Issue and Options 2023

Ended on the 6 March 2023

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13. Glossary

Word	Definition
Accessibility	The ability of people to move around an area and reach places and facilities, including elderly and disabled people, those with young children and those encumbered with luggage or shopping.
Active travel	Transport of people or goods, through non-motorised means, based around human physical activity.
Affordable housing	Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Affordable housing should include provisions for it to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. Social rented housing is owned by local authorities and private registered providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency. Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable). Intermediate housing is homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels subject to the criteria in the Affordable Housing definition above. These can include shared equity (shared ownership and equity loans), other low-cost homes for sale and intermediate rent, but not affordable rented housing. Homes that do not meet the above definition of affordable housing, such as "low-cost market" housing, may not be considered as affordable housing for planning purposes.
AONB	An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value.
Biodiversity	The variety of life on earth. It encompasses the whole of the natural world and all living things including plants, animals, and other organisms which, together, interact in complex ways with the inanimate environment to create living ecosystems.
Biodiversity Offsetting	Biodiversity offsetting involves activities to create biodiversity benefits in order to compensate for biodiversity losses resulting from development. This is to ensure that when a development damages nature in a way that is unavoidable or cannot be mitigated, new nature sites will be created to offset the negative impact on biodiversity.
Blue Infrastructure	Infrastructure involving water, for example canals, ponds, wetlands, streams, rivers.
Brownfield Land	Land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, excluding agricultural buildings. Also known as previously developed land.
Carbon sequestration	a natural or artificial process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form.
Call for Sites	A period of time where landowners are encouraged to come forward with sites they are interested in developing.
CIL	The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge that local authorities can set on new development in order to raise funds to help fund the infrastructure, facilities and services - such as schools or transport improvements - needed to support new homes and businesses.
Climate Change	A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20^th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.
Climate Change Adaptation	Adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic factors or their effects (including from changes in rainfall and rising temperatures) which moderate 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.
Connectivity	The state of being connected or interconnected. In planning, connectivity can refer to road, rail, cycle and walking networks; digital connectivity; social connectivity; and the connectivity of green infrastructure.
Cotswold National Landscape/Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty	The Cotswolds National Landscape is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value.
Decarbonisation	The process of removing or reducing the carbon dioxide (CO2) output of a country's economy. This is usually done by decreasing the amount of CO2 emitted across the active industries within that economy.
Delivery and Viability Studies	Assessment to determine that the contents of the Plan and its development strategies can be achieved.
Demographics	Statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it.
Densification	Densification in terms of housing is a transformative process indicated by maximum land use and high-rise multi-family housing within the subdivisions, encouraged by the housing shortage and accelerated by the land supply restrictions that characterized the last twenty years, careless of the implications of such a pattern of development on the spatial and social structure balance affecting urban quality and sustainability.
Development Plan	A development plan is an aspect of town and country planning in the United Kingdom comprising a set of documents that set out the local authority's policies and proposals for the development and use of land in their area.
Energy Hierarchy	The Energy Hierarchy is a classification of energy options that prioritises a sustainable approach. The top of the energy hierarchy aims to reduce the need for energy, and the bottom falls back on using conventional fossil fuels. The middle tiers look at using renewable energy sources and being efficient with the energy created to reduce waste.
Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA)	An assessment to ensure that strategies and policies contribute towards eliminating discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relations.
Full lifetime of a development	Residential development should be considered for a minimum of 100 years, unless there is specific justification for considering a shorter period.
Green Infrastructure	A network of multi-functional green space, urban and rural, which is capable of delivering a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities.
Green Corridors	A 'green corridor' (also known as wildlife corridor, biological corridor or habitat corridor) is a strip of land that is established to enable the bridging of habitat populations that have been split by human development such as a road, settlement or other human activity.
Green Belt	The Green Belt is an area of open land around a city, on which building is restricted.
HEDNA	The Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment (HEDNA) looks at a wealth of evidence, including population, household and economic growth projections, to assess the need for housing and employment land.
Health Impact Assessment (HIA)	An assessment that puts people and their health at the heart of the planning process. It is used to identify and optimise the health and wellbeing impacts of plans.
Housing Strategy	Document detailing how Councils and their partners plan to work together to ensure that more people get the opportunity to live independently in good quality housing of their choice.
Infrastructure	The network of essential physical services that most buildings or activities are connected to. It includes not only physical services in an area (eg. Gas, electricity and water provision, telecommunications, sewerage) and networks of roads, public transport routes, footpaths etc. but also community facilities and green infrastructure. New or improved infrastructure will generally need to be provided where significant levels of new development are proposed.
Industrial Strategy	A document that looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the local economy and sets out a plan of action to build on existing successes, and to develop and support areas that may be struggling.
