SEA of the Highland Council Corporate Plan Consultation
The consultation period for the Environmental Assessment of the Highland Council Council Corporate Plan is now closed. The purpose of the assessment was to make sure that environmental considerations are taken into account within the plan. Comments on the Environmental Report will be incorporated and reported on through a post adoption statement in due course.
A copy of this Environmental Report and the Draft Corporate Plan are available to download from the current documents section to the right of the page.
The Highland Council Corporate Plan Non-Technical Summary
The Corporate Plan spans 2007-2011, covering the period to the next Council election. The Corporate Plan sets out the Council’s priorities, describes the context it operates in and shows the results the Council expects to achieve for communities in Highland by 2011.
The Highland Council delivers a range of public services which affect the quality of life for all its residents. Each year it deploys a revenue budget of up to £680m, a capital budget of around £55m and 12,800 staff to develop and serve Highland communities. It does this through democratic processes, with 80 elected members representing the needs of communities and the Highlands as a whole.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
This environmental report presents the findings of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the draft Corporate Plan for Highland Council. The purpose of the SEA is to make sure that environmental considerations are taken into account within the plan.
SEA allows the potential environmental impacts of the plan to be predicted, and where appropriate, mitigated. In setting this out in this publicly available report, the public and other stakeholders can comment on the plan and its impacts. A report scoping the proposed method and level of detail for the SEA was submitted to the Scottish Government, and this allowed Historic Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to provide comments and recommendations. These comments were taken into account in the assessment and preparation of this report.
SEA method and results
The likely environmental impacts of the Corporate Plans aims and objectives were assessed. Many of the aims and objective were predicted to have positive or neutral effects on the environment. Where potential negative effects were identified, associated mitigation methods are outlined. This includes identifying lower tier plans, policies and strategies where more detailed and site specific actions can take place. The hope is that this report will highlight where further assessment is required and which supporting plans and strategies should be screened for SEA.
Where significant positive or negative environmental effects have been identified, the report will demonstrate how these effects will be monitored and reported.
Adoption
Following the six week consultation period on this environmental report, recommendations will be considered and, where appropriate, adopted into the final Corporate Plan. At this time a post-adoption statement will be made available outlining any changes that have been made as a result of the SEA.
Please follow the links to the right for Highland Counci Post Adoption Statements.
Archived Environmental Reports:
Please find below a list of recent environmental Reports. Please note - these are no longer open for consultation:
A96 Corridor Environmental Report
A96 Corridor Plan Environmental Report Appendices