Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan East Northamptonshire Local Plan November 2012 East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan (November 2012) Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1 1. INTRODUCTION 3 BACKGROUND 3 THE FOUR TOWNS PLAN 4 WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL? 4 PURPOSE OF THE SCOPING REPORT 4 2. PLANS AND PROGRAMMES INFLUENCING THE FOUR 8 TOWNS PLAN AND SA (TASK A1) 3. BASELINE INFORMATION AND IDENTIFYING 8 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES AND PROBLEMS (TASK A2 AND A3) Recent economic conditions 10 Settlement Pattern and Transport Links 13 The Economy 15 Retail and Leisure provision 18 Population 19 Deprivation 20 Housing 21 Health 23 Crime 24 Education 25 Biodiversity 26 Landscape 28 Cultural Heritage 28 Air 29 Water Quality and Resources 30 Soil and Land 31 Minerals and Waste 33 Energy and Climate Change 34 Green Infrastructure 36 4. SUSTAINABILITY FRAMEWORK 39 Development of Framework (Task A4) 39 Appraisal method 41 Monitoring 42 5. CONSULTATION ON SCOPE OF SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL 43 (TASK A5) Next Stages 44 APPENDIX 1: Review of Relevant Plans and Programmes APPENDIX 2: Census 2011 – summary information East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan (November 2012) Key website references: Northamptonshire Environmental Character and Green Infrastructure Study (River Nene Regional Park website): http://www.riverneneregionalpark.org/ Environment Agency Flood Maps: http://maps.environment- agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController?x=531500.0&y=181500.0&topic=floodmap&ep =map&scale=3&location=London,%20City%20of%20London&lang=_e&layerGroups =default&textonly=off East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan (November 2012) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The draft Scoping Report has been prepared with reference to the following: Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) Plan Making Manual (Hosted by the Planning Advisory Service) ‘Sustainability Appraisal of Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Documents’ (ODPM, November 2005: now discontinued) ‘A Practical Guide to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive’ (ODPM, September 2005) The Sustainability Appraisal (SA) will be undertaken with reference to current SA criteria set out in the CLG Plan Making Manual. These have already been used in the final Scoping Report for the emerging North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy (JCS) review (October 2011) and it is anticipated, for consistency, that the same criteria would be applied to the Four Towns Plan, as a “daughter” development plan document to the JCS review. The report considers a range of baseline information for the Plan area and the District as a whole. This is necessary to gain the widest understanding of opportunities and issues which may impact upon the effective implementation of the Four Towns Plan and the East Northamptonshire Local Plan as a whole (i.e. the Four Towns Plan, together with the JCS review). A large quantity of baseline information has been gathered in the past through a range of projects and initiatives: East Northamptonshire Council Single Equality Scheme 2012/13 – Profile of the District and East Northamptonshire Council 2012 JCS Scoping Report (October 2011) North Northamptonshire Annual Monitoring Reports (AMRs) (most recent, December 2011) East Northamptonshire Contextual Information (for 2010 AMR) East Northamptonshire District Profile Information (2009/10) Raunds Area Plan Preferred Options Sustainability Appraisal Report (January 2007) Three Towns Plan Preferred Options Sustainability Appraisal Report (September 2006) Of course, available baseline data varies greatly in terms of how up to date or detailed it is. The majority of available socio-economic data is still based upon the 2001 Census, although 2011 data is now available at the District (but not, as yet, Ward/ sub-District) level. Further information/ data from stakeholders and infrastructure providers (i.e. statutory consultees) may become available through the initial consultation process for this Scoping Report. The baseline data previously available aided the development and subsequent refinement of the Sustainability Objectives for the JCS review (North Northamptonshire has 21 separate objectives). These cover a wide range of social, East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan (November 2012) economic and environmental issues in relation to sustainability and it is considered appropriate that these should also be used for the Four Towns Plan SA. The SA objectives for the JCS review will now be fed into the SA process for the Four Towns Plan. These objectives should then be used throughout the constituent documents which make up the East Northamptonshire Local Plan, including the Four Towns Plan. East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan (October 2012) NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY Sustainable Development 1 The concept of “sustainable development” should underpin plan-making and decision-taking at all levels. Indeed, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, which is described as a “golden thread running through both plan-making and decision-taking” (paragraph 14). 2 The concept of sustainable development aims to enable all people to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In defining sustainable development the Government has prepared a Sustainable Development Strategy for the United Kingdom (March 2005) with a number of priorities for action: Sustainable consumption and production Climate change and energy Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement Sustainable communities The Local Plan 3 The Local Plan sets out the vision, strategy, and policies for planning and controlling land use in East Northamptonshire. The emerging JCS review will provide the overarching strategic policies for the District, together with the Boroughs of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough. The Four Towns Plan is intended to provide more local detail and incorporate policies which need to be covered by the Local Plan, but which are of a non-strategic nature (e.g. site specific allocations and designations). Sustainable development must be at the core of planning and Sustainability Appraisal is the tool to help improve the sustainability of plans as they are prepared. Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) 4 The purpose of SA is to promote sustainable development through the integration of social, economic and environmental considerations into the preparation of the plan. It is an ongoing process that includes a number of key stages where both statutory and public consultation takes place. SEA specifically considers the effects of the development plan documents on the environment. It must predict and evaluate the measures required to offset any adverse effects identified. 5 SEA and SA are separate processes but, in line with Government Guidance, an integrated approach to the two has been taken in this report. The SA Process 6 Government guidance sets out a staged approach to the SA process: Stage A – Setting the Context and Objectives, Establishing the Baseline and Deciding on the Scope 1 East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Four Towns Plan (November 2012) Stage B – Developing and Refining Options Stage C – Appraising the Effects of the plan Stage D – Consulting on the Draft Plan and Sustainability Appraisal Report SA Scoping 7 This report represents the first stage in meeting the SEA requirements and informing the Four Towns Plan. It has been prepared for consultation and it asks interested parties and organisations whether the Sustainability Appraisal and objectives are correct. There are a number of questions, at the end of this section, asking whether consultees know of any other information that should be taken into account and whether there could be any improvements to the proposed framework for assessing this and future Development Plan Documents? Sustainability Framework 8 This framework and objective build on the previously adopted SA framework for the JCS review (Interim Sustainability Appraisal Report), taking into account proposed changes in policy direction or advice given. The framework of objectives and decision-aiding questions provides a way in which the sustainability effects of a development option or policy can be described or compared. Comments about whether each option or policy is likely to assist or conflict with each SA objective are recorded in detailed tables. Where any significant conflicts are identified possible measures to offset adverse effects will be considered – this could range between a different option or a change in policy the wording. 9 The results of the SA will be reported for public consultation at the same time as each stage of the Four Towns Plan. The two processes run in parallel. Next Steps 10 Now the report is complete, the SA objectives will be fed into the SA for the Four Towns Plan. The objectives will be used in all documents to help sustainably appraise policies set out in all documents 2 East Northamptonshire Local Plan: Draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for