Of the Swale Local Plan

Sustainability Appraisal (SA) of the Swale Local Plan SA Report February 2021 SA of the Swale Local Plan Review SA Report Quality information Prepared by Checked by Verified by Approved by Chris McNulty, Mark Fessey, Steve Smith, Steve Smith, Senior consultant Associate Director Technical Director Technical Director Mark Fessey, Associate Director Prepared for: Swale Borough Council Prepared by: AECOM Limited Aldgate Tower 2 Leman Street London E1 8FA United Kingdom aecom.com © 2021 AECOM Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) in accordance with its contract Swale Borough Council (the “Client”) and in accordance with generally accepted consultancy principles and the established budget. Any information provided by third parties and referred to herein has not been checked or verified by AECOM, unless otherwise expressly stated in the document. AECOM shall have no liability to any third party that makes use of or relies upon this document. AECOM SA of the Swale Local Plan Review SA Report Table of Contents 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 2 What’s the plan seeking to achieve? ............................................................... 2 3 What is the scope of the SA? .......................................................................... 4 Part 1: What has plan-making / SA involved up to this stage? ................................... 6 4 Introduction to Part 1 ....................................................................................... 7 5 Establishing growth scenarios ......................................................................... 9 6 Growth scenarios appraisal ........................................................................... 34 7 The preferred growth scenario ....................................................................... 38 Part 2: What are the appraisal findings at this stage? .............................................. 39 8 Introduction to Part 2 ..................................................................................... 40 9 Appraisal of the Local Plan Review ............................................................... 42 Part 3: What are the next steps? .............................................................................. 82 10 Plan finalisation ............................................................................................. 83 11 Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 83 Appendix I: Regulatory requirements ....................................................................... 84 Appendix II: Review of evidence .............................................................................. 88 Appendix III: Broad growth scenarios ...................................................................... 115 Appendix IV: Strategic site options ......................................................................... 120 Appendix V: Site options GIS analysis ................................................................... 123 Appendix VI: Sub area scenarios ........................................................................... 126 Appendix VII: Growth scenarios ............................................................................. 146 Non-technical Summary Technical Appendix AECOM SA of the Swale Local Plan Review SA Report 1 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 AECOM is commissioned to undertake Sustainability Appraisal (SA) in support of the emerging Swale Local Plan Review (LPR). Once in place, the LPR will establish a spatial strategy for growth and change - in response to key issues and opportunities - over the period 2022 to 2038. The LPR will build on the adopted Local Plan (‘Bearing Fruits’), which covers the period 2014 to 2031. The LPR will allocate sites to deliver the strategy and establish the policies against which planning applications will be determined. 1.1.2 SA is a mechanism for considering and communicating the likely effects of an emerging plan, and alternatives, with a view to minimising adverse effects and maximising the positives. SA of Local Plans is a legal requirement.1 1.2 SA explained 1.2.1 It is a requirement that SA is undertaken in-line with the procedures prescribed by the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, which were prepared in order to transpose into national law the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive. 1.2.2 In-line with the Regulations, a report (known as the SA Report) must be published for consultation alongside the draft plan that essentially ‘identifies, describes and evaluates’ the likely significant effects of implementing ‘the plan and reasonable alternatives’. The report must then be considered alongside consultation responses when finalising the plan. 1.2.3 More specifically, the SA Report must answer the following three questions: • What has Plan-making / SA involved up to this point? ─ including with regards to consideration of 'reasonable alternatives’ • What are the SA findings at this stage? ─ i.e. in relation to the draft plan • What are next steps? 1.3 This SA Report2 1.3.1 This is the SA Report for the Swale LPR. It is published alongside the proposed submission version of the LPR (known as the ‘Pre-submission LPR’), in line with the requirements set out under Regulation 19 of the Local Planning Regulations (2012). 1.3.2 The aim is to inform representations and subsequent plan finalisation. Structure of this report 1.3.3 This report is broken down into three parts, according to the three questions above. Before answering the first question, there is a need to further set the scene by answering two initial questions: • What is the plan seeking to achieve? • What is the scope of the SA? 1 Since provision was made through the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 it has been understood that local planning authorities must carry out a process of Sustainability Appraisal alongside plan-making. The centrality of SA to Local Plan-making is emphasised in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, 2019). The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) Regulations 2012 require that an SA Report is published for consultation alongside the ‘Proposed Submission’ plan document 2 See Appendix I for further explanation of the regulatory basis for answering certain questions within the SA Report, and a ‘checklist’ explaining more precisely how and where regulatory requirements are met / are being met. Introduction 1 SA of the Swale Local Plan Review SA Report 2 What’s the plan seeking to achieve? 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 The aim here is to explain more fully the context to plan preparation and the plan vision / objectives. 2.2 The plan area and plan period 2.2.1 The LPR covers the entirety of Swale Borough and aims to cover the period 2022 to 2038. The beginning of the plan period is set at 2022 in light of paragraph 33 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which explains that Local Plans should be reviewed at least once every five years. 2.2.2 An important point to note is that there is a large supply of housing that is already committed, in that it is set to come forward at a site already planning permission and/or an allocation in the current Local plan. A small proportion of this will come forward in 2021, but the great majority is expected to deliver housing in the period 2022 to 2038. These sites will be ‘rolled-forward’ into the new LPR, such that the task of the LPR can be thought of as building on a baseline position characterised by existing committed supply. Indeed, committed housing supply that is expected to deliver in the LPR plan period amounts to around 2/3 of the total housing need for the LPR plan period (see discussion in Section 5.2), which leads to a good degree of flexibility when preparing the LPR, particularly in respect of selecting sites for allocation. 2.3 Legislative and policy context 2.3.1 The Local Plan is being prepared under the Town and Country (Local Planning) Regulations 2012 and underpinning primary legislation. It must reflect current government policy, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, 2019) and Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (2015) and must also be prepared mindful of Government’s online Planning Practice Guidance (PPG). In particular, the NPPF requires local authorities to take a positive approach to development, with an up-to-date local plan that meets objectively assessed development needs, as far as is consistent with sustainable development. 2.3.2 The plan is also being prepared taking account of objectives and policies established by various organisations at the national and more local levels, in accordance with the Duty to Cooperate established by the Localism Act 2011. For example, context is provided by the strategic policies of Kent County Council, the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and environmental bodies including the Environment Agency, Historic England and Natural England. Swale BC must also cooperate with neighbouring areas in respect of ‘larger than local’ considerations, including planning for housing needs, capitalising on growth opportunities across the Thames Gateway and planning for the Kent Downs AONB. 2.3.3 Finally, it is important to note that the plan will be prepared mindful of any ‘made’ or emerging Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDPs), with a made Neighbourhood Plan for Faversham Creek and several others

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