Glossary of Key Terms

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:

• Social Rent: meets all of the following conditions: (a) the rent is set in accordance with the Government’s rent policy for Social Rent; (b) the landlord is a registered provider; and (c) it includes provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.
• Other affordable housing for rent: meets all of the following conditions: (a) the rent is set in accordance with the Government’s rent policy for Affordable Rent, or is at least 20% below local market rents (including service charges where applicable); (b) the landlord is a registered provider, except where it is included as part of a Build to Rent scheme (in which case the landlord need not be a registered provider); and (c) it includes provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. For Build to Rent schemes affordable housing for rent is expected to be the normal form of affordable housing provision (and, in this context, is known as Affordable Private Rent).
• Discounted market sales housing: is that sold at a discount of at least 20% below local market value. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Provisions should be in place to ensure housing remains at a discount for future eligible households.
• Other affordable routes to home ownership: is housing provided for sale that provides a route to ownership for those who could not achieve home ownership through the market. It includes shared ownership, relevant equity loans, other low cost homes for sale (at a price equivalent to at least 20% below local market value) and rent to buy (which includes a period of intermediate rent). Where public grant funding is provided, there should be provisions for the homes to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for any receipts to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision, or refunded Government or the relevant authority specified in the funding agreement.

Air quality management areas - Areas designated by local authorities because they are not likely to achieve national air quality objectives by the relevant deadlines.

Biodiversity - The whole variety of life encompassing all genetics, species and ecosystems, including plants and animals.

Brownfield land - See Previously Developed Land.

Brownfield land registers - Registers of previously developed land that local planning authorities consider to be appropriate for residential development, having regard to criteria in the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Registers) Regulations 2017. Local planning authorities will be able to trigger a grant of permission in principle for residential development on suitable sites in their registers where they follow the required procedures.

Climate change adaptation - Adjustments made to natural or human systems in response to the actual or anticipated impacts of climate change, to mitigate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities.

Climate change mitigation - Action to reduce the impact of human activity on the climate system, primarily through reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) - This is a levy that local authorities can choose to charge on new developments in their area. The money can be used to support development by funding infrastructure that the council, local community and neighbourhoods want.

Conservation Area - Area of special architectural or historic interest, the character, appearance or setting of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.

Density - In the case of housing development, a measurement of either the number of habitable rooms per hectare or the number of dwellings per hectare.

Dwelling - A self-contained building or part of a building used as a residential accommodation, and usually housing a single household. A dwelling may be a house, bungalow, flat, maisonette or residentially converted building.

Employment Uses - Includes any uses or development that creates jobs.

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. It consists of consultation responses and the findings of technical studies.

Flood Plain - Generally flat lying areas adjacent to a watercourse, tidal lengths of a river or the sea where the water flows in times of flood or would flow but for the presence of flood defences.

Green Belt - A designation for land around certain cities and large built up areas, which aims to keep this land permanently open or largely undeveloped.

Greenfield Land - Land which has never been built on before or where the remains of any structure or activity have blended into the landscape over time.

Green Infrastructure - A network of multi-functional green and blue spaces and other natural features, urban and rural, which is capable of delivering a wide range of environmental, economic, health and wellbeing benefits for nature, climate, local and wider communities and prosperity.

Grey Belt - For the purposes of plan-making and decision-making, ‘grey belt’ is defined as land in the Green Belt comprising previously developed land and/or any other land that, in either case, does not strongly contribute to any of purposes (a), (b), or (d) in paragraph 143. ‘Grey belt’ excludes land where the application of the policies relating to the areas or assets in footnote 7 (other than Green Belt) would provide a strong reason for refusing or restricting development.

Heritage Asset - A building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having a degree of significance. Heritage assets can be designated and non-designated.

Historic Environment - All aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people and places through time, including all surviving physical remains of past human activity, whether visible, buried or submerged, and landscaped and planted or managed flora.

Indices of Multiple Deprivation - This measures the level of deprivation within a specific geographic area (e.g. council wards). It assesses the level of deprivation from a whole range of sources such as income; employment; health and disability; education; skills and training; housing and services; living environment and crime. It can be useful for identifying areas in need of regeneration.

Infill Development - Building on a relatively small site between existing buildings.

Listed Building - A building of special architectural or historic interest of national importance, graded I (highest quality), II* or II.

Locally Listed Building - Non-designated heritage assets that are identified by local planning authorities as being important at a local level.

Local Housing Need - The number of homes identified as being needed through the application of the standard method set out in national planning practice guidance.

Local Nature Reserve - Site of local biodiversity importance that are also important for local communities. Local Nature Reserves are designated by and in the ownership of the Borough Council and have the aim of being managed in partnership with local residents.

Main Town Centre Uses - Retail development (including warehouse clubs and factory outlet centres); leisure, entertainment and more intensive sport and recreation uses (including cinemas, restaurants, drive-through restaurants, bars and pubs, nightclubs, casinos, health and fitness centres, indoor bowling centres and bingo halls); offices; and arts, culture and tourism development (including theatres, museums, galleries and concert halls, hotels and conference facilities).

Major Development: For housing, development where 10 or more homes will be provided, or the site has an area of 0.5 hectares or more. For non-residential development it means additional floorspace of 1,000m2 or more, or a site of 1 hectare or more, or as otherwise provided in the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.

Mixed Use - Provision of a mix of complementary uses, such as residential, community and leisure uses, on a site or within a particular area.

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) - The NPPF sets out the Government’s planning policies for achieving sustainable development, in terms of encouraging economic prosperity, social progress (i.e. increasing the delivery of homes and its supporting infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, roads, etc) and protecting the historic/natural environment (i.e. sites of biodiversity importance and conservation areas).

