| Affordable housing |
Housing designed for those whose incomes generally
deny them the opportunity to purchase houses on the open market as
a result of the local relationship between income and market price.
Encompasses both subsidised and market housing. |
| Ancient monument |
‘Scheduled’ ancient monuments are monuments
and / or archaeological sites considered by the Secretary of State
for Culture, Media & Sport to be of national importance and given
statutory protection under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Areas Act 1979, as amended. |
| Ancient woodlands |
Woodlands that have had continuous tree cover
since at least 1600 AD, and which now bear stands of native trees
which were either not obviously planted (ancient semi-natural woodland)
or were replanted (ancient replanted woodland). |
| Area of High Landscape Value (AHLV) |
Area identified in the County Durham Structure
Plan Review and extended in this Plan for its distinctive and attractive
landscape character, to give added weight to its protection from inappropriate
development. |
| Article 4 Direction |
A direction, made under the Town and Country
Planning (General Permitted Development) Order, which enables the
withdrawal of permitted development rights (see below). |
| Assisted Area status |
A tool of Government economic policy to encourage
new investment in particular areas which are in need of economic support,
principally through the provision of grant aid or other forms of assistance
to industry. |
| Backland development |
Development to the rear of existing houses,
usually in large back gardens or open areas. |
| British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) |
Voluntary organisation which works in partnership
with local authorities, businesses, land owners and others to protect
and improve the environment, by harnessing the skills and energies
of volunteer workers in practical nature conservation and landscaping
projects. |
| Building Regulations |
Legal requirements to be observed in the construction
of domestic, commercial and industrial buildings to ensure that they
are safe and energy efficient. |
| Built environment |
All parts of the physical environment which
are dominated by built features and hard surfaces, including buildings,
roads, car parks and engineering structures, and which are not part
of the green or natural environment (see below). |
| Commuted sum |
A payment made by a developer to the Council
to enable it to provide or maintain facilities required or provided
as part of a development. |
| Conservation area |
An area considered to be of special architectural
or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable
to preserve and enhance. Designated under, and afforded special protection
by, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
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| Contaminated land |
Land which represents an actual or potential
hazard to health or the environment as a result of current or previous
uses. |
| County Geological / Geomorphological Site |
An area considered to be of county-wide geological
or geomorphological importance, identified by Durham Wildlife Trust
using a set of agreed criteria. |
| County Wildlife Site |
An area considered to be of county-wide nature
conservation importance, identified by Durham Wildlife Trust using
a set of agreed criteria. |
| Derelict land |
Land so damaged by industrial or other development
that it is incapable of beneficial use without treatment. |
| Development |
Defined for planning purposes by Section 55
of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as: “the carrying out of
building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or
under the land or the making of any material change in the use of
any building or other land”. |
| Development limits |
Defined boundaries around the urban area and
other settlements outside which development will not normally be allowed. |
| Durham Wildlife Trust |
Charitable organisation promoting nature conservation
in County Durham and Darlington. |
| Dwelling |
A building or part of a building that forms
separate and self-contained accommodation designed to be occupied
by a single family or household. |
| Economic Development Strategy |
A strategy which local authorities are statutorily
obliged to prepare, in consultation with the local business community,
setting out the authority’s proposals for economic development in
its area. |
| Employment |
With reference to development and land: uses
within Part B of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order
1987, not including construction or other activities covered separately
by the Plan. |
| English Heritage |
National body, funded by the Government, which
provides specialist advice on conservation of the built environment
and manages some ancient monuments. Also known as the Historic Buildings
and Monuments Commission for England. |
| English Nature |
National body, funded by the Government, which
promotes nature conservation and provides specialist advice. Also
known as: Nature Conservancy Council for England. |
| Environment Agency |
Statutory body which brought together the former
National Rivers Authority (NRA), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Pollution
(HMIP), the Waste Regulation Authorities(WRAs) and some units of the
Department of the Environment involved with technical aspects of waste
and contaminated land. Its principal aim is to protect and enhance
the environment, taken as a whole, in order to play its part in attaining
the objective of sustainable development. |
| Environmental assessment |
A technique for identifying and assessing the
environmental effects of development projects, a statutory requirement
for certain developments. |
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| European Union (EU) |
An association comprising the United Kingdom
and other countries. Affects land-use planning through its environmental
legislation (directives) and through grants made for infrastructure
improvements. Formerly known as the European Community or EEC. |
| Farm diversification |
The process of broadening the economic base
of individual farm businesses, within the overall structural changes
in agriculture brought about by reform of the Common Agricultural
Policy, through the development of tourism, crafts and small-scale
business enterprises on farms. |
| Green environment |
All those parts of the physical environment
dominated by organic materials and natural processes. |
| Green Strategy |
The Borough Council is preparing a Strategy
for the Green Environment, ‘People and Nature in Darlington’, to provide
a non-statutory framework for managing and enhancing the ‘green’,
or natural, environment. |
| Health and Safety Executive (HSE) |
Statutory agency enforcing health and safety
legislation. |
| Hectare (ha) |
Metric measure of land area, 100 metres x 100
metres; equivalent to 2.47 acres. |
| Highway authority |
The authority with statutory responsibility
for the maintenance and improvement of the highways network, including
public rights of way; Darlington Borough Council became the highway
authority for the Borough on 1st April 1997, following local government
reorganisation. |
| House in multiple occupation |
A house occupied by persons who do not form
a single household. |
| Household |
One person living alone or a group of people
living or staying at the same address and sharing living expenses.
