2.2 Achieving Sustainable Development

2.2 Achieving Sustainable Development Policies within this section contribute to achieving the following Strategic Objectives: SO4. Making effective use of land and natural resources SO5. Contributing towards Net Zero Carbon targets SO6. Creating attractive places and spaces SO7. Conserving and enhancing our heritage and cultural assets SO8. Improving the quality of life of our communities SO9. Connecting people to places SO10. Conserving and enhancing our environmental assets and working towards environmental net gain 2.2.1 Sustainable development is defined as meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The primary purpose of the Local Plan is to meet South Warwickshire’s development needs sustainably. This can only be done if there is an understanding and appreciation of the environment within which those needs are to be accommodated. 2.2.2 At the heart of the SWLP is the approach of securing Environmental Net Gain (ENG); to enhance the overall environmental value of development beyond statutory biodiversity requirements. ENG looks at using nature-based solutions to provide multiple benefits for people and nature, improving ecosystem services and natural capital. 2.2.3 ENG seeks to ensures that development improves the local environment above baseline protections and applies to biodiversity, carbon storage and reduction, soils, water quality and supply, air quality, natural flood management and green and blue infrastructure, reflecting the interdependence of natural assets and ecosystem services. 2.2.4 ENG is an emerging approach in England, building on statutory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements under the Environment Act 2021 and the ambitions of the 25- Year Environment Plan and subsequent Environment Improvement Plans. Specific guidance and methodologies for assessing ENG across a range of environmental assets are expected to be published during the lifetime of this Plan. Nevertheless, given its environmental benefits, the South Warwickshire Local Plan aspires to achieve ENG wherever feasible. 2.2.5 To support this ambition, the principles of ENG are embedded across a range of policies in the Plan, including those relating to: • Biodiversity • Carbon sinks and sequestration • Green and Blue Infrastructure • Trees, hedgerows and woodland • Flood risk and multi-functional Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDs) • Pollution and Environmental Quality • Water Supply and Wastewater Infrastructure • Net Zero Building Design 2.2.6 These policies are identified throughout the Plan with a special ENG marker (see image to right), helping applicants and decision-makers apply ENG principles consistently across development proposals. 2.2.7 Although ENG is aspirational, it provides the overarching ambition for environmental improvement and guides the policies in this Plan. As national methodologies and guidance develop, the Councils will seek to apply ENG principles wherever feasible to support measurable benefits for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and local environmental quality. ENG is therefore a material consideration in shaping development proposals, without imposing mandatory requirements beyond statutory obligations. 2.2.8 This being said, development proposals are encouraged to make use of Natural England’s Environmental Benefits from Nature (EBN) tool at the early stages to maximise multifunctional land use and deliver gains for people and nature. Demonstrating alignment with the LNRS