Under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (the Regulations), councils must carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of land-use and spatial plans.
Determination statement
The first stage in the SEA process is for the council to determine whether a plan is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. The regulations advise that this is determined by a screening process, which should use a specified set of criteria (set out in Schedule 1 of the Regulations).
The screening process has been carried out, and the council has now determined that the new local plan for Cheshire East should be subject to SEA.