Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a process for identifying, predicting, reporting and mitigating significant environmental effects arising from area-wide plans or programmes.

European Directive 2001/42/EC (the ‘SEA Directive’) makes a SEA mandatory for plans and programmes including, those for town and country planning and land use. SEA's are required for local authority plans and programmes which determine the use of small areas at local level, for example, an area action plan, and minor modifications to existing plans and programmes where they might give rise to significant effects on the environment.

The Directive establishes a process which broadly comprises four elements:

  • An Environmental Report
  • Consultation
  • Decision Making
  • Monitoring

Together with other techniques such as sustainability appraisal, SEA is intended to play a key part in meeting commitments to sustainable development.

Our key services and areas of competence include:

  • Preparation of Scoping Reports on likely significant environmental effects.
  • Preparation and audit of Environmental Reports including:
  • Collecting and presenting baseline environmental information.
  • Predicting the significant environmental effects and addressing them during plan or programme preparation.
  • Identifying strategic alternatives and their effect
  • Undertaking consultations with the public and other relevant stakeholders.
  • Monitoring the environmental effects of a plan during its implementation.