Aecom Sustainability Assessment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Great & Little Kimble-Cum- Marsh Neighbourhood Plan Sustainability Appraisal to accompany the submission version of the Neighbourhood Plan Great & Little Kimble-cum-Marsh Parish Council April 2019 Kimble Neighbourhood Plan Non-Technical Summary Quality information Prepared by Checked by Verified by Approved by Rosie Cox Nick Chisholm-Batten Alastair Peattie Steven Smith Environmental Planner Associate Director Associate Director Technical Director Revision History Revision Revision date Details Authorized Name Position V7.0 19th March 2019 Updated initial 19th March 2019 Nick Chisholm- Associate draft Batten V8.0 11th April 2019 Final draft for 11th April 2019 Alastair Peattie Associate client comment V9.0 15th April 2019 Final version 15th April 2019 Alastair Peattie Associate Prepared for: Great & Little Kimble-cum-Marsh Parish Council Prepared by: AECOM Portwall Place Portwall Lane Bristol, BS1 6NA United Kingdom aecom.com © 2019 AECOM Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) for use of Locality (the “Client”) in accordance with generally accepted consultancy principles, the budget for fees and the terms of reference agreed between AECOM and the Client. 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. No third party may rely upon this document without the prior and express written agreement of AECOM. Prepared for: Great and Little Kimble-cum- Marsh Parish Council AECOM i Kimble Neighbourhood Plan Non-Technical Summary Table of Contents Non-Technical Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 SA explained ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Structure of this SA Environmental Report ............................................................................................................................... 2 2. Local Plan context and vision for the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan ......... 4 Local Plan context for the Neighbourhood Plan .................................................................................................................... 4 Vision, aims and objectives of the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan ................................................................................... 6 3. What is the scope of the SA? ................................................................................... 7 SA Scoping Report ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Key sustainability issues ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 SA Framework ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 4. What has plan making / SA involved up to this point? ................................ 15 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 15 Assessment of reasonable alternatives for the Neighbourhood Plan ..................................................................... 15 SA site appraisal findings ................................................................................................................................................................ 16 Summary of SA site appraisal findings ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Current approach in the Neighbourhood Plan and the development of Neighbourhood Plan policies . 20 5. What are the appraisal findings at this current stage? ............................... 21 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Approach to the appraisal .............................................................................................................................................................. 21 Air Quality ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Biodiversity and Geodiversity ....................................................................................................................................................... 21 Climate Change.................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Landscape and Historic Environment ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Land, Soil and Water Resources .................................................................................................................................................. 26 Community ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 26 Health and Wellbeing ......................................................................................................................................................................... 27 Transportation....................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 Conclusions at this current stage ............................................................................................................................................... 29 6. What are the next steps? ....................................................................................... 31 Appendix A Context Review and Baseline ................................................................... 32 Prepared for: Great and Little Kimble-cum- Marsh Parish Council AECOM ii Kimble Neighbourhood Plan Non-Technical Summary Non-Technical Summary What is a Sustainability Appraisal? A Sustainability Appraisal (SA) has been undertaken to inform the Great and Little Kimble-cum- Marsh Neighbourhood Plan (hereafter refered to as the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan). This process is required by the SEA Regulations. Neighbourhood Plan groups use SA to assess Neighbourhood Plans against a set of sustainability objectives developed in consultation with interested parties. The purpose of the assessment is to avoid adverse environmental and socio-economic effects through the Neighbourhood Plan, and identify opportunities to improve the environmental quality of the area covered by the Neighbourhood Plan and the quality of life of residents. What is the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan? The Kimble Neighbourhood Plan presents a plan for the administrative area of Great and Little Kimble- cum-Marsh for the period to 2033. Prepared to be in conformity with the Wycombe new Local Plan, it sets out a vision and a range of policies for the Neighbourhood Plan area. These relate to a range of topics, including, but not limited to, landscape and villagescape character, the quality of life of residents, tourism and the protection and enhancement of the environment. It is currently anticipated that the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan will be submitted to Wycombe District Council later in 2019. Purpose of this SA Report This SA Report, which accompanies the Regulation 14 version of the DCNP, is the latest document to be produced as part of the SA process. The first document was the SA Scoping Report (October 2017), which includes information about the DCNP area’s environment and community. The purpose of this SA Report is to: • Identify, describe and evaluate the likely significant effects of the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan and alternatives; and • Provide an opportunity for consultees to offer views on any aspect of the SA process which has been carried out to date. The SA Report contains: • An outline of the contents and main objectives of the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan and its relationship with other relevant policies, plans and programmes; • Relevant aspects of the current and future state of the environment and key sustainability issues; • The SA Framework of objectives against which the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan has been assessed; • The appraisal of alternative approaches for the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan; • The likely significant environmental effects of the Kimble Neighbourhood Plan; • The measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and as fully as possible