The overall aim of the Natural Resources Advisory Group is to inform and advise the Regional Assembly and the Regional Planning Committee on natural resources and climate change issues. Advisory Group membership draws on local and regional expertise, reflecting the broad base of the Regional Assembly.

Further research reports can be found on the South East Plan research page.

Water Supply and Demand

The Environment Agency and the South East region's water companies have provided advice to the Assembly on water supply and demand. This has involved development of a range of scenarios for different levels of growth, water efficiency, and development of new water resources over the next 20-25 years. The report is informing the development and appraisal of policies and spatial options of the draft South East Plan.
Water Resources - Environment Agency commentary to the Assembly on draft SE Plan housing provision (May 2006) - 3.79 MB
Water Resources Report (April 2005) - 4.80 MB
Water Supply and Demand Report - 11.0 MB

This version of the Technical Report and Map were issued by the Environment Agency on 11 October 2006 and supersede previous versions posted on the Regional Assembly website:
Creating a Better Place: Planning Water Quality and Growth in the South East V11 (October 2006) - 118 KB
Creating a Better Place: Planning Water Quality and Growth in the South East - Map V11 (October 2006) - 1.99 MB

Climate Change

Adapting to climate change impacts on water management: A Guide for Planners

Developed by the Regional Assembly, as part of the ESPACE project, the Planners' Guide to adapting to climate change impacts on the water environment has been designed as an electronic resource, available to download below.

It answers key questions about adapting to climate change, and contains ten case-studies along with many short examples to illustrate important principles. The focus of the Guide is a menu of adaptation options which should be considered for inclusion in development plans, policy documents and developments in the region.
Planners Adaptation Guide - 2.50 MB
Appendix - 1.63 MB
Leaflet - 124 KB

Climate Change Summit

The Assembly organised a South East Climate Change Summit on 30 March 2007 in Brighton to share good practice and discuss how regional partners and organisations can help meet the challenges of climate change. The Summit, hosted jointly with the South East Climate Change Partnership, was attended by more than 130 organisations from local government, business, environmental and social sectors.

The Assembly launched a practical guide at the Summit for planners, local councils, developers, regulators and service providers to inform their plans. The guide explains how new housing can be designed making it more resilient against a changing climate and ways to ensure new homes are water and energy efficient. The guide includes a booklet and CD, which can be viewed below.
Booklet - 582 KB
Guide - 125 KB

Presentations from the Summit are available below:
Brighton and Hove City Council - 1.78 MB
Friends of the Earth - 753 KB
Improvement and Development Agency - 624 KB
South East England Regional Assembly - 578 KB
Southern Water - 847 KB
Tyndall Centre - 665 KB
Woking Borough Council - 1.35 MB

One Planet Village Conference

Representatives of rural communities from across the South East and organisations with an interest in rural issues came together on how to take action on sustainability issues with the aim to produce a good practice guide that improves quality of life in the region. The conference, "One Planet Village" in Lingfield, Surrey on May 24 was hosted jointly by South East Rural Affairs Forum and the Regional Assembly.

Speaking at the conference were representatives from Defra, Natural England and Bio Regional who put forward their views on how rural communities could tackle sustainability issues locally.

Carbon Trajectories

The Assembly has produced carbon trajectories to explore the potential to achieve carbon dioxide reduction targets set out in the South East Plan and the Climate Change Bill. The trajectories primarily focus on mitigation measures that can be delivered through the planning system. The Assembly is currently updating the trajectories to incorporate the 2006 carbon dioxide estimates and revised estimates for 2005 that were recently published by DEFRA.
South East Carbon Emission Trajectories (Report) - 376 KB
South East Carbon Emission Trajectories (Executive Summary) - 109 KB

Resilience Indicators

In 2008, the Assembly commissioned TRL to help them develop an appropriate set of indicators to measure climate change resilience in the region.
Resilience Indicators Report - 475 KB

Air Quality and Noise

The report below provides advice from consultants AEA Technology to inform the development and appraisal of policies in the South East Plan.

Advice on Policy Content for Air Quality and Noise in the South East - 906 KB

South East forests

The Forestry Framework for South East England 'Seeing the Wood for the Trees' is available on the SEE-IN website.

If you are having trouble viewing the documents on this page, please see our help section for free viewer software.