Advantage West Midlands (AWM)
The former Regional Development Agency for the West Midlands .
Affordable Housing
Low cost market housing and subsidised housing irrespective of tenure,
ownership or financial arrangements, available to people who cannot
afford to rent or buy houses generally available on the
open market .
Allocation
The use assigned to a piece of land in a Local Development Plan .
Area Action Plan (AAP)
A type of Development Plan Document which sets out the planning policies
and land use allocations for a particular area and provide a planning
framework for areas of significant change or regeneration .
Biodiversity
The whole variety of life encompassing all genetic, species and ecosystem
variations .
Black and Minority Ethnic Communities (BME)
Black and Minority Ethnic Communities .
BREEAM
Building and Research Establishment Environmental Assessment .
Centro
The corporate name of the West Midlands Intergrated Transport Authority
responsible for promoting and developing public transport across the
West Midlands area.
Code for Sustainable Housing
A national standard for sustainable design and construction of new homes
launched in December
2006 .
Commitments
Land that is the subject of of existing planning permission.
Conservation Area
Areas designated by the local planning authority which are considered
of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance
of which it wishes to preserve or enhance .
Convenience Retail
Shops which sell everyday essential goods, including food and other
grocery items .
Comparison Retail
Shops which sell items not bought on a frequent basis such as TVs and
shoes .
Community Uses
This includes uses in D1 Use (Use Classes (Amendment) Order 2005) 2010
amendment such as places of
worship, community halls, clinics, health centres, day nurseries, museums,
libraries, education and training centres and D2 Use (Use Class (Amendment)
Order 2005) such as cinemas, sports halls, swimming baths, gyms, other
indoor or outdoor sports and leisure .
Corridor
A route linking two or more centres, normally focused around transport
infrastructure.
Density
Measure of the number of dwellings per hectare (ha) .
Employment Land
Land that is in (B1), and/or industrial (B2) and/or storage/distribution
(B8) use.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
A procedure and management technique which ensures that the likely effects
of new development on the environment are fully appraised and taken
into account before the development is allowed to go ahead .
Flood Plain
Land adjacent to a watercourse over which water flows, or would flow,
but for defences in place, in times of flood.
Gateway
A gateway is an entrance into an area, normally at key junctions and
crossroads .
Government Office for the West Midlands (GOWM)
Combined offices of key Government Departments at the West Midlands
level .
Gross Retail Floor Space
The area ascertained by the total internal measurement of the floor
space, including all areas allocated for storage .
Housing Market Renewal Area (HMRA)
See Urban Living.
Housing Regeneration
Measures to improve the housing environment, housing layout, refurbishment
and/or demolition and redevelopment of new housing.
Industrial Regeneration
Industrial areas safeguarded for employment uses and where the Council
will support the growth and development of local businesses and enterprises
in the area to provide more flexible and modern business spaces .
Lifetime Homes Standard
Lifetime Homes have 16 design features that ensure a new house or flat
will meet the needs of most households. The focus is on accessibility
and design features that make the home flexible enough to meet whatever
comes along in life .
Listed Building
Building or structure of historic or architectural merit which has protection
under planning legislation .
Local Centre
A local or district centre includes shops, businesses and community
facilities. They may also include some residential properties that lie
within the centre .
Local Development Framework (LDF)
This comprises Development Plan Documents, the Statement of Community
Involvement Development Plan Document and Supplementary Planning Document
which together form the statutory planning policies for Birmingham .
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
Economic development bodies earmarked to replace the Regional Development
Agencies .
Local Transport Plan (LTP)
A document which sets out the transport strategy for Birmingham and
the West and is a means by which the City Council and County bids for
Government funding for transport improvements .
Mixed-use Development
A development that makes provision for a variety of uses - e.g. residential,
retail and business. An example of this would be the Mailbox in Birmingham
.
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
Document prepared and issued by Central Government in 2012 setting out
national policy on different aspects of planning. The NPPF has superseded
Planning Policy Guidance Notes and Planning Policy Statements .
Opportunity Sites
Areas of land, or derelict buildings, vacant or underused land which
have the potential to be used and redeveloped for alternative uses.
Park and Ride
Long stay parking areas at the edge of a built up area linked by frequent
public transport links to the city centre.
Public Open Space (POS)
Publicly accessible open land of recreational or public value, including
parks, playing fields and landscaped areas .
Regional Investment Site (RIS)
High quality employment sites attractive to national and regional investors
designed to support the diversification and modernisation of the regional
economy .
Radburn Housing
A type of housing from the early 1970s with remote parking areas, networks
of pedestrian access to houses, open plan gardens and front gardens
often facing back gardens .
Retail Uses
Shops (A1), Professional and Financial Services (A2), Restaurants and
Cafes (A3), Drinking Establishments (A4) and Hot Food Takeaways (A5).
Section 106 Agreement/Planning Obligation (S106)
A legal agreement, negotiated in the context of a planning application,
between local planning authority and persons with an interest in the
application land - intended to make acceptable development which would
otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms .
Single Regeneration Budget (SRB)
A Government funded regeneration programme providing assistance for
a wide range of business and environmental projects .
Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC)
Statutory designation for sites of county or district interest identified
by Natural England (formerly known as English Nature) .
Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINC)
Non-statutory designation for sites of nature conservation interest
of lower quality than Sites of Importance for Conservation identified
by Urban Wildlife Trust
Strategic Highway Network
The highest level of the road network, made up of trunk roads, Priority
(Red) Routes and designated roads.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
European Directive 2001/42/ EC, known as the "strategic environmental
assessment" or "SEA" Directive, requires a formal environmental
assessment of certain plans and programmes which are likely to have
significant effects on the environment. Authorities which prepare and/
or adopt a plan or programme that is subject to the Directive must prepare
a report on its likely significant environmental effects, consult environmental
authorities and the public, and take the report and the results of the
consultation into account during the preparation process and before
the plan or programme is adopted.
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS)
A sequence of management practices and control structures designed to
drain surface water in a more sustainable fashion than some conventional
techniques.
Sustainability Appraisal (SA)
Identifies and evaluates the effect of plans/proposals and strategies
on social, environmental and economic factors. This will incorporate
any requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) arising
from European legislation.
Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland
1987).
Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
A Local Development Document that may cover a range of issues, thematic
or site specific, and provides further detail of policies and proposals
in a "parent" Development Plan Document.
Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG)
A document which covers a range of issues, both thematic and site specific
and provide further details of policies and proposals in a development
plan. Not statutory documents.
Unitary Development Plan
Plan prepared by Metropolitan District and some Unitary Local Authorities
containing policies equivalent to those in both a Structure Plan and
Local Plan.
Urban Boulevard
The concept of Urban Boulevards along the A34 and A5127 consists of
creating a higher quality public realm, tree planting, new high quality
landmark developments and attractive open spaces along these corridors.
It seeks to establish a pedestrian friendly environment linking areas
of open space and enabling higher density/mixed-use development at key
locations whilst ensuring that the existing highway capacity is maintained.
Urban Living (UL)
One of nine nationally-designated Housing Market Renewal Area Pathfinders.
Urban Living covers part of North West Birmingham and Sandwell.
Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England)
Order (UCO) 2010
Classification of land use by economic activity.