heat in urban areas as temperatures increase with climate change.

Urban Extensions: Significant development sites which have the potential to yield more than 500 dwellings.

Urban Potential Study (UPS): Studies undertaken to establish how much additional housing can be accommodated within urban areas.

Waste hierarchy: The principle that there are different levels of dealing with waste, ranging from the higher (more sustainable) levels such as reducing waste, re-using then recycling or composting, to the lower (less sustainable) levels such as burning and finally to landfill.

Wildlife corridor: An area, usually linear, of undeveloped land that links two or more sites or areas of natural or semi-natural habitat providing a safe route for movement of wildlife.

Windfalls: Sites for new housing that are not identified when allocating land in a development plan document but that may come forward for development during the Plan period. For example, the redevelopment of former industrial premises following unanticipated closure or relocation of a business.