Aggregates

Bulk materials used in the construction industry for purposes such as making concrete, road surfacing, mortar, etc. and in constructing foundations and embankments.

All Cause Mortality

Mortality rates when all causes are taken into consideration.

Agricultural Land Classification

Agricultural land in Britain is classified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) as being of Grade 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Grade 1 is the best quality; Grade 3 is divided into 3a, 3b and 3c depending on its quality.  There is no Grade 1 land in the City

Amenity

The pleasant, or at least satisfactory, aspects of a location or neighbourhood which contribute to its enjoyment by residents.

Bulky Goods

Goods requiring facilities not readily available in existing shopping centres due to the need for large storage and display areas and the generation of greater volumes of traffic.  Bulky goods include DIY, furniture and carpets but exclude electrical goods, toys and clothing.

Business Park

Prestigious research/office developments (B1), usually in well landscaped strategic locations.

City Challenge

A competition funding regime established by Central Government with the aim of achieving and stimulating the regeneration of a specific urban area within a 5 year time frame.

City Grant

Central government financial assistance for private sector projects geared towards urban regeneration.

City Strategy

Document identifying the strategic issues and objectives affecting the Council and its plan to address these. It has a medium term perspective but reflects the long term aim to provide an enhanced  quality of life.

Club or Discount Stores/Warehouse Clubs 

Out of centre businesses specialising in bulk sales of reduced priced goods in unsophisticated buildings with large car parks.  They are regarded as retail uses although the operator  may limit access to business organisations or classes of individual.

Convenience Goods

Countryside Commission

National body, funded by the Government which is responsible for promoting and advising on the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside and public enjoyment of it.

DETR (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions)

Government department responsible for local government and related matters, including land use planning, transport and urban regeneration.

Derelict Land

Land so damaged by industrial or other development that it is incapable of beneficial use without treatment.

Desire Lines

Informal footpaths following most convenient routes.

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."

District Play Areas

The highest level of play area provision and the most extensively equipped, catering for all age groups up to 16. They are limited in number and associated with areas of recreational significance.

Doorstep Play Areas

Catering for local needs of under 11's, such facilities are located within, adjacent or to the estate served.

Dual Use (of schools)

Use of school facilities by the community and community groups as well as by pupils.

Durable Goods

Items such as clothing, footwear, furniture, toys, electrical and other household goods.

Durham Wildlife Trust

Charitable organisation promoting nature conservation in the geographical county of Durham

EU/EC/EEC (European Economic Community)

Association of Member States comprising the United Kingdom and 14 other countries.  The Community affects land-use planning through its environmental legislation (directives) and through grants made for infrastructure improvements (such as ERDF and RECHAR).

ERDF (European Regional Development Fund)

EU grant aid towards major public sector projects.

English Heritage

English Nature

National body, funded by the Government, which promotes nature conservation, designates and protects sites, provides specialist advice and funding for ecological projects.

Enterprise Zones

Areas defined by Central Government  as part of economic regeneration initiatives. Lasting  for 10 years, premises within them are exempt from rates and outline permission for certain classes of development is granted by Development Orders.

Environment Agency

Government-appointed body responsible for pollution control and management of the water environment.

Environmental Assessment

An assessment of development proposals to ensure they do not have an unacceptable impact on the existing or future environment.  The circumstances in which environmental assessment is appropriate are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 and DoE Circular 15/88.

Environmental Statement

A statement reporting the findings of an environmental assessment.

Facilities Planning Model

A computer model, developed by the Scottish Sports Council, which can predict sports facility requirements for the community based upon participation rates, frequency of visits, catchment areas and peak time facility capacity levels.

Factory Shops

Shops owned by manufacturers which sell seconds of the company's branded goods at a discount price.

Family Housing

Accommodation suitable for households including children, usually consisting of two or more bedrooms and incorporating private garden space.

Field Penalty Assessment

Technique used by the Ministry of Agriculture,  Fisheries and Food to determine and quantify farming problems in urban fringe location

Fly-posting

Unauthorised (and illegal) display of posters - often used to advertise pop concerts, meetings, events, etc.