Landscape Character Assessment	An assessment undertaken to help identify various landscape types with a distinct character that is based on a recognisable pattern of elements, including combinations of geology, landform, soils, vegetation, land use and human settlement.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies	Local Nature Recovery Strategies are a new system of spatial strategies for nature, which will cover the whole of England.
Local Plan	The plan for the future development of the local area, drawn up by the Local Planning Authority in consultation with the community. In law this is prescribed as a Development Plan Document adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
Local Wildlife Sites	Non-statutory areas of local importance for nature conservation that complement nationally and internationally designated geological and wildlife sites.
Neighbourhood Plan	A plan prepared by Parish/Town Councils or Neighbourhood Forums to establish general planning policies for the development and use of land within a particular neighbourhood area. Subject to conformity with the strategic policies of the Local Plan, an independent examination and support in a community referendum, a Neighbourhood Plan will become part of the planning framework for land uses in the local area.
Net Zero	The point at which the amount of greenhouse gases being put into the atmosphere by human activity in the UK equals the amount of greenhouse gases that is being taken out of the atmosphere. Source: Powering our Net Zero Future. Energy White Paper. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. HM Government, Dec. 2020
Net Zero Carbon	Having Net Zero Carbon dioxide emissions, either by balancing carbon dioxide emissions with removal, or simply eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether
New Settlements	New settlements are new, large- scale developments, consisting of one or several subdivision projects planned to provide housing, work places and related facilities within a more or less self - contained environment.
Renewable Energy	Renewable 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.
Resilience	The capacity of people and places to plan for, better protect, respond to and to recover from flooding and coastal change [or other impacts of climate change]. Source: National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England. Environment Agency, Jul. 2020
S106 contributions	Developer contributions, often known as 'S106 contributions', are paid by developers to mitigate the impact of new homes and other buildings, which create extra demands on local facilities.
Self and Custom build housing	"Self-build" refers to projects where individuals or groups directly organise the design and construction of new homes. Custom housebuilding involves individuals or groups working with a specialist developer to deliver new homes that meet their specific aspirations and needs
Settlement Design Analysis	A form of analysis that looks at the structure and design of existing settlements to help identify where growth might best be integrated
Severance	The term applied to the effects that roads and their traffic can have on social interaction. In particular it relates to the imposition of barriers that deter people's movements.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)	Specifically defined sites or areas designated as being of national importance because of their wildlife, plants or flowering species and/or their unusual or atypical geological features. SSSIs are designated by Natural England and have protected status under the under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The protection is subject to Government Regulations.
Social Isolation	Social isolation can be defined structurally as the absence of social interactions, contacts, and relationships with family and friends, with neighbours on an individual level, and with "society at large" on a broader level.
Soundness	To be considered sound, a Development Plan Document must meet four tests, it must be positively prepared, justified (have a robust and credible evidence base and be the most appropriate strategy) as well as effective (deliverable, flexible and able to be monitored) and consistent with national policy.
Specialist Housing	Specialised accommodation for any age group that is purpose designed and designated in a planning obligation for a specific client group. The delivery of support or care will not result in the categorisation of housing as specialised if it is not purpose designed and designated.
Standard Method	The standard method is a government formula used to determine the minimum number of homes anticipated to be planned for, in a way which addresses projected house growth and historic under-supply. The standard method identifies a minimum annual housing need figure. It does not produce a housing requirement figure.
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA)	A high-level assessment of flood risk carried out by or for Local Planning Authorities with the purpose of assisting them to deliver sustainable development and to avoid development in areas that are at risk of flooding or that would increase flooding elsewhere.
Sustainability Appraisal	The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires Local Development Documents (LDDs) to be prepared with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. Sustainability appraisal is a systematic process that assesses the social, environmental and economic effects of the strategies and policies in a LDP from the outset of the preparation process. This helps to ensure that decisions are made that accord with sustainable development requirements.
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS)	The SuDS approach involves slowing down and reducing the quantity of surface water run off for a developed area to manage flood risk downstream, and reduce the risk of run off causing pollution. This is achieved by harvesting, infiltrating, slowing, storing, conveying and treating run off on site. SuDS allow water to become a more visible and tangible part of the built environment, which can be enjoyed by everyone.
Transport Assessment	A comprehensive and systematic process that sets out transport issues relating to a proposed development. It identifies what measures will be required to improve accessibility and safety for all modes of travel, particularly for alternatives to the car such as walking, cycling and public transport, and what measures will need to be taken to deal with the anticipated transport impacts of the development.
Urban Capacity Study	An urban capacity study identifies sites which may have the potential to come forward for residential development within existing urban areas, to assist in limiting the number of dwellings which would need to be developed on greenfield sites in the open countryside.
Water Cycle Strategy	Document identifying the water services (incl. supply, and waste) required to support the development within the Plan. It establishes where any constraints exist and identifies measures to eliminate or mitigate these constraints.
Wellbeing	The state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy
Zero-carbon	Where no carbon emissions are being produced from a product/service

For instructions on how to use the system and make comments, please see our help guide.