Both at government level, and at the highest level within Ealing Council, priority is being given to the improvement of services to local people and others who can be regarded as the Council's customers. This is part of a wide-ranging 'modernisation agenda' embraced by public services nationally and locally. Accordingly, Ealing's unitary development plan, (along with other aspects of planning policy and services) has been subject to a 'Best Value Review'. The process has been systematically undertaken, and included consideration of an evolving government policy.

The government, in 'Modernising Planning - A Policy Statement' (1998), indicated the need for shorter, clearer plans, and a clear timetable for development plan preparation. Modernising Planning - A Progress Report (1999) indicated the key outcomes of the planning process as:

• Sustainable development;
• Economic competitiveness;
• Planning for housing;
• Planning for transport.

Government has introduced a new national priority for new housing to be provided on previously developed sites, including through conversions of existing buildings - i.e. 'previously developed' sites. The aim is not only to protect greenfield sites from needless development, but to use new housing to improve the quality of the urban environment. A National Land Use Database has been established in conjunction with local authorities, to identify previously developed sites that are suitable for new development. Continuing involvement is needed in order to keep the database up to date. This is the first time that a comprehensive survey of available 'previously developed' sites has been undertaken, and it will be used to underpin the Government's new land recycling targets.

Government Guidance for Planning and the Urban Renaissance

The government's Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs) are being replaced by Planning Policy Statements, updated to reflect the above approach. At the heart of this approach is the aim of achieving an 'urban renaissance' in Britain's towns and cities. Its achievement also requires co-operation between many agencies, to tackle issues such as crime, unemployment, education and health care, as well as physical renewal.

Planning contributes to this agenda through initiatives to integrate land-use, transport planning and economic development more closely. The aim must be to concentrate development in urban areas while continuing to restrain urban sprawl; and to promote mixed-use developments which provide scope for homes, workplaces, shops and leisure facilities to be easily accessible from each other without recourse to the car. Government policy seeks to make town centres more vibrant and to promote existing centres for retail and leisure.

• Getting the design and quality of the urban fabric right;
• Enabling all towns and cities to create and share prosperity;
• Providing the quality services people need; and
• Equipping people to participate in developing their communities.

South East England

Regional Policy Guidance (RPG9) for the South East of England was finalised in March 2001. The guidance highlighted the importance of:

The European perspective  - the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP 1999) sets the European framework for economic and social cohesion, sustainable development and balanced competitiveness across European territory. The ESDP actively promotes cooperation between European regions, for example through projects funded under the Interreg programmes. European structural funds are also important for implementing regional and social policy, while European legislation (e.g. the Habitats Directive and Landfill Directive) have direct implications for regional planning.

International and Global Developments - these include the continuing role of London in financial services, the impacts of liberalisation of international trade on economic activity in the region, and of the revolution in electronic commercial transactions

Since July 2000, a Greater London Authority (GLA) comprising an elected Mayor of London and an elected assembly to scrutinise the Mayor's decisions has been in place. The GLA is responsible for strategic planning in London.

Planning applications of strategic importance are required to be referred to, and considered by the Mayor. The GLA has produced a Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) for London. The boroughs' unitary development plans need to be in 'general conformity' with the SDS.

The 'London Plan' (the SDS) covers

• Transport, economic development, regeneration, housing, retail and town centre development;
• Leisure, community, cultural and tourist development and facilities;
• The natural environment, built heritage and urban quality, waste management, energy use and London's world city role.

One of the aims of modernising the plan is to ensure that it has a clearer focus on matters that can be actioned through the town planning process. There was a great deal of material in the 'old' plan, which set out the strategic thinking of other processes and agencies. This may well have been correct at the time of going to press, but is likely to evolve and change. The Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment includes appropriate and brief cross-references to other policies, but avoids explaining them in any detail.

