Language Impact Assessment Preferred Strategy May 2013
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1 LIA – Preferred Strategy CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. LANGUAGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE JLDP – 3 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 3. ASSESSMENT OF PREFERRED STRATEGY 10 APPENDIX 1 – Site Assessment Matrix Table APPENDIX 2 & 2a – Welsh Language Baseline Data APPENDIX 3 – Preferred Strategy Assessment Methodology APPENDIX 4 – Welsh Language Trends Maps APPENDIX 5 – LIA of the Preferred Strategy Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan May 2013 2 LIA – Preferred Strategy 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This report represents the assessment of the Preferred Strategy of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan. The Preferred Strategy of the Anglesey and Gwynedd JLDP provides the vision and aims of the emerging Plan, along with the preferred growth and distribution options. The Strategy also includes the strategic policies which will achieve the identified vision and aims. It will also include the key development sites, namely, the largest development sites which are crucial for the success of the development strategy. The language impact assessment of the Strategy has involved the assessment of the strategic policies and will also include an assessment of strategic sites in due course. The assessment has informed the Sustainability Appraisal of the Preferred Strategy. 2. LANGUAGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE JLDP – ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY The Language Impact Assessment Process 2.1 It is recognised that the field of language assessments is an area of discussion and a speciality that is still being developed, particularly in the context of development Plans. 2.2 It is recognised that the Language Impact Assessment of the Anglesey and Gwynedd JLDP is an iterative process and the assessment will need to be reviewed when aspects of the plan change in moving towards creating a deposit plan. It should also be noted that the LIA methodology is a subjective process intended to establish the probable impacts stemming from a development proposal or policy. 2.3 At this point it should be noted that the JLDP will be subject of a Sustainability Appraisal (SA). The SA Framework which will be applied to different stages of the plan contains an objective which aims to safeguard and enhance the Welsh language. The SA process will therefore further protect the Welsh language from adverse development. 2.4 In order to fully assess the language impact of the emerging JLDP it is important to understand the nature of Welsh language use along with the community characteristics of both Local Planning Authority areas and it is necessary to collect relevant statistics available locally and nationally to make a clear assessment. This will ensure that decisions are made based on robust, informed and accurate baseline data. Ward level data on a range of variables that are considered important in terms of influencing the use of the Welsh language has been collated in Appendix 2 and maps of this data is included in Appendix 4. Appendix 2a includes updated data from the 2011 Census. As some data relating to the Welsh language is unavailable at this Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan May 2013 3 LIA – Preferred Strategy moment, some columns in the table have been left blank. Once the relevant data becomes available, Appendix 2a will supercede Appendix 2. 2.5 The Language Impact Assessment can be broken down into three different stages of Plan development: i) Preferred Strategy ii) Development Sites iii) Deposit Plan Preferred Strategy (i) 2.6 The level of detail included in the preferred strategy, allows us to use the 18 questions that are contained in Appendix C of “Panning and the Welsh Language: The Way Ahead (2005)” as the framework for assessing the impact on the Welsh language (see appendix 3 of this document). 2.7 As strategic options cover more expansive areas as opposed to individual sites within settlements, it will be necessary to understand the issues relating to the Welsh language and influencing factors on a more extensive spatial scale 2.8 Understanding the nature of the Welsh language, along with associated factors on such a scale, will enable the assessment of the potential impact of strategic options on the Welsh language. An explanation of how options perform under each criterion will be provided. This stage has been completed and the assessment of the Preferred Strategy is included in Appendix 5. Development Site Language Impact Assessment (ii) 2.9 In order to ascertain what land is available to meet Anglesey and Gwynedd’s development needs, a Candidate Site Register (CSR) was opened where developers, landowners and the public could submit land for potential inclusion within the plan - either sites for future development or change of use or sites that need protecting for its special landscape, open space or conservation value. 2.10 In accordance with the Welsh Government’s (WG) guidance, included in the LDP Manual (2006), all submitted sites were assessed, firstly if they were suitable and capable of being developed, and secondly if they were compatible with the emerging Local Development Plan strategy. 