| While the Policy team endeavour to make the Local Plan as clear as possible, the wide-ranging nature of development plans and policy requirements makes it difficult to avoid technical terms. A number of key terms used in Local Plan Parts I and II are below. Please also refer to the definitions in the NPPF Annex 2: Glossary. The schedule will be kept up-to-date as far as possible and was last updated in September 2021 and includes changes recommended in the Inspector’s Report. | |
| Adoption | The final confirmation of a Development Plan or one of its subsidiary parts by a local planning authority (LPA) bringing it into formal use. Policies and proposals carry full weight in planning decisions from this stage. |
| Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGst) | A set of standards to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to an accessible natural greenspace. |
| Affordable Housing | Housing for sale or rent, for those whose needs are not met by the market (including housing that provides a subsidised route to home ownership and/or is for essential local workers); and which complies with one or more of the following definitions: a) Affordable housing for rent b) Starter homes c) Discounted market sales housing d) Other affordable routes to home ownership A full national definition is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/810197/NPPF_Feb_2019_revised.pdf |
| Affordable in perpetuity | Housing which is subject to a legal restriction to remain ‘affordable’ forever. |
| Allocation | Land identified for development in the Local Plan. Allocations are subject to specific policies which will be significant in determining a planning application. |
| Amenity | Those qualities of life enjoyed by people who can be influenced by the surrounding environment in which they live or work. ‘Residential amenity’ includes, for example, a reasonable degree of privacy, freedom from unacceptable levels of noise, air and light pollution. |
| Ancillary | Use or structure which is related to and often found in association with primary use or development. For the purposes of planning, ancillary uses that are materially different would typically be tolerated up to 15% of a wider site area e.g. a trade counter (retail use) within a larger warehouse (distribution use). |
| Authority’s Monitoring Report (AMR) | A report produced by the Council to monitor planning policies and determine whether they are being effectively implemented. |
| Area Action Plan (AAP) | A type of Development Plan Document focused upon a specific location or an area subject to conservation or significant change (for example major regeneration). |
| Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) | A statutory landscape designation to recognise, conserve and enhance landscape of national importance. |
| Areas of High Architectural Potential (AHAP) | Areas identified on the Policies Map as most likely to contain important archaeological features. Where ground disturbance is expected as part of a development within an AHAP, an archaeological assessment will usually be required. |
| Aquifer | Underground layer (stratum) of rock in which water naturally occurs. Water for human use may be extracted by means of wells or boreholes. |
| Bat Consultation Zone (Band A/B/C) |
Locations considered to have a potentially significant effect on horseshoe bat roosts / feeding areas. Development allocations in a local plan area must be assessed for their impact and subject to assessment under Habitat Regulations. |
| Biodiversity | The existence of a wide variety of plant and animal species living in their natural environment. |
| Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) | An internationally recognised program addressing threatened species and habitats, designed to protect and restore biological systems. Biodiversity Action Plans are prepared at various geographic scales. Mendip has a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) that outlines which important species and habitats have been prioritised in the district for protection and enhancement. |
| Built Environment | Surroundings which are generally built up in character. The collection of buildings, spaces and links between them which form such an area. |
| Call for Sites | Where the Local Planning Authority invite individuals, organisations and developers to submit details of land or sites they wish to be considered for development. These sites form the basis of the HELAA assessments. |
| Climate Change | Refers to changes in the earth’s climate, especially the gradual rise temperature caused by high levels of carbon dioxide and other gases. |
| Committed Development | Land with a current planning permission or an allocation in an adopted Local Plan where there is a reasonable degree of certainty that development will proceed. |
| Community Facilities | Services available to residents in the immediate area to meet the day-to-day needs of the community. Includes village halls, post offices, doctors and dentist surgeries, recycling facilities, libraries and places of worship, as well as commercial services and open spaces. |
| Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) | A charge made on new development (calculated per sq metre of additional floorspace) and used to support local infrastructure. The process of setting charges must go through local consultation and examination to ensure they are set at a level which does not prevent development. |
| Comparison Goods | Defined as household or personal items which are bought on an infrequent basis and typically would involve the buyer comparing alternative styles/prices/types. Would generally include products like clothing, electrical goods and furniture amongst many other things. Also see Convenience Goods. |
| Conservation Area | An area of special historic and/or architectural interest which is designated by the local planning authority as being important to conserve and enhance. Special planning controls apply within these areas. |
