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Glossary

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A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

A

Adopted Local Plan: A local plan that has been through all of the stages of preparation, including Local Plan Inquiry, and has been formally adopted by the Local Planning Authority.

Affordable housing: Housing which is provided by a Registered Social Landlord and accessible to people who cannot afford to buy a house locally on the open market.

Agricultural dwelling: A dwelling that is subject to a condition which specifies that its occupancy is limited to a person or persons employed or last employed solely or mainly and locally in agriculture, and his/her dependants.

Agricultural land classification: The process used to classify land according to its quality in terms of it’s soil productivity and topography. Grades 1, 2 and 3a are the most versatile classifications.

Agriculture: Defined by section 336(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as including; Horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or furs or the purpose of it’s use on the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes.

Amenity open space: An area that is primarily of visual importance but may also be used for recreation, either formally or informally.

Ancient woodland: An area of woodland that has had a continuous cover of native trees and plants since at least 1600 AD and in special circumstances semi-natural woods of post 1600 but pre 1900 origin.

Ancillary use: A use which is secondary to, but associated with, the main use.

Article 4 direction: Issued by the local planning authority, under Article 4 of the Town and Country Planning General Permitted Development Order to remove permitted development rights on the grounds that to exercise these rights would have an adverse impact on the character of the area.

B

Backland development: Development to the rear of existing properties without highway frontage, often using garden land.

Biodiversity: The variety of life on earth embracing all species, communities, habitats and ecosystems associated with the terrestrial, aquatic and marine environments.

Brownfield land: Previously developed land, including garden land (for a more detailed definition see annex C of PPG3).

C

Catchment area: The area which forms the supply of, for example, shoppers to a town centre or water to a river.

Commitment: A scheme for development that has an unexpired planning permission, or is the subject of a resolution to permit a particular development.

Comparison goods: A term used in retailing to indicate goods purchased for long term use that are likely to be subject to comparison between suppliers before purchase.

Concept statement: The Borough Council's requirements for the development of a site.

Conservation area: An area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance, designated under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Convenience goods: Food, confectionary, newspapers, magazines and other frequently purchased accessible and easily portable goods.

Countryside: The rural parts of the borough lying outside the defined housing settlement boundaries and general employment areas. This can include dispersed housing, garden land, industrial and business uses, churches, schools, recreation facilities and other uses on the settlement fringe as well as agricultural areas (see also the definition of “Rural Areas”).

County Wildlife Site: A nature conservation area of countywide interest that is identified in the County Wildlife Sites Register, compiled jointly by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Suffolk County Council.

D

Density: The intensity of development within a given area, usually measured for housing in terms of the number of dwellings per hectare. For more information please refer to annex C of PPG3.

Design brief: Guidance prepared to demonstrate how a particular site should be developed.

Development: Defined in section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as ‘The carrying out of a building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land; or the making of any material change in the use of any building or land.’

E

Edge of centre: A location which is just beyond the town centre boundary.

Enabling development: In very exceptional circumstances, the Borough Council may grant permission for development which would not normally be acceptable in order to secure the proper repair of a listed building or registered park or garden.

Environmental impact assessment: A procedure and management technique which ensures that the likely effects of a new development on the environment are fully appraised and taken into account before the determination of development proposals.

F

Flood plain: All land adjacent to a watercourse over which water flows in times of flood or would flow but for the presence of flood defences where they exist. The limits of the flood plain are defined by the peak level of a 1 in 100 year return period flood or the highest known water level, whichever is greater.

G

General employment area: Areas identified as suitable for industrial and business development. These may be categorised as existing industrial estates and industrial/business areas or areas proposed for such use.

General permitted development order: A central government order made under the Town and Country Planning Act which exempts certain types of minor or governmental/institutional development from the need to obtain planning permission (permitted development).

Greenfield land: A general term to describe all sites that have not previously been developed.

H

Hectare (Ha): An area of 10,000 m2 or 2.471 acres.

Highway: Road and/or footway (usually adopted by the County Council for the purpose of maintenance).