2.11 The methodology included criteria to filter out sites that were below a certain size, contrary to national policy or were unsuitably located due to unacceptable constraint such as sites that are liable to flooding. The site appraisal process also considered the Councils’ requirement for undertaking various appraisals, which include a Sustainability Appraisal (SA). The SA includes an objective which aims to protect the Welsh language from the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan May 2013 4 LIA – Preferred Strategy adverse impacts of development. However, it is felt that this single objective was insufficient to comprehensively address the issue and that a more detailed Language Impact Assessment applied at different stages of plan development is needed. 2.12 In due course, the remaining sites will be subject to a Language Impact Assessment as described below. 2.13 Applying Welsh language Impact Assessment to development sites can be problematic because of the lack of details with regards to the type and scale of development being proposed. Essentially, what is being assessed at this stage is the size and location of land where a certain type of development may occur. In this context it is difficult to anticipate the specific size or actual type of development and therefore the likelihood of any adverse impact on the Welsh language. 2.14 In order to assess the potential impact on the Welsh language as accurately as possible, each site that is proposed for housing development will be assessed based on the assumption that a housing density of 30 units per hectare (uph) (the unit of measurement in Anglesey is density per hectare (dph)) is developed on the site, which is used as the general development density for each allocated site in the adopted Gwynedd UDP and the stopped Anglesey UDP. It should be remembered however, that the actual density for a development site will depend on a number of factors including location, topography, and the general character of the surroundings. The assumption of a 30 dph density will therefore be applied loosely and used only as a guide. 2.15 Assuming that a density of 30 units per hectare is applied to each site, the number of units that could occupy each site can be estimated and a more accurate assumption can be made with regard to the potential impact on the Welsh language. In accordance with guidance contained in Gwynedd’s and Anglesey’s ‘Planning and the Welsh Language’ SPG, only sites which can accommodate 5 or more units based on the 30 units per hectare density guide, will be subject to the Language Assessment. 2.16 An assessment criteria containing 10 questions will provide the basic framework for the consideration of sites in Anglesey and Gwynedd LPA’s. The assessment criteria has been adapted from the assessment framework for Linguistic Statements and Language Impact Assessment as outlined in the adopted ‘Planning and the Welsh Language’ SPG: Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan May 2013 5 LIA – Preferred Strategy General (all types of development) 1 How would development on the site be consistent with the national planning policy objectives relating to social, cultural and economic well- being set out in Planning Policy Wales? 2 How could development on the site satisfy local and community needs? 3 Would development on the site directly or indirectly maintain or add to communal facilities in the settlements / locality? 4 Is there any evidence that development on the site would be supported by the local community? Population Characteristics (all types of development) 5 Would the development on the site attract newcomers to the area and lead to a decline in the number of Welsh speakers? 6 Could development on the site contribute to migration from the area? 7 Could development on the site lead to a changing age structure of the community? Residential 8 Could residential development on the site potentially deliver a reasonable proportion of affordable housing due to its size and deliverability? Employment 9 Would development on the site contribute to maintaining a sufficient supply of land for employment opportunities i.e. wouldn’t lead to and over-supply of employment land? Mitigation 10 Would it be possible to alleviate any negative effects? 2.17 In order to facilitate an informed assessment, decisions will be made based on the data contained in the tables contained in Appendix 2 and 2a. The 10% lowest and highest figures for each indicator are highlighted – this enables easy interpretation of the data to facilitate informed decision-making. Therefore, decisions will be made based on the quantitative data, using professional judgement to determine the magnitude and probability of potential impact of development on the Welsh Language. It has been agreed through discussions with relevant language officers that areas where the proportion of Welsh speakers is less than 70% should be regarded as unsustainable to the Welsh language and this should be considered as part of Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan May 2013 6 LIA – Preferred Strategy the assessment process.