|
| Housing association |
Non-profit making organisation whose purpose
is the provision, construction, improvement or management of houses
for sale or rent. |
| Housing Strategy Statement |
Annual statement by the Council of the extent
of housing need and the strategy by which it hopes to deal with it,
forming part of a request for capital allocation from the Government.
|
| Informal recreation |
Recreational activities which are not organised
by a club or public organisation. Such activities are non-competitive.
|
| Infrastructure |
Services which need to be in place to serve
development e.g. roads, footpaths, electricity, water and sewerage.
|
| Landmark building |
A building which is a dominant feature in the
skyline of a built-up area, seen from a variety of viewpoints, and
which is an important feature in the character and identity of the
locality. |
| Landscaping |
Works to enhance or protect the amenities of
a site, or area in which a site is situated. |
| Listed building |
A building or structure considered by the Secretary
of State for Culture, Media & Sport to be of special architectural
or historic interest and given legal protection under the Planning
(Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. |
| Local Nature Reserves (LNR) |
Habitats of local significance established
to assist with nature conservation in terms of the management of habitat,
public access to it, and education about local wildlife. They may
be established by local authorities under Section 21 of the National
Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. |
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| Monitoring |
Continuous survey aimed at measuring the effectiveness
of the Plan. |
| National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) |
National voluntary body which campaigns for
the provision of playing fields, public open space and playgrounds.
|
| Natural environment |
See ‘Green environment’. |
| Non-operational car parking |
The space required for the vehicles which do
not need to park or wait within the curtilage of the building, including
cars belonging to employees (mainly long-stay parking), shoppers,
business callers and visitors (mainly short-stay parking). |
| Northern Region |
Region covering the former counties of Durham
and Cleveland, the county of Northumberland, and the metropolitan
districts in the former county of Tyne and Wear. Note that the Government’s
Regional Planning Guidance for the ‘Northern Region’, RPG7 (see below),
related only to the three shire (or former shire) counties. |
| Northumbria Tourist Board |
Agency promoting tourism and tourism enterprises
in the Northern Region. |
| Office / business park |
Area given over predominantly to purpose-built
low-rise offices and similar activities (e.g. research and development)
in a landscaped setting. |
| Operational car parking |
The space required for cars and other vehicles
regularly and necessarily involved in the operation of the business
of a particular building. It includes space for delivering or collecting
goods at premises but not for storing or servicing vehicles except
where this is necessary as part of the business carried on at the
premises. Residential parking, being essential and directly related
to car ownership, is classified as operational parking space. |
| Par-three golf course |
Golf course with holes limited to maximum length
of 250 metres, but otherwise comparable in character and quality to
a full eighteen hole course. |
| Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest |
A non-statutory list compiled by English Heritage
to identify those sites, ranging from country parklands and urban
parks to smaller gardens, which are representative of the development
of the planned landscape. |
| Pedestrianisation |
The prohibition of traffic from a street for
at least part of the day, giving use over solely or mainly to pedestrians. |
| Permitted development |
Certain forms of development, set out in the
Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order, which
are permitted without the need to obtain express planning permission.
In some circumstances, the permission given is subject to extensive
qualification and restrictions. |
| Plan period |
The length of time for which a Plan makes provision.
This Plan looks toward 2006, although it will be reviewed regularly.
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| Planning brief |
Statement for the guidance of potential developers,
giving guidance as to layout of the favoured land uses for the site,
known constraints on development and the standards which any development
should meet. |
| Planning Policy Guidance notes (PPGs) |
Notes issued by the Secretary of State for
the Environment, Transport & the Regions setting the broad framework
within which local planning authorities should decide policy on planning
matters. |
| Playing Pitch Strategy |
1992 Study by the Borough Council of the demand
for, and supply of, playing pitches for football, rugby, cricket and
hockey. |
| Prestige employment development |
Employment development requiring high quality
sites capable of competing against similar sites elsewhere in attracting
such development. |
| Primary route network |
All trunk roads and important principal roads
of more than local significance in both urban and rural areas, but
excluding motorways. |
| Public open space |
A wide range of recreational land, from playing
fields to small play areas. |
| Reclamation |
The process of rendering derelict or contaminated
land fit for beneficial use. |
| Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) |
Policy framework for the preparation of structure
plans issued by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport
& the Regions. RPG7 (September 1993) covers the counties of Durham,
Cleveland and Northumberland. |
| Regional Selective Assistance |
The principal form of aid available under the
assisted area policy, on a discretionary basis to manufacturing industries.