Housing need: Assessed by examining the suitability of present housing and the ability of households to afford market priced housing.

Housing settlement boundary: A boundary drawn around a town or village within which housing development will normally be allowed, subject to the policies of the Local Plan.

I

Informal open space: An area of open or wooded land laid out informally and generally available for public access and recreation.

Infrastructure: The network of communications and utility services such as roads, drains, electricity, water, gas and telecommunication, required to enable the development of land. The term is also used in relation to community or social services such as schools, shops, libraries and public transport.

K

Key worker housing: Accommodation for public sector or service employees unable to afford to buy housing locally on the open market.

L

Listed building: A building of special architectural or historic interest. The planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 gives the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on advice from English Heritage, powers to list buildings of special architectural and historic interest. Listed buildings are graded according to their importance (Grades I, II* and II).

Listed building consent: This is required to demolish, extend or alter any aspect of a listed building, including any object or structure within its curtilage erected before July 1948. Consent is required for works that may not normally require planning permission.

Local centre: A small group of shops and services generally serving the immediate local area.

Local distinctiveness: That which sets a locality apart from anywhere else.

Local Nature Reserve: A Local Authority designation, in consultation with English Nature, under the provisions of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, to protect sites of special wildlife interest and enhance public enjoyment of wildlife.

Local Transport Plan: A plan prepared by the Highway Authority (Suffolk County Council) outlining the transport policy, proposals for action which forms a bid for funding to government. District and Borough Councils provide supporting statements.

M

Masterplan: Comprehensive plans for an area of renewal or development, where particular attention must be paid to site specific variables, in consultation with the local community.

Material consideration: A legal term describing a matter or subject which is relevant (material) for a local authority to consider when using its powers under planning law.

Modal split target: Target figure for travel by different means of transport (bus, walk, cycle, car, etc.) to or from developments.

N

National nature reserve: Declared by statutory nature conservation agencies such as English Nature under section 19 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, or section 35 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Nature conservation: Conservation of natural features, including geographical and geomorphological features, flora and fauna.

O

Open area: Areas of important informal open space within built up areas which are protected from future development.

Outdoor playing space: Term used by the National Playing Fields Association in assessing the need for formal playing space.

Outline planning permission: Confirms the principle of developing land for a given land use, normally for a period of three years.

P

Park and ride: Car parks located along main transport corridors, in the suburbs or on the edge of the town centre, linked to the central area or other major trip generators by frequent bus services.

Parking standards: Guidance prepared by Suffolk County Council in partnership with the Suffolk Local Planning Authorities, adopted as SPG by the Borough Council after extensive consultation.

Planning condition: Requirement attached to a grant of planning permission in order to ensure the effective and proper implementation of any given development.

Planning obligation/ section 106 agreement: A legally binding agreement, under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, between developers or landowners and the local authority whereby the former agree to provide some form of community infrastructure or to regulate the use of land as a result of the granting of planning permission.

Planning permission: Needed before carrying out most types of development. To obtain planning permission it is necessary to make a planning application to the local planning authority.

Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG): Published by the Government to provide concise and practical guidance. Planning Policy Guidance notes cover a variety of specific topics and must be taken into account in the preparation of Local Plans and in the consideration of planning applications.

Playing field: Areas reserved or maintained as outdoor playing space principally for organised pitch sports (football, cricket, rugby and hockey).

Proposals map: A map illustrating each of the detailed site specific policies and proposals in the written statement, defining sites for particular developments or land uses, or for protection. The Proposals Maps also includes more detailed Inset Maps.

Protected species: Species which have legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. This provides protection for birds, specific protection for some animals such as bats, newts, otters, reptiles and badgers, and protection for wild plants.

Public right of way: Footpaths, bridleways and by ways which give members of the public the right to travel across land.

R

Ramsar site: A Wetland site listed under the Convention of Wetlands adopted following an international conference in Ramsar, Iran, 1971. A Ramsar site is a statutory nature conservation designation.

Regional planning guidance (RPG): Policy Guidance issued by the government on a regional basis. Specific regions such as the East of England are provided with broad strategic policies and targets.

