Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment

The intention of this document is to help the council to gain an initial understanding of the impact of a project or decision on the environment. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. Dependent on this initial assessment you may need to go on to complete a full Climate Change Impact Assessment. The final document will be published as part of the decision-making process.

If you have any additional queries, which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	Recommended Approach to Plan Making for North Yorkshire
Brief description of proposal	To seek approval of Executive and Full Council following consultation with Development Plan Committee and Area Committee (Selby & Ainsty) to halt preparation of the Selby Local Plan and focus resources on the preparation of the North Yorkshire Local Plan.
Directorate	Community Development
Service area	Planning
Lead officer	Linda Marfitt (Head of Policy & Place) & Steve Wilson (Policy & Place Manager)
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	N/A

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.

Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider	For the county council	For the county	Overall
Greenhouse gas emissions	No effect on emissions	No Effect on emissions	No effect on emissions
Waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste
Water use	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage
Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution
Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience
Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology
Heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:	X	Continue to full CCIA:
Reason for decision	The recommendation is to seek approval to stop work on progressing the Selby Local Plan. The overriding reason for doing so is that following consultation and the recent release of updated planning policy and guidance, the plan as existing would not be found sound at the Examination in Public. As such there is no justification for submitting the plan for examination without significant updates to the evidence base. This results in a zero impact on climate change as the status quo will persist and planning proposals will be considered in accordance with the adopted development plan. The halting of work on the Selby Local Plan will allow resources to be re-allocated to the preparation of the new North Yorkshire Local Plan (NYLP) and expedite the adoption of that document. The NYLP will incorporate policies that, when adopted, will ensure sustainability is at the heart of all decision making and both addresses the causes of climate change and mitigates associated risks. With this in mind, the impacts on climate change at this stage, are considered to be negligble in nature.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	T Watson
Date	21 January 2025