Contributing to the achievement of sustainable development is a basic condition neighbourhood plans must meet if they are to proceed to a referendum.
In order to demonstrate that a draft neighbourhood plan contributes to sustainable development, sufficient and proportionate evidence should be presented on how the draft neighbourhood plan guides development to sustainable solutions.
There is no legal requirement for a neighbourhood plan to have a sustainability appraisal.
However, an assessment of the draft neighbourhood plan’s contribution towards achieving the sustainability objectives set out by the Sustainability Appraisal of the Stroud District Local Plan may be a useful approach for Whiteshill & Ruscombe Parish Council to demonstrate how the neighbourhood plan will contribute to achieving sustainable development.
Topic
Air 
Ensure that air quality continues to improve.
Positive
Biodiversity
Climate change mitigation


Create, protect, enhance, restore and connect habitats, species and/or sites of biodiversity or geological interest.

Implement energy efficiency through building design to maximise the re-use of land and buildings, recycle building materials and use renewable sources of energy.
Policy W&R-BE2 Clause 5 seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of development by retaining the maximum amount of spoil on site thus reducing the use of heavy transport vehicles and reducing road traffic congestion.
Policy W&R-TC1 Clause 2 Paragraphs c and e seek to ensure new development will provide ease of access to local facilities via public transport, by bicycle or on foot.
All Clauses in Policy W&R-NE1 seek to protect, enhance and where possible restore the sites of biodiversity that exist within the natural environment of the parish.
Policy W&R-LC1 Clause 4 seeks to conserve landscape features such as hedgerows, dry stone walls, fields, woodlands and water courses.
All clauses within Policy W&R-BE2 seek to ensure the implementation of energy efficiency though controls linked to and defined in emerging SDC Local Plan policies
CP4, CP7 and CP8 concerning building standards.
Policy W&R- BE1 Clause 2 confirms the Plans support for the re-use of previously developed land and the re-cycling of building materials.
Positive
Positive

Community
&
Wellbeing
Economy &
Employment

Meet the challenge of a growing and ageing population.

Encourage social inclusion, equity, the promotion of equality and a respect for diversity.

Maintain and improve the community’s health with accessible healthcare for residents.

Increase levels of physical activity, especially among the young.

Reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

Provide access to the countryside and appropriate land for leisure and recreation use.

Support a strong, diverse, vibrant and sustainable local economy to foster balanced economic growth.

Develop the local economy within its environmental limits.

Maintain and enhance employment

Implement strategies that help mitigate global warming and adapt to unavoidable climate change within the District.
Policy W&R-TC1 Clause 2 Paragraphs c and e seek to ensure new development will provide ease of access to local facilities via public transport, by bicycle or on foot.
Policy W&R-BE1 seeks to preserve existing areas of open countryside.
Policy W&R-NE1 Clause 5 seeks to encourage best practice in Sustainable
Drainage Systems (SuDS) and water quality.
Policy W&R-BE2 Clause 4 seeks to encourage energy efficient sustainable construction and design features which complement the character of the area.
Whiteshill and Ruscombe is a rural parish surrounded by open countryside, and is already blessed with a wide range of facilities that allow a significant number of social and physical activities to take place.
Policies defined in W&R-LF1 seek to protect existing community facilities and encourage developments that will allow the continuing enhancement of these facilities.
Policies W&R-BE3 Clause 3 seeks to address the issues of “affordable housing”.
Policies W&R-TC1 Clause 2 Paragraph e,
W&R-TC1 Clause 3 together with LF1 Clause
3 seek to promote physical activity.
Whilst Policy W&R-LE1 Clause 1 encourages enterprise development, the majority of the working population in Whiteshill and
Ruscombe are employed in the public and professional sectors.
Neutral
Neutral

Housing
Landscape &
Heritage opportunities within the District to meet both current and future needs.

Provide affordable and decent housing to meet local needs.

Reinforce local distinctiveness, local environmental quality and amenity through the conservation and enhancement of the built and cultural heritage.

Conserve and enhance landscapes and townscapes.
Soil
Transport &
Accessibility
Waste

Protect and enhance soil quality.

Promote traffic reduction and encourage more sustainable alternative forms of transport.

Restore, manage and promote the canal towpaths as part of the transport infrastructure.

Minimise the amount of waste produced, maximise the amount that is reused or recycled, and seek to recover energy from the largest proportion of the residual material.
Policy W&R-BE3 Clause 3 seeks to support the principle of affordable housing being created as a bi-product of any new development.
However the local need for housing in
Whiteshill and Ruscombe, as identified in the
2014 Housing Needs Survey, is relatively small and it is anticipated that it can be met by
“windfall” developments within the parish.
Policy W&R-BE1 Clauses 3 and 4 together with Policy W&R-BE2 Clauses 1, 2 and 3 reinforce the need to protect the distinctiveness of Whiteshill and Ruscombe by maintaining the open countryside that surrounds the villages.
Policy W&R-BE3 Clause 1 and 2 together with
Policy W&R-LC1 Clauses 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3 and
4 seek to protect and enhance the historical built environment within the parish together with the surrounding landscape.
The neighbourhood development plan is not allocating land for development and as such there will be no change in soil quality.
Policy W&R-TC1 Clause 2 Paragraphs c and e seek to ensure new development will provide ease of access to local facilities via public transport, by bicycle or on foot.
Policies W&R-BE2 Clause 5 aims to reduce traffic movements during construct.
Policy W&R-TC1 Clause 3 seeks to encourage walking by improving accessibility from the top of Whiteshill Village..
Not applicable.
Policies W&R-BE2 Clauses 5 and 6 seek to ensure that the facilities exist that will encourage and maximise the level of recycling of waste products from new build properties.
Neutral
Positive
Neutral
Positive
Positive

Water (inc. flood risk)

Maintain and enhance the quality and quantity of ground and surface waters.

Manage and reduce the risk of flooding in new and existing development.
Policy W&R-NE1 Clause 5 seeks the adoption of best practice in Sustainable Drainage
Systems (SuDS) and water quality.
Positive