Registered social landlord: Independent social landlords that operate as a non-profit making business, providing housing for people who cannot afford to buy housing locally on the open market. Most are housing associations but there are also trusts, co-operatives and companies.

Renewable energy: The term renewable energy covers those resources that occur and reoccur naturally in the environment. Sources include solar, wind, biomass and wave/ hydroelectric power.

Retail warehouse: Large single level store for the sale of bulky goods.

Run-off: Rainfall that does not permeate into the ground and does not fall straight into surface water (may also be described as overland flow).

Rural Areas: The rural area of the borough is defined as everywhere in the borough outside of the urban edge of Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill as defined on the Proposals Map. Those villages with defined housing settlement boundaries as out in Appendix A are therefore rural areas but are not with the countryside (see also the definition of “countryside”).

Rural exception site: A site released outside of, but adjacent to, the Housing Settlement Boundary for affordable housing to meet local needs.

S

Sequential approach: The managed release of sites in order to control the pattern and speed of development, giving priority to those sites within built-up areas in advance of peripheral or “out of town” sites.

Special landscape area: An area of high landscape value that has been identified jointly by Suffolk County Council and the Borough Council.

Starter unit: Small industrial units for firms starting up in businesses or activities operating within industrial or service sectors which do not have special locational requirements by virtue of their physical size, scale or the nature of the operation.

Structure Plan: Plan prepared by Suffolk County Council which sets out the strategic context for the county.

Suffolk Design Guide: Guidance prepared jointly by the Suffolk Planning Authorities which sets out the design principles and guidelines to be followed by those involved in the development of new housing areas. The document has been approved as Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Supplementary planning guidance (SPG): Non statutory supporting information and advice which amplifies the policies and proposals of the Local Plan. SPG will be taken into account as a material consideration in deciding planning applications or appeals if it is consistent with the Development Plan and has been subject to consultation.

Sustainability appraisal: A systematic review of the Borough Council’s Local Plan policies, in order to evaluate their impacts on achieving sustainable development.The appraisal is an integral part of the plan making and review process, which allows for the valuation of alternatives and isbased on a quantifiable baseline of environmental, social and economic aspects of achieving sustainable development.

Sustainable development: The Bruntland Report provides the accepted definition of sustainable development as ‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED, 1987). The principle of sustainable development may be broadly described as encompassing social, environmental and economic issues, and also entailing concern with intra-generational and inter-generational themes.

T

Telecommunications: An expanding range of communication services involving radio, television and telephone networks provided by means of cable, microwave and satellite.

Town Centre: A town or traditional suburban centre, which provides a broad range of facilities and services, and which fulfils a function as a focus for both the community and for public transport. It excludes small parades of shops of purely local significance.

Transport assessment/ travel plan: A system of assessment to be submitted alongside applications for major development, which illustrates the likely modal split of journeys to and from the development together with details of proposed measures to improve access by public transport, walking and cycling.

Trunk road: Roads carrying strategic traffic and under the jurisdiction of the Highways Agency.

U

Urban capacity study: A systematic assessment of the extent to which housing development may be accommodated on vacant land or on underused land and buildings in the urban area.

Use classes order: The Town and Country (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) categorises various types of land use for which changes of use within the same class do not require planning permission.

V

Vitality and viability: The term relates to the economic health of town centres. PPG6 ‘Town Centres and Retail Developments’ states that the vitality and viability of town centres depends on four factors including retaining and developing a wide range of attractions and amenities, creating and maintaining an attractive environment, ensuring good accessibility to and within the centre and attracting continuing investment in development or refurbishment of existing buildings.

W

Watercourse: Includes all rivers, streams, ditches, drains, cuts, dykes, sewers (excluding public sewers) and passages through which water flows.

Wetland: An area of land either permanently or occasionally wet which, as a result, supports characteristic communities of flora and fauna.

Wildlife corridor: Areas of natural/semi-natural habitat protected from development in order to maintain the movement of wildlife through the urban area.

Windfall site: A site which comes forward and receives planning permission in a location which was not anticipated or allocated in the Local Plan for that purpose.

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