What is its purpose?

There is broad agreement that new developments need to contribute to the creation of sustainable communities. Tools such as Ecohomes / BREEAM / forthcoming Code for Sustainable Homes assess the sustainability of designs for individual new homes and buildings. This Checklist works at the next scale; helping developers, local authorities and other interested parties to assess how sustainable designs are for new housing and mixed use developments.

The SE Checklist is intended for use at the design and planning application stages of a new development. It focuses on the sustainability issues pertinent to spatial planning, although it does address those construction and "in-use" issues that can be anticipated or influenced at the design phase. The Checklist assumes that the sustainability of sites being brought forward for development in Local Plans has been subject to Sustainability Appraisal / Strategic Environmental Assessment and has been tested at Examination in Public. As a result there is less focus on the location of the site.

The SE Checklist is a tool for decision makers; in itself it does not make decisions. Flexibility is built into the tool to allow for variations in sites and locations as issues pertinent in one area may be less significant in another.