Having said this, there is a wide range of policy documents which need to be referred to, and which interrelate with the UDP strategy. These include the planning policies at national, regional, and London level, as described above. In addition, there are the policies of neighbouring local planning authorities in West London, other (public/private/voluntary sector) agencies including those in partnership with Ealing Council, and the policies of different services within Ealing Council. It is important to specify the relevant documents, so that the relationships can be monitored and updated.

Documents with strategic links to the Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment include:

• West London Strategy;
• Neighbouring boroughs' unitary development plans;
• Partnership Strategies for Park Royal, Southall, Acton and town centres;
• Local Strategic Partnership;
• Ealing's Community Strategy;
• Ealing's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy;
• Ealing's Best Value Performance Plan;
• Strategic inputs from other agencies, groups etc - eg Ealing Access Committee, Ealing Race Equality Council, Ealing Civic Society, business associations, and more;
• Ealing Air Quality Action Plan and Air Quality Strategy;
• Ealing Housing Strategy.

Each of the strategic policies (except for the last two) forms the basis of a separate 'topic' chapter in the plan. In each topic chapter there is a set of specific policies and a full justification for both the strategic and the topic policies.

The second to last of the policies indicated below does not need a chapter to itself. This covers situations where the grant of planning permission needs to be linked to Legal Agreements and Partnerships. The matters that can be dealt with in this way relate to all planning topics, and will be referred to in each of the topic chapters of the plan.

The Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment will guide the development of the borough over the period until the year 2017. More specifically, it will promote sustainable development and sustainable communities over the period.

Sustainable Development - development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The Council, in considering proposals for development, will encourage compatible land uses to be grouped together and separated from other uses, in the interests of land resource management, environmental amenity, the sharing of facilities needed by similar activities in a local area, and access by public transport. The following broad functional areas of the borough are recognised:

In addition to the above, there is also transport land, and land specified as Special Opportunity Sites, where the need for development in order to establish a beneficial use for the area, is more important than any specific land use.

The Council's overall aim embraces the idea of the local identity of different community areas of the borough, and the role of centres serving these areas as focal points for community activity. The Council recognises the need to work with local people on proposals to improve their area, with priority given to areas of greatest need.

The Council will contribute to strategic planning in the context of the Mayor's London Plan. In particular, the coordination of planning in West London is an essential part of the overall aim of the Ealing Plan. This will take account of the concept of a 'Western Wedge', a strategic development corridor within the West London Sub Region, stretching from central London to the Thames Valley. The key strategic issues in the area are:

Major development opportunities on previously developed sites;

The need to maintain employment opportunities in West London, and improve access to them for the residents of deprived areas;

The impacts and opportunities associated with Heathrow Airport;

Transport corridors across the borough, where established areas of economic activity are in need of regeneration and renewal to sustain their vital role and improve their economic competitiveness; with Southall, Acton, Park Royal and Greenford Green as nodal points where regeneration is planned;

This strategic policy deals with environmental sustainability. It is strategic in the sense that it contributes to global as well as local environmental benefits through local town planning. It encompasses proposals to develop the special opportunity sites (referred to in the supporting text which follows strategic Policy 1.1), to achieve sustainable use of even the most difficult sites in the borough, and a range of other local planning policies which contribute to the prudent use of environmental resources in the development process.

Strategic Policy 1.2 also provides the context for Ealing's policies on planning for waste management.

Contribute to waste reduction;

Promote waste reuse, recycling and composting (provided that they do not prejudice waste reduction);

Make use of existing facilities for energy recovery from waste incineration, provided that this does not prejudice the viability of the proposals referred to above, or otherwise detract from sustainable planning and transport in London;

Provide for the efficient disposal of Ealing's remaining waste materials, consistent with a borough-wide waste management strategy;

Proposals will have to justify themselves in terms of the best practical environmental option and the proximity principle (i.e. that waste material should be dealt with as near as possible to the place where it is produced). The Council will aim to recover 40% of municipal waste through recycling and composting by 2006. The authority will ensure that development associated with this strategy is consistent with the principles of good design, protection of the environment, and proper standards of amenity for the occupiers of the development and of neighbouring property.

