Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report (Charnwood Local Plan)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Charnwood Local Plan Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report Final Report January 2017 Report prepared for: Charnwood Borough Council JBA Project Manager David Revill JBA Consulting Kings Chambers 7-8 High Street Newport NP20 1QU Revision history Revision Ref / Date Issued Amendments Issued to v1-0 / 17 August 2016 Internal review. David Revill v1-1 / 18 August 2016 Richard Brown v2-1 / 31 August 2016 Amendments to sections 4 and 5 following CBC review. Richard Brown v3-1 / 6 September 2016 Amendments to Table 6-2. Richard Brown v4-1 / 7 September 2016 Issued for consultation. Richard Brown v5-1 / 1 December 2016 Amendments to sections 4 and 5 following consultation. Richard Brown v6-1 / 13 January 2017 Minor additions to sections 4 and 5. Richard Brown Contract This report describes work commissioned by Richard Brown, on behalf of Charnwood Borough Council, by an email dated 19 July 2016. Rachel Drabble and David Revill of JBA Consulting carried out this work. Prepared by: Rachel Drabble BSc (Hons) Environmental Consultant Reviewed by: David Revill BSc MSc CEnv MIES Principal Environmental Consultant Purpose This document has been prepared as a Final Report for Charnwood Borough Council. JBA Consulting accepts no responsibility or liability for any use that is made of this document other than by the Client for the purposes for which it was originally commissioned and prepared. JBA Consulting has no liability regarding the use of this report except to Charnwood Borough Council. Copyright © Jeremy Benn Associates Limited 2017 Carbon footprint A printed copy of the main text in this document will result in a carbon footprint of 272g if 100% post-consumer recycled paper is used and 346g if primary-source paper is used. These figures assume the report is printed in black and white on A4 paper and in duplex. JBA is aiming to reduce its per capita carbon emissions. 2016s4746 Charnw ood Local Plan - Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report_v6-1.docx i Contents 1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Charnwood Local Plan .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Sustainability Appraisal.......................................................................................... 1 1.3 Habitat Regulations Assessment ........................................................................... 2 1.4 Charnwood Borough.............................................................................................. 2 1.5 Key challenges facing Charnwood Borough ............................................................ 3 2 Sustainability Appraisal methodology ................................................................ 5 2.1 Meeting the requirements of the SEA Directive ........................................................ 5 2.2 Stages of the Sustainability Appraisal process ........................................................ 6 2.3 Scope of the Sustainability Appraisal ...................................................................... 7 3 Stage A1: Review of other relevant plans, programmes and policies ................. 10 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Summary of the review .......................................................................................... 12 4 Stage A2: Environmental characteristics of Charnwood Borough ...................... 14 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 14 4.2 Landscape character ............................................................................................. 14 4.3 Biodiversity and nature conservation ....................................................................... 18 4.4 Water environment................................................................................................. 22 4.5 Land..................................................................................................................... 26 4.6 Historic environment .............................................................................................. 30 4.7 Air quality ............................................................................................................. 32 4.8 Climate................................................................................................................. 34 4.9 Population ............................................................................................................ 35 4.10 Local economy ..................................................................................................... 38 4.11 Material assets ..................................................................................................... 39 4.12 Waste and minerals............................................................................................... 42 5 Stage A3: Identifying key sustainability issues ................................................... 44 6 Stage A4: Developing Sustainability Appraisal objectives.................................. 46 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 46 6.2 Sustainability Appraisal objectives and appraisal criteria .......................................... 46 6.3 Impact significance................................................................................................ 51 6.4 Sustainability Assessment approach....................................................................... 51 7 Stage A5: Next steps in the Sustainability Appraisal process ............................. 52 7.1 Consultation.......................................................................................................... 52 7.2 The Environmental Report ..................................................................................... 52 8 References .......................................................................................................... 53 A Appendix A: Review of plans, programmes and policies .................................... 57 2016s4746 Charnw ood Local Plan - Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report_v6-1.docx ii List of figures Figure 1-1: Charnwood Borough......................................................................................... 3 Figure 2-1: Key stages of Local Plan preparation and their link with the Sustainability Appraisal process (DCLG, 2014) ........................................................................ 7 Figure 4-1: Distribution of Landscape Character Areas in Charnwood Borough ..................... 15 Figure 4-2: Distribution of National Character Areas in Charnwood Borough ......................... 17 Figure 4-3: Distribution of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Charnwood Borough ... 20 Figure 4-4: Location of Local Natures Reserves (LNR) and Local Wildlife Sites (LWSs) in Charnwood Borough.......................................................................................... 21 Figure 4-5: The river network in Charnwood Borough .......................................................... 23 Figure 4-6: Location of Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS) in Charnwood Borough............................................................................................................ 27 Figure 4-7: Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) in Charnwood Borough ............................. 28 Figure 4-8: Landfill sites in Charnwood Borough .................................................................. 29 Figure 4-9: Designated heritage sites in Charnwood Borough............................................... 31 Figure 4-10: Archaeological Interest Sites and Archaeological Alert areas in Charnwood Borough............................................................................................................ 32 Figure 4-11: Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in Charnwood Borough (excluding Mountsorrel AQMA) .......................................................................................... 33 Figure 4-12: Distribution of transport infrastructure in Charnwood Borough ........................... 40 Figure 4-13: Distribution of Public Rights of Way (PRoW) in Charnwood Borough ................. 41 List of tables Table 2-1: Stages in the SA/SEA process as identified within Annex I of the SEA Directive .... 5 Table 2-2: Stages in the Sustainability Appraisal process .................................................... 6 Table 2-3: Sustainability topics to be covered in the Sustainability Appraisal ......................... 8 Table 3-1: Policies, plans and programmes reviewed through this Sustainability Appraisal process ............................................................................................................ 10 Table 3-2: Key themes of the Plans, Programmes and Policies review .................................. 12 Table 4-1: Summary of Charnwood Borough Landscape Character Areas ............................ 15 Table 4-2: Sites of Special Scientific Interest within Charnwood Borough .............................. 18 Table 4-3: European sites within 20km of Charnwood Borough ............................................ 20 Table 4-4: Local Nature Reserves in Charnwood Borough ................................................... 21 Table 4-5: Summary of the WFD status of the waterbodies in Charnwood Borough ..............