The SA of Chiltern and South Bucks joint Local Plan is assessing growth in a constrained environment. The London Green Belt and Chilterns AONB are both significant constraints to development, coupled with growth pressure meaning that the Duty to Cooperate is a key issue.

Most recently in the SA process, Lepus prepared a Sustainability Appraisal report to analyse the sustainability performance of potential development sites. A range of sustainability indicators were incorporated into this report. These included disturbance to biodiversity at Burnham Beeches SAC, air quality issues affecting both ecology and human health, landscape issues including impacts to the Chilterns AONB and adverse effects to cultural and historical assets, Drawing on a past evidence base in order to offer the most comprehensive analysis of sites possible, Lepus was able to evaluate each site’s sustainability performance and identify the likely significant effects of any prospective development.