Sustainability Appraisal of Gravesham Local Plan Stage 2 Regulation 18 Consultation
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Gravesham Borough Council Sustainability Appraisal of Gravesham Local Plan Stage 2 Regulation 18 Consultation Final report Prepared by LUC October 2020 Gravesham Borough Council Sustainability Appraisal of Gravesham Local Plan Stage 2 Regulation 18 Consultation Project Number 10837 Version Status Prepared Checked Approved Date 1. Draft report J Pearson K Nicholls T Livingston 15.10.2020 K Nicholls E Hynes E Smith K Kaczor K Moroney 2. Final report J Pearson K Nicholls T Livingston 22.10.2020 K Nicholls E Hynes E Smith K Kaczor K Moroney Bristol Land Use Consultants Ltd Landscape Design Edinburgh Registered in England Strategic Planning & Assessment Glasgow Registered number 2549296 Development Planning London Registered office: Urban Design & Masterplanning Manchester 250 Waterloo Road Environmental Impact Assessment London SE1 8RD Landscape Planning & Assessment landuse.co.uk Landscape Management 100% recycled paper Ecology Historic Environment GIS & Visualisation Contents SA of Gravesham Local Plan October 2020 Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 5 Introduction 1 SA findings for preferred site allocations and reasonable alternatives 42 The Local Plan area 1 The Local Plan 2 Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Chapter 6 Assessment 3 SA findings for preferred development Habitats Regulations Assessment 5 management policies and reasonable Structure of this report 5 alternatives 57 Green belt 57 Chapter 2 Agricultural land 63 Methodology 7 Retail 64 Infrastructure 69 SA Stage A: Scoping 8 Renewable and Low Carbon Energy 74 SA Stage B: Developing and refining options and Green infrastructure 75 assessing effects 10 Landscape Character 78 SA Stage C: Preparing the Sustainability Appraisal report 12 Biodiversity 79 SA Stage D: Consultation on the Local Plan and the SA Report 12 Flood Risk and Water 80 SA Stage E: Monitoring implementation of the Local Plan 12 Residential 84 Difficulties Encountered 12 Amenity 90 Design 93 Heritage assets 96 Chapter 3 Recommendations 98 Sustainability context and SA framework 14 Chapter 7 Key issues 15 Recommendations and monitoring 103 The SA framework 16 Recommendations 103 Monitoring 103 Chapter 4 SA findings for Core Strategy Partial Review reasonable alternatives 23 Chapter 8 Conclusions and Next steps 108 A profile of Gravesham 23 Vison and strategic objectives 23 Next steps 108 Meeting the Borough's housing needs 24 Delivering economic prosperity 27 Appendix A Where and how should the Borough’s development Consultation comments A-1 needs be met? 29 Green Belt and inset settlement boundaries 35 Consultation comments received in relation to the SA of Open spaces and Local Green Space 37 Regulation 18 Stage 1 documents A-2 Infrastructure and services provision 39 Comments from the focussed Scoping consultation A-4 Climate change 39 LUC I i Contents SA of Gravesham Local Plan October 2020 Contents Appendix B Detailed sustainability context B-1 Population, health and wellbeing B-1 Economy 9 Transport connections and travel habits 12 Air, land and water quality 15 Climate change adaptation and mitigation 21 Biodiversity 26 Historic environment 30 Landscape 32 Appendix C Assumptions applied in the SA of site options C-1 Appendix D Detailed SA findings for the Reasonable Alternative Site Options D-1 Appendix E Council’s reasons for selecting preferred options in light of reasonable alternatives E-1 LUC I ii Chapter- 1 Introduction SA of Gravesham Local Plan October 2020 Chapter 1 Introduction This report has been prepared by LUC on behalf of Gravesham Borough Council to document the current stage of the integrated Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Gravesham Local Plan. Gravesham Borough Council adopted its Local Plan Core Strategy in 2014. The Government requires local planning authorities to review their Local Plans every five years and a review of the adopted Gravesham Local Plan Core Strategy has identified that while most of it is still relevant, a limited number of policies relating to the amount of development needed in the Borough have become out of date. Therefore, the Council is required by Government to go through the process of updating its Local Plan Core Strategy as soon as is practicably possible - this process is referred to as the Local Plan Core Strategy Partial Review. As well as the Partial Review of the Local Plan Core Strategy policies, Gravesham Borough Council is also identifying development site allocations and preparing development management policies. At the present stage of consultation (Regulation 181), the Local Plan Core Strategy Partial Review policies and the site allocations