Under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) 2005 Act Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a requirement of public authorities for statutory development plans and other plans.

The first step in the development of any plan is to consider whether SEA may be required. If the plan would have an environmental effect that is likely to be significant an Environmental Report should be prepared and published for consultation. If it is considered that there would not be environmental effects that would be likely to be significant, then the plan should be pre-screened or screened. In these cases the SEA consultation authorities should be advised.

If an Environmental Report is to be prepared, the first stage is Scoping. The Scoping Report sets out the Council's view on how the environmental assessment (leading to an Environmental Report) of a particular plan, policy, strategy or guidance is to be carried out. The actual assessments will also take account of the Consultation Responses from the SEA Consultation Authorities (SNH, SEPA, and Historic Scotland) on the Scoping Report.

Local Development Plan SEA

•  SEA Scoping Report [404kb]
•  Consultation Responses to Scoping Report [116kb]
• Interim Environmental Report page
• Further Consultation on Sites and Policies page contains its SEA Environmental Report
•  SEA Supplementary Report November 2012 Non-technical Summary [233kb]
•  SEA Supplementary Report November 2012 [1Mb]

Note: It is considered that the Supplementary Report and associated Non-technical Summary are not required under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 but these have been prepared for the details of policies in the Proposed Plan as part of good SEA practice.

This is the Council's  Screening Determination [1Mb] (4 March 2013) that the 'changes' in the Proposed Local Development Plan (January 2013) from the Main Issues Report (March 2011) and Further Consultation on Sites and Policies (December 2011) are unlikely to have significant environmental effects and therefore that a full strategic environmental assessment of them is not required.

Dumfries and Galloway Forestry and Woodland Strategy SEA

 Scoping Report [687kb]
 Consultation Responses to Scoping Report [580kb]

Wind Energy Development

SEA documents can be viewed on the Wind Energy Development webpage.

Supplementary Planning Guidance No 3.2 - Nithsdale Small Building Groups 2010
In relation to this Supplementary Planning Guidance the Council has made an SEA Screening Determination under Section 8(1) of the 2005 Act in respect of the Review of Small Building Groups under General Policy 16a of the Nithsdale Local Plan. This determination is that the environmental effects of the document are not likely to be significant and therefore an Environmental Report under Section 2 of the 2005 Act is not required. The  Determination [782kb] and related statement of reasons can be downloaded.

The supplementary Planning Guidance itself can be downloaded -  Supplementary Planning Guidance No 3.2 - Nithsdale Small Building Groups 2010 [6Mb]

Supplementary Planning Guidance

The Council has sent pre-screening letters, under Section 7(1) of the 2005 Act to the SEA Gateway in respect of the documents listed below. These letters set out the Council's view that the new environment effects of the documents to which they refer will be nil or minimal.

Supplementary Planning Guidance No 3.1 - Annandale and Eskdale Small Building Groups 2008
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 3.3 - Stewartry Small Building Groups 2008 
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 3.4 - Wigtown Small Building Groups 2008 
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 4.1 - Waste Management Facilities 
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 4.2 - Managing Waste in Housing and Commercial Developments 
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 5 - Telecommunication Development 
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 6 - Retail Development
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 7.1 - Housing in Remote and Depopulated Areas (Stewartry)
Supplementary Planning Guidance No 7.2 - Housing in Remote and Depopulated Areas (Wigtown)
Supplementary Planning Guidance No.8 - Flooding

The Supplementary Planning Guidance itself can be downloaded from the current Development Plan Supplementary Guidance webpage.