Footprint

Forestry Commission

Government appointed body responsible for regulating public and private forestry plantations and managing State-owned forests.

Government Office for the North East (GONE)

Regional outpost of Central Government.  Incorporates the regional offices of the Department for Education and Employment, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and Department of Trade and Industry.

Green Belt 

A policy device established through Development Plans for the prevention of urban sprawl by safeguarding countryside surrounding urban areas. Green Belt policies are more long-term and permanent than other planning policies.

Green Field Site 

Site not previously built on.

Great North Forest Plan

A plan produced by the Great North Forest Project Team setting out landscape management proposals for the area of the Great North Forest.

Guided Busway

Public transport system using specially adapted buses travelling along specially constructed guidance tracks as well as on ordinary roads.   Proposals for Tyne and Wear have also been referred to as Guided Transit Expressway (GTE).

HIP (Housing Investment Programme)

Annual statement by the City Council of the extent of housing need, the strategy by which it hopes to deal with it, and a request for capital allocation from the Government.

Housing Land Availability

An assessment by the City Council of the amount of land available for housing development. It is revised annually and aims to ensure the availability of a 5 year supply of land.

Housing Strategy

A document produced by the City Council's Health and Housing Services Department reviewing recent performance in relation  to strategic objectives and setting priorities for the future.

HMO (House in Multiple Occupation)

House occupied by persons who do not form a single household.

HRA (Housing Renewal Area)

Area-based scheme for the improvement of housing.

Hectare

Household

One person living alone or a group of people (who may or may not be related) 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 managing of houses for sale or rent.

Imported Waste

Waste material not generated at the site where it is being tipped or buried.

Improvement Area

Areas designated under the Tyne and Wear Act 1976 and/or the Inner Urban Areas Act 1978  where the local authority is empowered to make  grants available for environmental, operational or  crime prevention improvements.

Infill/Infilling

Small scale built development fitted into the built-up area.  Generally sites will be bounded on at least three sides by built development, though factors such as existing landform could be taken into consideration..

Infrastructure

Services which need to be in place to serve development e.g. roads and footpaths, electricity, water and sewerage.   Social infrastructure includes schools, shops, community and health facilities.

Kiss and Ride

Arrangement where car-borne passenger is dropped off to continue the journey to their destination using public transport.

Landfill Site

Site where waste is tipped to fill a hole or raise the surface level.

Local Agenda 21

A local authority response to the 1992 Earth Summit commitment to work towards sustainable development for the 21st. century.

Local Nature Reserve (LNR)

An area identified, declared and managed by the local authority to enable preservation of flora, fauna, and geological or physiographical features of special interest.

Minerals Planning Guidance

• MPG1: General Considerations & the Development  Control System (July 1996)
• MPG2: Applications, Permissions and Conditions (1988)
• MPG3: Coal Mining and Colliery Spoil Disposal (July 1994)
• MPG4: The Review of Mineral Working Sites (Sept 1988)
• MPG5: Minerals Planning and the General Development Order (Dec 1988)
• MPG6: Guidelines for Aggregates Provision in England (April 1994)
• MPG7: The Reclamation of Mineral Workings (November 1996)
• MPG8: Planning and Compensation Act 1991: Interim Development Order Permissions-Statutory Provisions and Procedures (Sept 1991)
• MPG9: Planning and Compensation Act 1991:  Interim Development Order Permissions-Conditions (Mar 1992)
• MPG10: Provision of Raw Material for the Cement Industry (1991)
• MPG11: The Control of Noise at Surface Mineral Workings (April 1993)
• MPG12: Treatment of Disused Mine Openings and Availability of Information on Mined Ground (1994)
• MPG13: Guidelines for Peat Provision in England, including the Place of Alternative Materials (1995)
• MPG14: Environment Act 1995:  Review of Minerals Planning Permissions (1995)
• MPG15: Provision of Silica Sand in England (September 1996)

Multi-User Route

Specially designed and constructed route for use by more than one of the following groups: walkers, cyclists, horse riders and disabled users.

NPFA (National Playing Fields Association)

National voluntary body which campaigns for the provision of playing fields, public open space and playgrounds.