| Convenience Goods | Items bought for everyday needs. Includes food and other groceries, newspapers, drink and tobacco and chemist goods. Generally such goods are used or consumed over a relatively short period. Also see Comparison Goods. |
| Core Area (ecological network) | One component of an ecological network (the other components are corridors and buffer zones). They have a high nature conservation value. They are connected to each other with corridors and surrounded by buffer zones which serve as a protection from possible disruptive external influences. |
| Core Strategy |
A Development Plan Document forming the central part of a Local Development Framework under regulations that existed between 2004 and 2011. It sets out the spatial vision and strategic objectives of the planning framework for an area, having regard to the Community Strategy. Local Plan Part I is an evolved version of a Core Strategy. |
| County Wildlife Site | Wildlife habitat identified and designated as being of particular local interest of importance but is not of sufficient national merit to be nationally designated as, for example, an SSSI. |
| Curtilage | The area of land associated with a building. The curtilage of a dwelling house is the land immediately surrounding it, including any closely associated buildings and structures. |
| Culturally Significant Landscape | A landscape, modified, natural or built, that retains physical attributes of past interventions that are of significance. Examples include deer parks, deserted settlements and large-scale water management systems. |
| Co-housing | Semi-communal housing consisting of private homes clustered around shared space. |
| Custom build | Where an individual or group commissions a new home for their own occupation. |
| Development | Defined in planning law as ‘the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over, or under land, or the making of a material change of use of any building or land’ (see also Permitted Development). |
| Development Brief | A document that outlines how a site will be developed. It will set out an analysis of site context, development principles, design solutions and details about matters of implementation. It will contain maps and diagrams to articulate the issues and solutions proposed. Also see Supplementary Planning Document. |
| Development Contribution/ Commuted Payment |
Either a payment made by a developer to the local planning authority (usually secured by means of a Planning Obligation) to fund provision of a facility needed to serve a development, but to be built or provided elsewhere or in some way other than by the developer, or a one off payment by a developer to another body to enable it to adopt a facility. |
| Development Management Policies | A suite of criteria-based policies to ensure that all development within the area meets the spatial vision and spatial objectives. |
| Development Plan | A statutory document setting out the local planning authority’s policies and proposals for the development and use of land and buildings. It is the starting point for the determination of planning applications as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. |
| Development Plan Document (DPD) | A local planning policy document that has development plan status by virtue of being prepared subject to community involvement and independently examined. |
| Dispersal Area (ecological network) | An area that can be crossed easily by a protected or other species from a core area of habitat when moving out into the wider landscape. |
| Duty to Cooperate | Government policy setting out a duty to work jointly with other bodies and neighbouring authorities to ensure that strategic priorities are properly coordinated across local boundaries. |
| Early Engagement | A very early stage of consultation and community involvement, when interested parties can help formulate and comment on aspects of the local authority’s future planning proposal. Early engagement is also an important part of any development proposal in that a developer can explore local people’s views before designing a new development which in turn can then, potentially, be more responsive to local conditions. |
| Ecological Network | A group of habitat patches that species can move easily between, thereby maintaining and conserving biodiversity. See also Core Area (ecological network). |
| Employment Land | Employment land includes the following types of premises:
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| Environmental Statement | A written statement that is required to be submitted by the applicant with certain kinds of planning application. |
| Established Employment Areas | Established Employment Areas include a range of uses (industrial, commercial, sui generis and retail) but exclude freestanding supermarkets. |
| Evidence Base | The information and data gathered by local authorities to justify the “soundness” of the policy approach set out in Local Development Documents, including physical, economic, and social characteristics of an area. |
| Exception Site | A site that is granted planning permission as an exception to Local Plan policy for a particular reason. It usually refers to a site with permission granted for affordable housing outside development limits on the basis that the housing will remain affordable. |
| Exception Test | In addition to the Sequential Test, and in accordance with national policy, this test seeks to consider exceptional circumstances why a particular development would be acceptable in an area that is acknowledged to be subject to flood risk. Also see Sequential Test (flooding). |
| Extant | Usually refers to a planning permission which has yet to start. |
| Favourable Conservation Status | European Habitats Directive definition requiring that habitats have sufficient area and quality, and species have a sufficient population size, to ensure their survival into the medium to long term, along with favourable future prospects in the face of pressures and threats. |
