St Edmundsbury Borough Council Core Strategy Submission Document Sustainability Appraisal Report Non-Technical Summary Overview of Process and Purpose of Sustainability Appraisal St Edmundsbury Borough Council is preparing a Local Development Framework (LDF) for the Borough, comprising a number of Development Plan Documents (DPDs) that set out the policies and proposals for the development and use of land. As part of the LDF, the Core Strategy DPD will set out the vision, objectives and key policies for the future development of St Edmundsbury. It will supersede the Replacement St Edmundsbury Borough Local Plan. This SA Report has been prepared to fulfil the requirements for SA arising from the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) arising from the SEA Directive. The purpose of SA is to promote sustainable development through better integration of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) considerations in the preparation and adoption of plans. The SEA Directive requires that certain plans and programmes undergo an environmental assessment, due to the likelihood that they will have significant environmental effects once implemented. This Sustainability Appraisal Report (SA Report) accompanies the Core Strategy Submission Document. It builds on the earlier SA work undertaken by the Council for the SA Scoping Report, the initial SA of the Core Strategy Issues and Options document (March 2008) and the SA Report of the Core Strategy Preferred Options and Strategic Sites document (November 2008). The Process Followed Throughout the report the term SA is used to describe the combined process SA/SEA, which involved four main stages. Stage 1 • Identifying other plans, programmes and sustainability objectives which inform and influence the development of the Core Strategy DPD; • Establishing an understanding of the social, environmental and economic conditions of St Edmundsbury (the baseline); • Identifying key sustainability issues in the borough; • Outlining SA objectives against which to later evaluate the Core Strategy DPD policies; • Gathering consultation feedback on the SA’s proposed breadth of coverage and level of detail. Stage 2 • An assessment was carried out on a series of spatial strategic options and reported in the initial SA of Core Strategy Issues and Options document (March 2008). Stage 3 • An assessment was carried out on a set of draft policies and reported in the SA Report of the Core Strategy Preferred Options and Strategic Sites document (November 2008). Stage 4 • An assessment was carried out of the strategic sites in the SA Report of the Core Strategy Preferred Options and Strategic Sites document (November 2008) and reported in this Sustainability Appraisal Report. • Taking into account the revised policy wording resulting from the Preferred Options consultation, a further iteration of assessment of policies contained in the Core Strategy Submission document has been undertaken and reported in this Sustainability Appraisal Report. Appropriate Assessment There are three European designations relating to nature conservation within the district: Breckland Special Protection Areas, Brecklands Special Areas of Conservation and Waveney and Little Ouse Valley Fens Special Areas of Conservation. There is a requirement for any policies, plans or projects with potential to affect European sites to undergo Appropriate Assessment under the European Habitats Directive. Although the requirement and process are separate from that for SA, the two processes have been run in parallel for the Core Strategy DPD. Appropriate Assessment screening of the Core Strategy DPD concluded that there will be no likely significant effects due to the implementation of the Core Strategy policies. These results are reflected in the SA Report. Contents and Main Objectives of the Core Strategy The St Edmundsbury Core Strategy DPD sets out the Council’s vision for future growth, objectives and strategic policy framework that will manage and guide development in the borough over the next twenty years and beyond. The St Edmundsbury vision includes a number of highlights, including ensuring that the distinctive local character, unique local heritage and environmental and cultural assets are retained and enhanced and employment growth and development will produce a prosperous sustainable economy. The Core Strategy objectives are as follows: A To deliver housing in a sustainable way, including specialist and affordable housing to meet the needs of the whole community, by providing an adequate and continuous supply of land for housing whilst seeking to maximise the amount of Previously Developed Land used. B To secure economic vitality and growth by delivering an adequate and continuous supply of land for employment to meet the needs and demands of different sectors of the economy and reduce the need for out-commuting. C To sustain and enhance rural communities by providing, where infrastructure and environmental capacity exists, new housing to grow settlements and safeguard existing rural services while, maintaining and, where possible, improving the rural environment. D To maintain and develop leisure, cultural, educational and community facilities, including access to green space, commensurate to the level of housing and employment growth to meet the needs of residents and visitors. E To provide opportunities for people to shop for all their needs by sustainable means in thriving and economically viable town, local and district centres. F To enable people and goods to move around efficiently and safely to the benefit of the economy and community, with minimum harm to the environment by seeking to reduce car dependency and encouraging more sustainable forms of transport. G To maintain and protect built and natural environment and ensure that new development protects and enhances assets of local design, cultural, historic and conservation importance, and character of the landscape. H To maintain, protect and enhance the biodiversity, geodiversity and natural environment and seek opportunities to increase the provision of green open space and access to the countryside. I To ensure that new development only occurs where there is adequate capacity in existing services, facilities and infrastructure or where this capacity can reasonably be provided. J To ensure new development addresses and tackles environmental and sustainability issues including climate change adaptation, carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy provision, recycling, waste reduction and water efficiency. The Core Strategy contains a set of fifteen policies developed to implement the vision and objectives, as follows: Policy CS1 St Edmundsbury Spatial Strategy Policy CS2 Sustainable Development Policy CS3 Design and Local Distinctiveness Policy CS4 Settlement Hierarchy and Identity Policy CS5 Affordable Housing Policy CS6 Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Policy CS7 Sustainable Transport Policy CS8 Strategic Transport Improvements Policy CS9 Employment and the Local Economy Policy CS10 Retail, Leisure and Cultural Provision Policy CS11 Bury St Edmunds Strategic Growth Policy CS12 Haverhill Strategic Growth Policy CS13 Rural Areas Policy CS14 Sequential approach to sites development Policy CS15 Community infrastructure capacity and tariffs Sustainability Baseline and Key Issues The borough of St Edmundsbury is located in Western Suffolk. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Mid Suffolk and Babergh Districts to the east, Essex to the south and Cambridgeshire and Forest Heath District to the west. While administratively St Edmundsbury’s links are with Suffolk County Council, increasingly the borough is playing a stronger role in the sub-region of Cambridge because of their common economic and social needs. The borough has two main towns - Bury St Edmunds to the north and Haverhill to the south. St Edmundsbury is scattered with a large number of villages and small settlements and retains a predominantly rural character despite its industrial nature. The main sustainability issues identified for St Edmundsbury, which the Core Strategy must address, are briefly summarised below. Significant Historic and Future Population Growth The population has grown significantly over the past two decades (by 16.9%). This growth is expected to continue, particularly with the identification of Bury St Edmunds as a key centre for development and change in the East of England Plan Historic growth in the number of older people in the Borough (+14.7% over 2002-07) has been significantly higher than that experienced in the East of England as a whole (+8.8% over 2002-07). However, the age profile broadly reflects that of the East of England. 43% of the borough’s population live in rural areas. This is an unusually high proportion (23% of England’s population live in rural areas), and reflects the largely rural nature of the borough. Relatively Low Education and Qualification Attainment The percentage of the population with no qualifications is more than double the figures for the East of England and England. Localised Deprivation Deprivation is increasing, with the borough’s IMD rank having decreased from 267 in 2004 to 260 in 2007. However, deprivation is not evenly located throughout the borough. The IMD rankings show that LSOAs in Haverhill are more consistently deprived; suggesting that deprivation in Haverhill is more widespread rather than just concentrated in small pockets. Furthermore, levels of deprivation in