Northern Council for Sport and Recreation

A consultative forum made up of organisations interested in the development of Sport and Recreation e.g. Local Authorities, Governing bodies of sport and other statutory agencies.  The NCSR ceased to exist in December 1995, and a successor body called Northern Sport is being established with Secretariat provided by the North of England Assembly of Local Authorities.

Northern Region

OPCS (Office of Population Censuses  and Surveys)

Government body responsible for the preparation of information on aspects of the country's population.  Now known as ONS (Office for National Statistics)

Out of Centre Developments

Large free-standing retail developments on the outskirts of towns and cities, not related to existing centres.

PPG (Planning Policy Guidance)           

Notes issued periodically by the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions to determine the broad framework within which local planning authorities should decide policy on planning matters. They comprise:

• PPG1: General Policy and Principles (February 1997)
• PPG2: Green Belts (January 1995)
• PPG3: Housing (March 1992)
• PPG4: Industrial and Commercial Development and Small Firms (November 1992)
• PPG5: Simplified Planning Zones (November 1992)
• PPG6: Town Centres & Retail Developments (June 1996)
• PPG7: The Countryside & the Rural Economy (February 1997)
• PPG8: Telecommunications (December 1992)
• PPG9: Nature Conservation (October 1994)
• PPG10: Strategic Guidance-West Midlands (September 1988) Cancelled and superseded by RPG11 Regional Planning Guidance for the West Midlands (1995)
• PPG11: Strategic Guidance for Merseyside (August 1988) Cancelled by RPG13 (1996)
• PPG12: Development Plans and Regional Planning Guidance (February 1992)
• PPG13: Transport (March 1994)
• PPG14: Development On Unstable Land (April 1990)
• PPG15: Planning and the Historic Environment (September 1994)
• PPG16: Archaeology and Planning (November 1990)
• PPG17: Sport and Recreation (September 1991)
• PPG18: Enforcing Planning Control (December 1991)
• PPG19: Outdoor Advertisement Control (March 1992)
• PPG20: Coastal Planning (September 1992)
• PPG21: Tourism (November 1992)
• PPG22: Renewable Energy (February 1993)
• PPG23: Planning and Pollution Control (1994)
• PPG24: Planning and Noise (September 1994)

PTA (Passenger Transport Authority)

Body which is responsible for broad policy making for public transport in Tyne and Wear.

PTE (Passenger Transport Executive)

Body which is responsible for operational and technical matters relating to public transport in Tyne and Wear.

Park and Ride

Arrangement whereby motorists park their vehicles in designated car parks outside central areas and use public transport to reach their destination.

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 Obligation

Obligations may be entered into by agreement between a developer and the local planning authority or a developer may undertake to carry out an obligation unilaterally.   Planning obligations might restrict the use of land, require certain activities or operations to be carried out, or require payments to be made to the Council.  They are drawn up under Section 106 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act (as amended).

Plan Period

The length of time that is catered for by the Plan, starting at the beginning of 1988 and running generally to the end of 2006, though certain aspects, e.g. the Green Belt, are expected to continue for a longer term.

Pocket Park

Small area of open space, usually in an urban location, used for informal recreation.

R & I (Tyne and Wear  Countywide Research and Intelligence Unit)

Local body funded by the Tyne and Wear  District Authorities responsible for the preparation of information on aspects of population and employment in the County.

RECHAR

EEC fund to assist in regeneration of former coalfield areas.

Reclamation

The process of rendering derelict or contaminated land fit for beneficial use.

Recycled Land

Regionally Important Geomorphological Site (RIGS)

Sites other than SSSI's etc considered worthy of  protection because of their educational, research, historical or aesthetic importance.

RENAVAL

EEC fund to assist in regeneration of former shipbuilding areas.

Retail Park

An agglomeration of at least 3 retail warehouses.

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.

SMR (Sites and Monuments Record)

Database maintained by the County Archaeologist, providing information about the locations where archaeological remains are known or thought likely to exist.

Satellite Play Areas

Type of play area with play equipment catering for children up to 16 years old. It is intended that a play area of this type should be within 1 km. of each household in the City.