| Flood Risk Assessment | An assessment of the likelihood of flooding in a particular area so that development needs and mitigation measures can be carefully considered. |
| Five Year Housing Supply | An estimate of the additional dwellings predicted to be built over a five year period against the annual housing requirement in the Local Plan plus a 5,10 or 20% buffer. Where an adopted Local Plan figure is more than five years from adoption, the requirement is based on Local Housing Need calculated through a national standard method. The five year supply figure is updated each year. |
| Future Growth Area | Land identified as being suitable to accommodate housing or employment use that cannot come forward immediately due to development issues still needing to be explored. |
| Future Transport Plan (FTP) | The Somerset Future Transport Plan sets out the long term strategy for getting the best from transport. It describes transport issues and the policies and investments needed to tackle them. The current plan covers the period 2011-2026. |
| Green Belt | An area of land defined by national policy to protect countryside around larger urban centres from urban development. |
| Greenfield Land | Open land which has not previously been developed. Agricultural buildings, urban gardens and former industrial areas which have blended back into the landscape are also greenfield. |
| Groundwater Source Protection Zones | Zones which limit the use of land for purposes which might result in contamination of groundwater. |
| Habitat Regulations Assessment | Document to determine, understand and, if appropriate, mitigate impacts on European designated wildlife sites (Natura 2000 sites). |
| Housing Needs Survey | An assessment of the housing need in an area or settlement using primary data collection such as surveys/questionnaires. It is usually used to provide the evidence to justify an affordable housing exception site. |
| Housing Requirement | The net additional level housing to be planned for in an area. It is usually expressed as an annual rate or a total over a Local Plan period. |
| Housing Trajectory | Estimates of dwelling completions over the Plan Housing trajectories can be used to demonstrate that a plan can deliver in excess of a five year supply of land. |
| Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment | An assessment of land promoted as available for development and its suitability. It is used to inform choices about where new development could be located. Can be referred to as HELAA or SHELAA. |
| Implementation | The point at which construction work is considered to have started. |
| Infill Development | Small scale development filling a gap within an otherwise built up frontage. |
| Infrastructure | The network of services to which it is usual for most buildings to be connected. It includes physical services serving the particular development (e.g. gas, electricity and water supply, telephones, sewerage) and also includes networks of roads, public transport routes, footpaths etc… In its widest sense the definition may also include open spaces, community facilities and commercial services which sustain a community’s way of life. |
| Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) | Sets out infrastructure issues and requirements which are needed to make growth happen or mitigate against the effects of growth. |
| Issues and Options | This is an early stage in the production of a Development Plan Document involving consultation and community involvement. Its purpose is to identify the issues which need to be addressed and to receive initial feedback on a range of proposed alternatives. |
| Key Diagram | A map based diagram to illustrate the broad proposals and content of a development plan, normally contained within the main strategy. |
| Landscape Character Assessment | Identifies areas with similar features or qualities, mapping and classifying them and describing their character. It is based on an understanding of landscape character and of the natural, historic and aesthetic factors that combine to create local distinctiveness. |
| Legal Agreement | See Section 106 Agreements (S106). |
| Listed Building | A building of special historical and/or architectural interest considered worthy of special protection and included and described in the statutory list of such buildings. |
| Local Development Framework (LDF) | A portfolio of planning documents required by legislation between 2004 and 2011 which collectively delivers the spatial planning strategy for the area. A former name for what is now included in the Local Plan. |
| Local Development Order | A Local Development Order grants planning permission for a site, sites or area for specific types of development (specified in the Order) and, by doing so, removes the need for a planning application to be made. Local planning authorities have powers to make them. |
| Local Development Scheme (LDS) | A document that sets out what parts of the Council’s planning framework are to be produced or reviewed and the timetable for their production. |
| Local Nature Reserve | Area of botanical or wildlife interest designated by a local authority. |
| Local Plan Part I | Development Plan Document setting out the long term strategic vision for the district and its development over the specified timescale. |
| Local Plan Part II | Development Plan Document which identifies sites to deliver non-strategic development needs as guided by the principles set out in Local Plan Part I. |
| Local Transport Plan (LTP) | A five-year integrated transport strategy, prepared by local authorities in partnership with the community, seeking funding to help provide local transport projects. The plan sets out the resources predicted for delivery of the targets identified in the strategy. Somerset County Council are the responsible authority. |
