Planning glossary

The latest revisions to the planning system in England have meant there are a lot of new terms being used by councils to describe the plans they are making. To fully understand how the new system works and how it has changed, it is important that these new terms are understood. This page explains many of these new terms.

Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
This is the piece of legislation passed by the Government which has brought about the current changes in the planning system in England. The Act took effect in September 2004.

Local Development Scheme (LDS)
This is a document prepared by all councils. It sets out what documents the council is going to prepare as part of its local development framework and when they propose to do it. Shropshire County Council’s Local Development Scheme was adopted in May 2004.

Local Development Framework (LDF)
The simplest way to think of an LDF is as a filing cabinet. The LDF is filled with files or documents called Local Development Documents, which review the important issues for the area, and include a set of polices to guide future development.

Local Development Documents (LDDs)
This is the collective term used to describe the various planning documents produced by the council. These are Development Plan Documents, Supplementary Planning Documents and the Statement of Community Involvement. When put together these documents make up the council’s Local Development Framework.

Development Plan Documents (DPDs)
From now on the statutory planning documents prepared by the council are to be called Development Plan Documents. These will replace the old style of document, such as the Minerals Local Plan. They will include policies which the planning applications received by the council can be assessed against, and they can indicate where potential sites for future development are to be located.

The Proposals Map DPD
This is the base map which will show the sites proposed for development in Development Plan Documents. In Shropshire’s case it will show the proposed areas for waste and mineral development in the county.

Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs)
These replace the old system of Supplementary Planning Guidance, but act in a similar way. SPDs give further information to the policies contained in the Development Plan Documents, and can cover a wide variety of issues. Shropshire County Council intends to produce SPDs on topics such as Renewable energy, Biodiversity and Landscape.

Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS)
This document is prepared by the Regional Planning Body, in Shropshire’s case this is the West Midlands Regional Assembly. This document replaces the old system of Regional Planning Guidance, and includes planning polices for the whole region on a range of issues such as housing and the environment. The policies in all Development Plan Documents made by all councils in the region must be in line with the policies in the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Development Plan
The Development Plan for the area is made up from the following documents:

• Regional Spatial Strategy
• Development Plan Documents

The development plan is used to assess planning applications received by councils. In Shropshire’s case it will be used to assess mineral and waste planning applications.

Sustainability Appraisal (SA)
All Local Development Documents need to include a separate document called a sustainability appraisal. The sustainability appraisal tests the policies contained in the development documents against how well they perform against a range of environmental, economic and social issues. All sustainability appraisals need to include the requirements of a European Directive called Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Appropriate Assessment (AA)
The purpose of an Appropriate Assessment is to assess the impacts a Local Development Document will have on a range of European designated sites. As of October 2006 all councils must decide if they need to carry out an Appropriate Assessment on the Local Development Documents they produce. If an assessment needs to be carried out it can either form part of the Sustainability Appraisal, or can be a document in its own right.

Adopted Plan
Under both the old and new planning systems planning documents can either be adopted or in development. Under the new system if a plan has been adopted it means it has been approved in its final form by the Council, and will go on to form part of the council’s local development framework. If a planning document is in development this means the final version has not yet been approved by the council.