6 Sustainability Appraisal 53 Sustainability Appraisal Sustainability Appraisal - Developing SA objectives; and A Sustainability appraisal has been carried out by White Young Green, the appraisal can be found in the accompanying appendices 9. - Testing the Southwick Master Plan objectives against the SA objectives. Southwick is a residential area in North Sunderland which suffers from high levels of The SA objectives were derived from the North East Integrated Regional Framework (IRF) socioeconomic deprivation. The area has a large proportion of housing in poor condition. objectives. These objectives were used to assess the social, economic and environmental This housing is both physically and economically unsound. Sunderland Housing Group effects of the Southwick Master Plan. (SHG) owns a large number of properties in Southwick. In response to the poor condition of the existing housing SHG has produced a Master Plan for redevelopment of housing in The SA compared two options: implementation of the Master Plan as set out by SHG and central Southwick. the ‘do nothing’ scenario. The SA identified that implementation of the Master Plan is considered to be the most sustainable option. This is because of the significant The renewal area is known as the Central Southwick Renewal Area. opportunities it offers towards improving the physical environment in Southwick and the It is proposed that the Southwick Master Plan will be adopted as an Interim Planning Policy potential knock on effects of this upon tackling the high levels of deprivation in the area. (IPP) by Sunderland City Council (SCC) under their Unitary Development Plan. Once adopted as an IPP the Southwick Master Plan will be a material consideration when The SA identified the following significant beneficial effects of the Southwick Master determining planning applications in the area. In due course the IPP will be incorporated Plan: into the Local Development Framework (LDF) being developed by SCC to replace their existing Unitary Development Plan. - Provision of better quality housing which will meet the needs of the community in Southwick; White Young Green Environmental (WYGE) has been commissioned by SHG to undertake a combined Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the - Improvement in the quality of the built environment in Southwick; draft Southwick Master Plan. The combined approach to Sustainability Appraisal and SEA adopted by WYGE is simply referred to as Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and the process - Improved access to open space and health, educational and community facilities; undertaken has resulted in the production of this Sustainability Report. The purpose of the SA process is to identify the likely significant social, economic and environmental effects of - Encouragement of walking and cycling through provision of safe and attractive footpaths the Southwick Master Plan and the extent to which the Southwick Master Plan will meet and cycleways; and sustainability objectives. - Environmental improvements through the use of sustainable design and construction in In order to appraise the Southwick Master Plan a SA framework was developed. This accordance with the BREEAM Eco Homes Excellent standard. involved the following activities: - Consultation with key stakeholders via a questionnaire; - Reviewing other plans and programmes of relevance to the Southwick Master Plan; - Collecting key social, economic and environmental data on Southwick; - Identifying the current social, economic and environmental situation in Southwick; - Identifying key sustainability issues; 54 The SA also identified the following significant adverse effects of the Southwick Master Plan: - Potential for current homeowners in Southwick to be unable to buy new homes in the area due to an increase in house prices; and - Environmental and social issues associated with the construction phase of the Southwick Master Plan. Mitigation measures to maximise beneficial effects and minimise adverse effects of the Southwick Master Plan have been developed. These mitigation measures should be incorporated into the development of the Southwick Master Plan and future planning applications. A set of targets and indicators have also been developed. These should be used to monitor performance of the Southwick Master Plan against the SA objectives. 55 . 7 Urban Design Analysis 57 Urban Design Analysis - Land Use Land use The predominant land use is residential, (with housing stock and its environment varying with age and quality). Older housing exists in the form of single storey, terraced "Sunderland cottages", which are located in the historic townships and villages of Southwick, Monkwearmouth, Roker, Fulwell and Castletown. Due to historic development the range of land use is narrowly defined with the wider context of facilities being provided outside the large central development zone as illustrated by figure 67. Housing Fig.64 In designing new places, what North Sunderland has a wide-ranging spectrum of housing and environmental Renewal Boundary role is the centre to have when all the conditions. To the east of Southwick, Fulwell provides tree-lined avenues of well mixed use elements are sucked to the edge maintained 1930’s semi-detached housing. There are also a number of traditional terraced streets in the area with strong character, for example those to the south of Thompson Road. Carley Hill is located to the north of Southwick. It consists of a range of private and social housing with integral landscaped areas and easily accessible open space. Marley Potts, to the west of Southwick, is made up of inter-war council housing similar in nature to those in Central Southwick. The streets close to the central retail core contain little landscaping or open space, and the housing here tends to be in a poor state of repair. Fig.65 Uses are still being zoned and roads desinged as strategic routes at the expense of the creation of more local relationships based on walking and cycling Fig 68-70 Variation of housing styles within North Sunderland Fig.67 Illustration showing land use The need for a mixed use - Sustainability As Southwick has developed community facilities and access to services predominantly council provision.This trend, coupled with economic has become further widespread and overlooked, leaving the area with deprivation has led to a progressively reduced retail offer within the green, declining opportunities and quality of environment. Successful accelerating the economic decline. New investment in housing, education communities require a full range of services and facilities, including health and leisure will encourage re-population and re-invigorate the retail commercial, educational, health, spiritual and civic uses. These need to hub. Fig.66 A more vibrant and sustainable be conveniently sited and connected to residential areas by safe and Public Service Agreement 2 - Government target form results from bluring the distiction comfortable routes. A more integrated approach of development and “By 2010, bring all social housing into decent condition with most of this between uses and designing places provision of services will see a wide range of social, economic, welfare improvement taking place in deprived areas, and increase the proportion that make walking to the local centre, and bus stop or station as conveinient and environmental improvement. Over the years Southwick has lost its of private housing in decent condition occupied by vulnerable groups”. and comfortable as possible original diversity. Housing has become mono-cultural, being (SR2000 target rolled forward and amended) 58 Urban Design Analysis - Transport Key Transport Central Southwick is predominately made-up of non-car owning households, which rely on public transport. The area is served by the number 4 and 18 ‘Superroute’ bus services, which run every ten minutes during daytime hours. In addition, the Tyne and Wear Metro line is located approximately Traffic congestion 1.5km to the east of the renewal area, with services running every twelve to fifteen minutes Traffic routes in Recent provision of the Tyne & Wear metro to the South bank may be seen as a direct threat to the retail core of the green and better integration of the service to the community should be considered. Enhanced public transport must be provided to reconnect Southwick with its hinterland, and assist it to compete with neighbouring retail cores. The importance of bus services to the Green is vital in its viable future. However, traffic calming measures need careful consideration so that heavy traffic does not threaten its very lifeline. Although the area is well served by its North / South axis and the East / West route which provide strong focus to the area, the routes cause problems of heavy traffic which bounds and thru-flows Southwick. At present Faber Road is a 7.3m wide carriageway with footways to either side. It forms a simple cross- road junction with Old Mill Road and has two further existing crossroad junctions at Beaumont Street and Shakespeare Street. The properties to the north of Faber Road do not possess driveways and therefore must park their vehicles on the carriageway, thereby narrowing the effective width of the carriageway. Faber Road is at present a bus route, and is traffic calmed by a mixture of road humps and cushions. Faber Road terminates west of Carley Hill Road at the site of an old Bowling Green. At present, the existing carriageway construction between Old Mill Road and Shakespeare