are presented in one document and the development management policies are set out separately. The Council intends that all three components will be combined into a single document at the next (Regulation 192) stage of consultation. This report relates to the Stage 2 Preferred Approach (Regulation 18) versions of the Local Plan Core Strategy Partial Review and Site Allocations (October 2020) and the Development Management Policies Document (October 2020) and it should be read in conjunction with those two documents. The Local Plan area3 Gravesham Borough is located on the south bank of the River Thames in the north of Kent, approximately 20 miles east of London. It is broadly triangular in shape and stretches from the River Thames in the north to the crest of the North Downs in the south. The Borough is bounded by the local _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) 2 Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 SI No. 2012/767, covering ‘preparation of a local plan’. Regulations 2012 SI No. 2012/767, covering ‘publication of a local plan’. 3 Gravesham Borough Council (2014) Gravesham Local Plan Core Strategy LUC I 1 Chapter 1 Introduction SA of Gravesham Local Plan October 2020 authorities of Dartford and Sevenoaks to the west, Tonbridge Development). The Local Plan Core Strategy Partial Review and Malling to the south and Medway to the east. Thurrock and Site Allocations consultation document (October 2020) lies to the north, on the opposite side of the River Thames. includes information in Appendix 3 about which of the policies in the adopted Local Plan Core Strategy are to be retained The Borough is bisected from east to west by the A2/M2 and so are not subject to the partial review. Topic areas that trunk road and by the High Speed 1 railway line. The A2/M2 are being reviewed are: provides access to Greater London and the Channel Ports as well as the M25. The High Speed 1 line links Gravesend to ◼ Vision and Strategic objectives London St Pancras with journey times of approximately 25 ◼ Meeting the Borough’s housing needs minutes, passing through Ebbsfleet with links to Paris, Lille and Brussels. ◼ Delivering economic prosperity The population of the Borough was 101,700 in 2011, ◼ Where and how should the Borough’s development compared to around 95,700 when the 2001 census was taken. needs be met? The Gravesend and Northfleet conurbation lies to the north of ◼ Green Belt and inset settlement boundaries the A2 alongside the River Thames. They are the principal settlements with the widest range of services and facilities, ◼ Open spaces and local green space most of the employment space, and where about 80% of the ◼ Infrastructure and services provision population of the Borough lives. ◼ Climate change Outside of Gravesend and Northfleet, the Borough is predominantly rural and 78% of the Borough is designated as The site allocations component of the Core Strategy part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt. 40% of the Green Partial Review document will identify specific locations for Belt is designated either as part of the Thames Estuary and residential, employment and mixed use development and local Marshes Ramsar site or as part of the Kent Downs Area of green spaces. Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Borough has a rich The Development Management Policies Document will historic built environment, much of which derives from its contain detailed policies for guiding and managing extensive maritime, military, industrial and transport history. development in the Borough. Topics covered are: The Local Plan ◼ Green Belt The Development Plan for Gravesham Borough ◼ Agricultural land currently comprises: ◼ Retail ◼ The Gravesham Local Plan Core Strategy (September ◼ Infrastructure 2014) ◼ Renewable and low carbon energy ◼ The Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-2030 (July 2016) including the Kent Minerals and Waste Local ◼ Green infrastructure Plan Early Partial Review (October 2019) ◼ Landscape character ◼ Saved policies from the Gravesham Local Plan First ◼ Biodiversity Review (November 1994) ◼ Flood risk and water ◼ The draft South East Marine Plan (January 2019). ◼ Residential Following adoption of the Local Plan Core Strategy in September 2014, Gravesham Borough Council commissioned ◼ Amenity a study to identify the Borough’s revised objectively assessed ◼ Design housing need going forward. This study, the Strategic Housing and Economic Needs Assessment (SHENA), identified that ◼ Heritage assets the Borough’s objectively assessed housing need had The Development Management Policies Document will increased since the adoption of the Local Plan Core Strategy. be prepared in line with the strategic priorities and policies in The Government’s standard