This strategic policy recognises the structural importance of Metropolitan Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land for London, and particularly their value in providing access for Londoners to open space, in protecting agricultural land and checking the sprawl of urban development. The UDP confirms the designation of Metropolitan Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land in the Borough, and reinforces their equivalent status by describing both as Major Open Areas. Proposals for the enhancement of the Green Belt include the Northolt - Greenford Countryside Park onland adjoining the A40, a major route into London; and links in Southall to parkland on Green Belt land in Hillingdon. The Council will use planning powers to safeguard the beauty of existing landscapes, having regard to identified views, and landscape features which are important for wildlife (especially species protected by legislation).

Heritage Land is designated where much of the quality and character of the landscape is owed to its heritage. The Council will protect Heritage Land in the Norwood Green/Osterley area in order to protect the landscape, retain and improve access, and link with a similar area in the London Borough of Hounslow.

The Council has defined Green Chains (shown on Map Sheet One) which are links to Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land in adjoining boroughs for footpaths and cycleways as appropriate. These Green Chains are also designated as Green Corridors, Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land.

The Council recognises the importance of open sites for sport and recreation. These sites provide land for competitive play, informal sports, the informal play of children and passive recreation - not only for the residents of Ealing, but for others who live in inner West London, where the opportunities for open space are limited. The policy also considers the demands for burial grounds and crematoria in West London in conjunction with neighbouring authorities.

Strategic Policy 1.3 includes the promotion of nature conservation throughout the borough. This will help wildlife thrive in London as a whole, and includes the designation of a number of sites of metropolitan importance for nature conservation, that is, those of value to an area greater than this borough.

no development should result in a reduction of the area of land designated in the plan for open space and nature conservation; and

during the plan period, there will be a reduction of the district park deficiency area in Acton and Southall, and of the local park deficiency in Southall.

The purpose of this strategic policy is to enhance the built environment of the borough by tackling the problems of areas with poor environment, exerting sensitive design control in areas worthy of conservation, and in all areas, promoting good design and maintaining a good environment. The policy on urban design includes special measures to help achieve an accessible, safe and healthy environment for all.

The Council will promote quality in the urban environment through well-designed and visually rich development. This can include higher densities where appropriate. However, it should respect strategic views and the character of the locality, and add to the quality of the wider environment.

All major development should include measures to facilitate access for disabled people, crime prevention and good environmental performance;

No development should result in the loss of statutory listed buildings;

The Council recognises the strategic guidance on housing supply i.e. the proposed addition of 9,750 dwellings to the housing stock in the Borough between 2002-2017. Council will consider how to ensure that the supply takes account of future increases in the number of households, and that at least half of the additional dwellings provide affordable housing for those households who are unable to gain access to general market housing.

The targets for housing supply referred to above, represent important and real indicators of the performance of the Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment. Progress towards their achievement will be regularly monitored. In addition, residents' views on the living conditions provided in approved residential development will be sought. Expressions of satisfaction with the living conditions, from the point of residents in the new (or refurbished) development and the neighbouring property, will be regarded as a measure of the success of the plan. The Council acknowledges the Government's guidance in PPG 3 which seeks the re-use of empty properties. This will be implemented through its 'Empty Property Strategy'; residential conversion; and 'previously developed land' development opportunities, to provide new housing.

The Council recognises the differential impact of economic changes in London, in respect of skills mismatch, persistent unemployment and low pay, which affect some sections of the population. UDP policies recognise the strategic role of some of the borough's major employment locations, i.e. industrial business parks and preferred industrial locations at Park Royal and Northolt-Greenford, with preferred industrial locations at Perivale and Great Western.