| Major Development | For residential development it is defined as 10 or more dwellings or a site area of 0.5 hectares or more. For other uses it is defined as the floorspace to be built being 1000 square metres or more, or a site area of 1 hectare or more. |
| Masterplanning | A framework used to structure land use and development including strategic principles. It sets the context within which individual developments or parts of a development can come forward. |
| Mitigation Measures | Any works or actions required to be carried out by developers to reduce or remove the impact of the development on the surrounding environment or to address particular environmental effects which would otherwise make that development unacceptable. |
| Monitoring | Regular collection and analysis of relevant information in order to assess the outcome and effectiveness of policies and proposals and to identify whether they need to be reviewed or altered. |
| National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) | The key government statement of national planning policy to be taken into account in both plan making and decisions on planning applications. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework--2 |
| Plan Period | The period that is covered by a plan. Normally development plans cover a 15 year period from adoption. The starting year of the plan is usually linked to the latest population/household forecasts. |
| Planning Practice Guidance | An online resource which sets out more detail and expectations of how planning authorities should work with national policy in practice. |
| Natura 2000 | An ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union. |
| Passive Solar Energy | Energy provided by a simple architectural design to capture and store the sun's heat. An example is a south facing window in a dwelling. |
| Permitted Development | Certain categories of minor development, as specified in the General Permitted Development Order, which can be carried out without having to first obtain planning permission. |
| Phosphate | A chemical compound that contains phosphorus. Concentrations of phosphates in water causes excessive algae and plant growth which damages the quality and ecology of rivers and lakes. The main sources of phosphates are domestic waste water, livestock and use of fertilizers. |
| Phosphate Mitigation |
Measures to reduce phosphate entering a water catchment or removing it. These include managing phosphates at source, wastewater treatment (engineered solutions) and natural mitigation (designed wetlands, trees etc…). |
| Phosphate Neutral | When the additional loading of phosphate as a result of a development proposal can be offset by mitigation measures leading to no net increase. |
| Photovoltaic Cells | Technological component of solar panels that capture energy from the sun and transform it into electricity for use in homes and businesses. |
| Planning Obligations | See Section 106 Agreements. |
| Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) | Sets out the Government’s national land use planning policies (now superseded by National Planning Policy Framework and National Planning Policy Guidance). |
| Preferred Options | Produced as part of the preparation of planning documents. The council sets out what it thinks are the most appropriate set of policy responses to the issues needing to be addressed. These would be consulted on to seek views as to their validity prior to refinements being made. |
| Policies Map | A component of a Local Plan and an important part of the development plan. It shows the location of proposals in all current planning proposals and designations of land on an Ordnance Survey base map. |
| Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development | Set out in paragraph 11 of the National Planning Policy Framework and , this means that proposed developments should be granted planning permission unless their adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweigh their benefits. |
| Primary Village | These are larger villages in rural areas defined by Part I of the Local Plan. They have core services and facilities and are the first places to consider in distributing planned rural housing. See also Secondary Village. |
| Protected Species | Any species which, because of its rarity or threatened status, is protected by statutory legislation. |
| Ramsar Sites | Wetland sites of international importance, especially as waterfowl habitat. The term was adopted following an international conference, held in 1971, in Ramsar in Iran). |
| Registered Social Landlords | Independent housing organisations, including trusts, co-operatives and companies, registered under the Housing Act 1996. |
| Residual requirement | Local Plan Part I sets out minimum levels of development. The residual requirement is that portion of the requirement that remains to be identified. |
| Retail Assessment / Town Centres Study | An assessment which may be required in connection with major retail purposes assessing the likely effect of the proposals on patterns of trades and the viability and vitality of existing retail centres. |
| SAMSEN | A mapping system depicting Somerset’s ecological network. |
| Scheduled (Ancient) Monument | An ancient structure, usually unoccupied, above or below the ground, which is preserved by order of the Secretary of State. |
| Schedule 1 Species | Species protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended. |
| Secondary Village | Villages, defined by Part I of the Local Plan, which are of a sufficient size and have sufficient facilities to be considered as sustainable locations for a modest amount of development. See also Primary Village. |
| Section 106 Agreements (S106) | Allows a Local Planning Authority to enter into a legally-binding agreement or planning obligation with a land developer over a related issue (often to fund necessary improvements). |