|
| Retail floorspace |
‘Gross’ retail floorspace is the total internal
floor area occupied by a retail unit, including storage, offices,
staff rooms and circulation space. ‘Net’ floorspace is the sales area
alone. |
| Retail park |
A grouping of three or more retail warehouses.
|
| Retail uses |
Uses falling within classes A1, A2 or A3 of
the Use Classes Order (see ‘Use classes A1, A2, A3’ below). |
| Retail warehouse |
Large single-level store specialising in the
sale of household goods (such as carpets, furniture and electrical
goods) and bulky DIY items, catering mainly for car-borne customers
and often in out-of-centre locations. |
| Rights of way |
Routes over which the public have a right to
pass. |
| Shop |
Retail use covered by class A1 of the Use Classes
Order (see below). Principally the sale of goods, other than hot food,
to visiting members of the public. Also includes post offices, travel
agents, hairdressers, funeral directors’ premises, hire shops and
dry cleaners. |
| Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) |
Sites designated in the Plan as being of local
nature conservation importance, and including County Wildlife Sites,
County Geological Sites, ancient woodlands and sites identified locally
by the Council in consultation with local groups. |
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| Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) |
Sites so designated because of their flora,
fauna, or geological or physiographical features by English Nature
under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and
the Countryside Act 1968. Certain measures are afforded by this and
subsequent legislation to conserve these sites. |
| Special needs |
The particular requirements of various groups
in the community, insofar as they differ from the requirements of
the majority of the adult population, to be provided for in the design
of the physical environment to ensure that it is accessible to and
usable by all members of the community. |
| Structure Plan |
Strategic land use plan. |
| Supermarket |
Single level, self-service store selling mainly
food, with between 500 and 2,500m2 gross retail floorspace. |
| Superstore |
Single level, self-service store selling mainly
food, or food and non-food goods, with over 2,500m2 gross retail floorspace
and usually with supporting car parking. |
| Sustainable development |
Development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs. That is, development which can be accommodated without
resulting in irrevocable environmental damage. |
| Traffic calming |
Methods of slowing down traffic by means of
road humps, narrowing and other measures. |
| Traffic management |
The promotion of a more efficient and environmentally
acceptable street system by re-arranging traffic flows, controlling
flows at intersections, and regulating the times and places for on-street
parking. |
| Transport Policies and Programme (TPP) |
Document prepared annually by a highway authority,
setting out its transport policies and proposed programme of works.
Submitted to the Department for the Environment, Transport & the Regions,
with a request for capital allocation. |
| Travel-to-Work Area |
Geographic area defined by the Department for
Employment and Education having regard to travel-to-work patterns,
and used for employment data purposes (e.g. unemployment rates). |
| Tree Preservation Order (TPO) |
Order made by a Council under Section 198 of
the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to prevent the felling or
pruning of trees of high amenity value without its consent. |
| Urban fringe |
Open areas of land around the margins of urban
areas, including farmland, land used for keeping horses and other
sporadic recreation activities, and unused land, often displaying
problems characteristic of the proximity of urban populations to agriculture.
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| Use class B1 |
‘Business’: use as an office (other than as
A2 above), for research and development, or for an industrial process
provided that the use can be carried out in any residential area without
detriment to the living conditions of local residents. |
| Use class B2 |
‘General industrial’: any industrial process
other than one in use class B1. |
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| Use class B8 |
‘Storage or distribution’: warehouses, including
wholesale cash and carry. |
| Use classes A1, A2, A3 |
Various classes of retail use of buildings
as defined in Part A of the Use Classes Order: Class A1 is shops (see
above); class A2 is financial and professional services provided principally
to visiting members of the public, such as banks and building societies;
and class A3 is food and drink uses such as cafes and pubs. |
| Use Classes Order |
The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes)
Order 1987, places uses of land and buildings into a number of classes.
Changes of use within a class do not require planning permission.
Permission is also not required for certain changes between classes. |
| Wildlife corridors |
Linear areas of countryside, or linear landscape
features such as woods or rivers, or, within built-up areas, corridors
of open spaces. They provide important resources for wildlife, and
links that allow movement of wildlife between town and country. |
| Windfall housing site |
A site which becomes available for development
during the Plan period which was not identified when the Plan was
being prepared. |
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