The borough-wide strategic policy for business development seeks to retain an appropriate supply of industrial and allied uses in Major Employment Locations, identify sites for office use, and respond to the demand for hotel and associated development. It also aims to target employment opportunities to people most in need and ensure that environmental criteria are met. Action is envisaged to promote regeneration of those parts of the borough where there is relative deprivation, and where advantage can be taken of new transport opportunities and the changing economic structure.

During the development process, 'green business' practice will be encouraged, with a view to continuous environmental improvement in terms of the local area, and in terms of more general environmental issues such as renewable energy and waste minimisation. Green Travel Plans will contribute to environmental improvement.

Development should provide jobs consistent with employment needs in the locality, and accessible by public transport;

The Council will use available planning powers to ensure that existing town and other centres in the borough serve as the focus for shopping, leisure, entertainment, offices and other services that attract many people, and for increased housing provision.

The hierarchy of town centres in the London Plan is acknowledged, including the designation of Ealing Broadway/ West Ealing as a metropolitan centre. This network of centres forms the basis of the borough's policies for town centres and shopping and community facilities set out in part two of the plan. It is of strategic significance that the centres of Southall and Acton serve as focal points for community regeneration. The Council will promote the development of Southall as a major town centre within the London-wide hierarchy, and foster Southall's specialist regional function as an excellent centre for Asian retailing. The town centres of Acton, Greenford and Hanwell are regarded as 'district centres' within the London-wide hierarchy. Smaller shopping centres are identified in Ealing's plan as neighbourhood and local centres.

Retail, leisure and other commercial activity that generates a substantial number of trips, should be concentrated in the appropriate level of designated shopping centres. Out of centre development will not normally be permitted. The Council will monitor the health of shopping centres in the borough and the provision of good retail opportunities, encouraging mixed uses on identified opportunity sites guided by these health checks, consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

Development should provide retail space in the network of shopping centres (and not in out-of-centre locations), consistent with the planned status of each centre;

The Council recognises the importance of artistic, cultural and leisure activity to the quality of life in London. Ealing's artistic, cultural and active leisure facilities are enriched by the many communities of different nationalities and cultures who have made their homes in the borough. The Council will favourably consider applications for planning permission for development which provide for cultural and leisure activities of and for, the people of the Borough.

In addition, the Council recognises the importance of providing for the development needs of education and social care, and will respond positively to needs for accommodation in the borough, in co-operation with the relevant statutory and voluntary sector agencies.

The Council will have regard to the Mayor of London's Transport Strategy. Paramount importance will be accorded to safety, environmental conditions, and reducing the need to travel by car in Greater London. The Council supports the principle of a new rail line in Park Royal for the East-West Cross Rail and for an Ealing Broadway stop and an additional local stopping service on the Paddington - Heathrow Express Service.

This strategic policy aims to further the integration of land use and transport proposals to encourage sustainable development, and through controlling development adjoining strategic and main distributor roads will, where possible, reduce their use for short distance car traffic. Traffic calming and traffic management schemes will be promoted, having regard to the needs of pedestrians and cyclists and the local environment. In accordance with strategic guidance, the Council will seek to minimise the traffic generated by development by placing maximum limits on the number of parking spaces permitted, and by implementing on-street parking controls in the area concerned. High trip generating uses in areas of good public transport accessibility will also be supported, subject to the other policies of the plan. The Council will liaise with public transport operators, using planning powers wherever possible, to secure improved public transport, including orbital routes and facilities for people with disabilities.

The Council will encourage the use of the Grand Union Canal and appropriate parts of the rail network, for freight use (including the transport of waste), having regard to the needs of canal related leisure and amenity.

The Council will facilitate and safeguard the development of walking routes which have a strategic significance as defined by theLondon Walking Forum, including the section of the Capital Ring(predominantly along the River Brent), the canalside walk, and other footpaths linking with them.

The Council will introduce strategic cycle routes as part of the comprehensive network of routes proposed for the borough.