| Section 41 Species (s41) | This refers to the rarest and most threatened species of wildlife, as set out in Section 41 of the 2006 Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act. |
| Sequential Approach/ Test |
A planning principle that seeks to identify, allocate or develop certain types or locations of land before others. |
| Self Build | Where an individual or group constructs a new home for their own occupation. |
| Sequential Test (Flooding) | A test that is carried out, in accordance with national policy, to ensure that areas at little or no risk of flooding are developed in preference to areas at higher risk. See also Exception Test. |
| Settlement Hierarchy | Categorisation of settlements in the plan area according to their services and facilities. |
| Site Allocations DPD | A Development Plan Document (part of the Local Plan) which allocates sites for specific or mixed development uses, or which makes other designations of land for a particular purpose. Part II of the Mendip Local Plan will be a site allocations document. |
| Soundness | A term which describes how a development plan is scrutinised at the examination stage. To be considered sound, a Development Plan Document must be positively prepared (meet the needs of the area), justified (founded on robust and credible evidence), effective (deliverable over the plan period) and consistent with national policy. |
| Spatial Planning | Brings together and integrates policies for the development and use of land with other policies and programmes which influence the nature of places and how they function. |
| Spatial Strategy | A strategy which sets out the distribution and nature of development across a given area. |
| Special Landscape Feature | A local designation recognising specific features which make an outstanding contribution to the scenic quality of the area or have cultural or historical significance. |
| Species Action Plan (SAP) | A framework for conservation of particular species and their habitats. |
| Strategic Development Site | A site allocated in Local Plan Part I and defined as a key site in delivering the vision outlined. |
| Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) | Provides information about flood risk throughout the area of the local authority, either individually or combined with neighbouring authorities. The SFRA will consider the effects of climate change on river and coastal flooding, identify the risk from other sources of flooding, and consider appropriate policies for development in or adjacent to flood risk areas. |
| Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) | A study which calculates the housing requirements in an area by interpreting and modelling secondary data such as population change and household formation. One output of the SHMA is to produce an estimate of Objectively Assessed Need (OAN) which can then be translated into land use targets. |
| Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) | A document which sets out standards for engagement with individuals, organisations and communities in the preparation of planning documents and development control decisions. |
| Sustainability Appraisal | An appraisal of the economic, environmental and social effects of a plan undertaken throughout its preparation to enable understanding of different alternative solutions and to mitigate effects where a proposed development solution is recognised to have limited negative effects. It ultimately allows decisions to be made that deliver more sustainable forms of development. |
| Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) | A long-term vision for improving the quality of people’s lives, with the aim of improving economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the area and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. |
| Sustainable Construction | Building using processes and materials that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a buildings life cycle. |
| Sustainable Development | Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. |
| Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) | Drainage systems, generally incorporating natural methods of ground percolation, which seek to minimise surface water run-off without, or lessening the need for, extensive networks of municipal pipes. It can also include the use of natural filtration to capture and hold waterborne pollutants or suspended materials. ‘Grey water’ systems can also be found which recycle precipitation or other relatively clean water for non-potable domestic or business uses. |
| Up-to-Date Plan | A development plan adopted since the introduction of the NPPF and less than five years old from the date of adoption. |
| Use Classes Order | A statute that groups uses into various categories and which specifically states that permission is not required to change from one use to another within the same class: B2 - General Industry; B8 - Storage and Distribution; C1 - Hotels; C2 - Residential Institutions; C3 - Dwelling Houses; C4 - Houses in Multiple Occupation; E - Commercial, Business and Service; F1 - Learning and Non-Residential Institutions; F2 - Local Community Uses; Sui Generis - Certain uses that do not fall within any of the use classes above such as theatres, petrol filling stations, launderettes and nightclubs. |
| Water Framework Directive | A European Directive that aims to establish a framework for the protection of inland surface waters (rivers and lakes), transitional waters (estuaries), coastal waters and groundwater. |
| This table confirms the status of extant saved policies from the Adopted Local Plan 2002 and the Somerset and Exmoor Park Joint Structure Plan (2000) | |||
| Adopted Mendip District Local Plan (2002) Policies | F10 | Sites for Education Use | Deleted |
| S&W9 | Brookside School | Deleted | |
| Somerset and Exmoor National Park Joint Structure Plan Review 1991-2011 (April 2000) Policies |
Policy 6 | Bristol/Bath Green Belt | Superceded by Local Plan Part II DP26 and Local Plan Part I DP4 |