1 Introduction

Appropriate Assessment for Ipswich Borough Council Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies 1 September 2009 Quality control Appropriate Assessment for Ipswich Borough Council Core Strategy and Policies Checked by Project Manager: Approved by: Signature: Signature: Name: Nicholas Sibbett Name: Jo Parmenter Title: Senior Ecologist Title: Associate Director Date: 1st September 2009 Date: 1st September 2009 The Landscape Partnership is registered with the Landscape Institute, the Royal Town Planning Institute, and is a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment The Landscape Partnership Registered office Greenwood House 15a St Cuthberts Street Bedford MK40 3JB Registered in England No. 2709001 Contents Part 1: Text Summary 1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................1 1.1 The plan being assessed...........................................................................................................1 1.2 Appropriate Assessment requirement.........................................................................................1 1.3 Appropriate Assessment process ...............................................................................................2 1.4 European sites.........................................................................................................................2 2 European sites potentially affected...................................................................................................4 2.1 Sites within the Core Strategy and Policies area..........................................................................4 2.2 Sites outside the Core Strategy and Policies area ........................................................................4 2.3 Other relevant plans or projects affecting these sites ..................................................................6 3 Likely significant effects ..................................................................................................................7 3.1 Process ...................................................................................................................................7 3.2 Results....................................................................................................................................7 4 Policies to be assessed....................................................................................................................8 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................8 4.2 Policy CS7. The amount of housing required..............................................................................8 4.3 Policy CS9. Previously developed land target .............................................................................8 4.4 Policy CS 10. Ipswich Northern Fringe ......................................................................................9 4.5 Policy CS 13. Planning for jobs growth......................................................................................9 4.6 Policy CS16. Green infrastructure, sport and recreation ..............................................................9 4.7 Policy CS18. Strategic flood defence .......................................................................................10 4.8 Policy CS20. East-west transport capacity ...............................................................................10 4.9 Policy DC4. Development and flood risk ..................................................................................10 4.10 Policy DC15. Travel demand management ..............................................................................10 4.11 Policy DC32 Conserving local natural and geological interest......................................................11 4.12 Other policies ........................................................................................................................11 5 Methods of assessing European site visitor increases from an increased human population.................12 5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................12 5.2 Existing condition assessments of European sites .....................................................................12 5.3 Visitor surveys to predict additional visitors to European sites across the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. 13 5.4 Impact on specific sites ..........................................................................................................19 5.5 Survey of site managers opinion of impacts of additional visitors................................................19 6 Assessment of each policy.............................................................................................................22 6.1 Introduction to the assessment of each policy ..........................................................................22 6.2 Policy CS7, The amount of housing required, Policy CS9, Previously developed land target, and Policy CS10 Ipswich Northern Fringe. ................................................................................................22 6.3 Policy CS 13. Planning for jobs growth....................................................................................29 6.4 Policy CS16. Green infrastructure, sport and recreation ............................................................30 6.5 Policy CS18. Strategic Flood Defence ......................................................................................32 6.6 Policy CS20. East-west transport capacity. ..............................................................................34 6.7 Policy DC4. Development and flood risk ..................................................................................35 Policy DC4: Development and flood risk.............................................................................................35 6.8 Policy DC15. Travel demand management ..............................................................................36 6.9 Policy DC32 Conserving Local Natural and Geological Interest....................................................38 7 Mitigation measures......................................................................................................................39 7.1 Introduction to mitigation .......................................................................................................39 7.2 Mitigation for Policy CS 7, The amount of housing required, CS9, Previously developed land target and CS10 Ipswich northern fringe .....................................................................................................39 7.3 Mitigation conclusions ............................................................................................................42 8 Conclusions of the Appropriate Assessment ....................................................................................44 8.1 Policy CS7 / CS9 / CS10..........................................................................................................44 8.2 Individually assessed policies ..................................................................................................44 8.3 All other policies ....................................................................................................................44 8.4 Interactions between policies in this plan .................................................................................44 8.5 In combination with plans from others.....................................................................................44 8.6 Final conclusion .....................................................................................................................44 9 Limitations to the assessment........................................................................................................45 9.1 The evidence base .................................................................................................................45 9.2 Further work needed..............................................................................................................45 Part 2: Figures 1 European sites in the study area 2 Ipswich Policy Area Part 3: Appendices 1 European site citations 2 Conservation Objectives for SSSI components of European sites 3 Condition Assessments for SSSI components of European sites 4 Natural England correspondence regarding ‘Likely Significant Effect’. 5 Sample site managers’ survey results 6 Key Diagram from preferred options report 7 Nitrogen deposition on Orwell estuary saltmarsh 8 Predicted decline in NOx in Ipswich, 2001 – 2010 9 Bird counts for Stour and Orwell Estuaries SPA 2002/3 to 2006/7 10 Bird counts for count sector 6 (Bridge Wood) of Stour and Orwell Estuaries SPA 2002/3 to 2006/7 Addendum Summary This document is the Appropriate Assessment of Ipswich Borough Council’s Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies dated July 2009, as required by the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 as amended by the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007. These regulations are often abbreviated to, simply, the ‘Habitats Regulations’. The Appropriate Assessment specifically looks at the implications of the Core Strategy and Policies for nature conservation sites with a European nature conservation designation,

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