While recognising the economic importance of Heathrow Airport, the Council opposes any development likely to result in increased flights over the borough, and will monitor any proposals for expansion of services from the airport because of the potential environmental impacts. The Council supports the principle of regional airport development as an alternative to further air passenger traffic increases at Heathrow, while maintaining a high level of air cargo vital to the economic well-being of Ealing and West London.

Agreements will be considered in relation to any development, with the matters to be covered related to the type, scale and location of the proposed development. The emphasis is on seeking voluntary agreements with landowners. An agreement will only be essential to the grant of planning permission where it overcomes an otherwise unacceptable direct impact of the proposed development, and where without such an agreement, planning permission would be refused. For example, where the potential traffic impact of the proposed development requires off-site transport infrastructure improvements directly related in scale.

The performance of the plan, in respect of this strategic policy, will be evaluated having regard to the benefits achieved over the plan period through legal agreements associated with approved development.

Recycling installations for products used or traded by occupants of the development, e.g. paper, cans, bottles;

Access provisions to meet the needs of people with a disability (see also Supplementary Planning Guidance 'Accessible Ealing');

Conservation of buildings or places of historic or architectural interest and areas of nature conservation significance, and the provision of education/interpretative facilities;

Provision of affordable housing on site, or in certain circumstances using payments 'in-lieu', particularly where this could be used to bring empty property into use;

Development schemes incorporating small scale business use which facilitate the future conversion of the premises to an appropriate alternative use compatible with local needs and environment;

The provision of small workplaces to let on a rental basis with shared facilities, and business support;

Training provisions related to employment required at the site and the employment area, and the needs of local people available to work there;

Town centre management;

Meeting additional healthcare and other community needs that have been generated as a direct result of the proposed development, or which would otherwise be lost because of the development;

The provision of education, childcare and indoor community facilities related to the development;

Provision of arts and cultural facilities in the development of appropriate townscape or buildings;

Provision of art, craft and sculpture situated permanently in and around buildings as recommended by the Percent for Art Scheme;

Payments to meet the full cost of the activity arising from the development and its implications for transport and infrastructure, including the need for public transport, parking and highway access and traffic management, and City Car Clubs;

Infrastructural improvements e.g. improvement of the public transport systems at stations and interchanges (when the development will generate journeys to work using these facilities) to encourage greater use of public transport;

The creation of links in the boroughs network of footpaths and cycle routes on appropriate sites;

Environmental improvements in the vicinity of the proposed development, including sign posting and maintenance of public footpaths;

The Council will of course make best use of public resources to achieve a proper standard of environmental quality for the people of the borough. However, the Council recognises that the main sources of financial investment relating to the planning process will always be the result of private sector and individual investment decisions about land and property development. The plan regulates the land use proposals arising from these decisions for the benefit of Ealing's environment, and with a priority to the greatest environmental need. The policies in the plan seek to ensure proper standards of development, to attract appropriate development where it is needed most, and to work in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors wherever this is appropriate.

In the event that total completions on an annualised basis (650 per year) fall materially below the cumulative requirement to provide at least 9,750 new dwellings by 2017, the Council will take action to bring forward as many new housing sites as possible, consistent with theirother duties as a local planning authority. This will include consideration of compulsory purchase orders on relevant sites; although it is expected that in most cases there would be meaningful discussion leading to agreement between interested parties.

The Council will keep the Plan under review in consultation with local people. Planning is a continuous process, and although the Plan for the Environment is for 10-15 years, no doubt some policies will need to be changed as conditions change. Conditions will be monitored and published with conclusions about environmental performance. By monitoring the Unitary Development Plan, people can assess the local planning authority's success or lack of success in achieving the objectives set by the community.

Decisions already made on planning applications and development of different types and in different locations will be examined to check the relevance of the policies, as well as looking at the associated influencing factors and general changes. Monitoring will also identify land that is permitted and available for development or alternative uses.