Service Industry

Any economic activity which does not produce a natural or manufactured product.   This sector includes retailing, transport, local government, tourism, banking and finance.

Set Aside

Agricultural land temporarily taken out of production (for 1 year or a longer period) as part of the European Union's  arable area payments scheme.

Sheltered Housing

Social housing accommodation for the elderly in independent units but with an on-site warden.

Single Regeneration Budget

A single source for Central Governmentresources for Urban Regeneration previously administered under 20 separate programmes, the aim being to provide flexible support for regeneration and development in a way that meets local needs and priorities.

Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI's)

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI's)

Sites designated under S28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 by English Nature, afforded statutory protection on account of their national importance due to their flora, fauna, geological or physiographical interest.

Specialist Retailing

Retail floorspace the nature of which requires a specific location and cannot therefore be accommodated elsewhere. Bulky goods floorspace is regarded as being within this category.

Sports Council

One of a network of independent bodies promoting British Sport:  In England, either the English Sports Council or the UK Sports Council as the context requires.

Statutory Undertaker 

Provider of an essential service such as gas, electricity, water or telecommunications.

Sterilisation

Rendering mineral deposits practically irrecoverable by, for example, building on the land above them.

Strategic Guidance

Policy framework for the preparation of Unitary Development Plans issued by the Secretary of State for the Environment. That for Tyne and Wear was published in April 1989.

Strategic Route Network

The framework of major roads serving the City.   These are defined for DETR grant purposes as being roads of more than merely local importance.

Student accommodation

Taken to be residential accommodation restricted by planning condition, or obligation, to use by students in full-time education and includes any accommodation provided for a warden or caretaker.

Superstores

Single level self service stores selling mainly food, usually with at least 2,500 sqm gross trading floorspace  with dedicated car parks at surface level.

Sustainability

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (i.e. development that can take place without exhausting irreplaceable resources or causing irreparable damage to the environment.

Structure Plan

Swallow Hole 

Cavity formed in permeable rock by the action of water.

TPO (Tree Preservation Order) 

Order made by the 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.

TPP (Transport Policies and Programme)

Document prepared annually by the City  Council and submitted to the DETR, setting out the City's transport policies and proposed  programme of works, as a basis for funding, to be replaced by Local Transport Plans after 1999.

Town Cramming

Concentration of development within urban areas to the extent that open space provision and/or other amenity standards suffer.

Traffic Calming

Methods of slowing down traffic, usually in residential areas, by means of "road humps", narrowing the width of roads and other measures.

Traffic Management

Methods of managing the flow of, or routes taken by, traffic, such as minor road construction, alterations to junctions, signalling and one-way systems.

UDA (Urban Development Area)

Area administered by Urban Development  Corporation.

UDC/TWDC (Tyne and Wear Urban Development Corporation)

Government appointed body responsible for the regeneration of run-down inner areas in Tyne and Wear.  Now defunct.

UP (Urban Programme)

Programme funded by Central Government to assist in regeneration of deprived inner-city areas; now defunct.

Unfitness

Statutory definition relating to housing which is considered not reasonably suitable for human habitation because of instability, serious disrepair, dampness, inadequate water supply or drainage, or the lack of toilet, washing, lighting, heating or ventilation facilities.

Urban Village

Compact high-density residential development comprising mix of housing types and tenures.  Can incorporate mix of open space, community and employment facilities.

Use Class/Use Classes Order

The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 places uses of land and buildings into a number of categories, or Classes.   Certain amendments were made to the Order in 1995.  Planning permission is generally required for changes of use between classes but not within a class. The classes are:

• A1: Shops
• A2: Financial and Professional Services
• A3: Food and Drink
• B1: Business
• B2: General Industrial
• B8: Storage and Distribution
• C1: Hotels
• C2 Residential Institutions
• C3: Dwellinghouses
• D1: Non-residential Institutions
• D2: Assembly and Leisure

In addition there are various uses which do not fall into any of the above general categories

Wildlife Corridor 

Route comprising a continuous or nearly continuous stretch of open land,  woodland or water, which facilitates the  movement and colonisation of wildlife species.   They  were defined by the Tyne and Wear Nature Conservation Strategy (1988).

Windfall Site