The NPPF will guide the formulation of the Local Plan, which will contain policies that are gene rally consistent with the guidelines in the NPPF. In addition to this, the NPPF will also be a material consideration in planning decisions.

Open Space - All space of public value, including not just land, but also areas of water, such as rivers, canals, lakes and reservoirs, which can offer opportunities for sport and recreation. They can also act as a haven for wildlife and are usually attractive.

Planning Application - A form plus plans submitted to the Council when development is proposed.

Planning Obligation - A legally enforceable obligation entered into under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to mitigate the impacts of a development proposal.

Previously Developed Land - Previously developed land is that which is or was occupied by a permanent structure including the curtilage of the developed land and any associated fixed infrastructure.

This excludes: land that has been or is occupied for forestry/agricultural buildings; private residential gardens; allotments; parks and recreational grounds.

Primary Shopping Area - Defined area where retail development is concentrated.

Renewable and Low Carbon Energy - Includes energy for heating and cooling as well as generating electricity. Renewable energy covers those energy flows that occur naturally and repeatedly in the environment – from the wind, the fall of water, the movement of the oceans, from the sun and also from biomass and deep geothermal heat. Low carbon technologies are those that can help reduce emissions (compared to conventional use of fossil fuels).

Retail Floorspace - Total area of the property associated with all retail uses. Usually measured in square metres.

Self-Build and Custom-Build Housing - Housing built by an individual, a group of individuals, or persons working with or for them, to be occupied by that individual. Such housing can be either market or affordable housing. A legal definition, for the purpose of applying the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended), is contained in section 1(A1) and (A2) of that Act.

Sequential Approach - A planning principle that seeks to identify, allocate o r develop certain types of land before consideration of others. For example, brownfield housing sites before greenfield sites or town centre retail sites before out of centre sites.

Sequential Test (Development) - A planning principle that encourages new development to take place in the most sustainable locations in terms of accessibility and reducing the need to travel by private car. Therefore, potential proposals are assessed (or sites are allocated), in accordance with the following preferences:

• Locations in appropriate existing centres where sites or buildings for conversion are, or are likely to become, available within the plan period
• Edge-of-centre locations, with preference given to sites that are or will be well connected to the centre
• Out-of-centre sites, with preference given to sites which are or will be well served by a choice of means of transport and which are closest to the centre and have a higher likelihood of forming links with the centre.

Sequential Test (Flood Risk) - In areas at risk of flooding, applicants are required to undertake a sequential test (as part of their Flood Risk Assessment), to demonstrate that a potential proposal is being situated on a site that has a low risk of flooding. Applications in areas at risk of flooding are assessed in accordance with the following preferences:

• Flood Zone 1: An area with low risk of flooding. This zone comprises land assessed as having a less than 1 in 1000 annual probability of river or sea flooding.
• Flood Zone 2: An area with a low to medium risk of flooding. This zone comprises land assessed as having between a 1 in 100 and 1 in 1000 annual probability of river flooding or between a 1 in 200 and 1 in 1000 annual probability of sea flooding.
• Flood Zone 3a: An area with a high probability of flooding. This zone comprises land assessed as having a 1 in 100 or greater annual probability of river flooding or a 1 in 200 o r greater annual probability of flooding from the sea.
• Flood Zone 3b: This is an area within a functional floodplain. This zone comprises land where water has to flow or be stored in times of flood.

Site of Biological Important (SBI) - Sites of local biodiversity importance that contain the best remaining areas of semi-natural habitat in Staffordshire.

Site of Special Scientific Interest - A site identified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as an area of special interest by reason of any of its flora, fauna, geological or physiographical feature s (basically, plants, animals and natural features relating to the Earths structure).

Spatial Vision - A brief description of how the area will be changed at the end of the plan period.

Strategic Employment Areas - These are the strategically important existing employment areas shown on the policies map for the Council's Local Plan which should be retained for employment use.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) - A key component of the evidence base to support the delivery of sufficient land for housing to meet the community’s need for more homes. These assessments are required by national planning policy, set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) - Assessment of all forms of flood risk from groundwater, surface water, impounded water bodies, sewer, river and tidal sources, taking into account future climate change predictions. This allows Councils to use this information to locate future development primarily in low flood risk areas (Level 1 SFRA) and where allocating certain development in areas of higher flood risk, to ensure the development is safe for its lifetime (Level 2 SFRA).

Strategic Planning - Wider ranging and longer term planning which establishes broad goals, strategies, principles and objectives for the wider region.

Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) - An SPD is a Local Development Document that may include a range of issues, thematic or site specific, and provides further detail of policies and proposals in a 'parent' Development Plan Document. They are capable of being a material consideration in planning decisions but are not part of the development plan.

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) - This examines the impacts of the Local Plan strategies/policies against a large number of economic, social and environmental sustainability objectives. It also provides an indication of what measures may need to be taken to minimise / eliminate any adverse impacts and promote sustainable development. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires an SA to be undertaken for all Development Plan Documents throughout the plan making process.

Sustainable Communities - Places where people want to live and work, now and in the future.

Sustainable Development - A widely used definition drawn upon by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) - These systems endeavour to mimic the natural movement of water from a development, reducing flood risk, improving water quality and often providing attractive features that can make towns and cities more desirable places to live in and enhancing the quality of life.

Use Classes Order - The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) puts uses of land and buildings into various categories known as 'Use Classes'.

Vitality - In terms of shopping, a centre that is capable of success or continuing effectiveness.

Viability - In terms of shopping, the capacity of a centre to grow or develop.

Windfall Site - A site not specifically allocated for development in a development plan, but which unexpectedly becomes available for development during the lifetime of the plan. Most 'windfalls' are referred to in a housing context.