SEA ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT FOR RELEVANT PROPOSED MATERIAL ALTERATIONS TO THE DRAFT WESTMEATH COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2021-2027 for: Westmeath County Council Áras an Chontae Mount Street Mullingar County Westmeath by: CAAS Ltd. 1st Floor 24-26 Ormond Quay Upper Dublin 7 DECEMBER 2020 SEA Environmental Report for the Relevant Proposed Material Alterations Table of Contents List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. v Glossary ................................................................................................................ vi Section 1 SEA: Introduction and Benefits ......................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Implications for the Planning Authority ........................................................................... 1 1.3 Why SEA? The Benefits ................................................................................................. 1 Section 2 The Draft Plan and associated Proposed Material Alterations ........... 3 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Content of the Draft Plan ............................................................................................... 3 2.3 Draft Plan Strategic Vision and Aims ............................................................................... 3 2.4 Proposed Material Alterations ......................................................................................... 4 2.5 Strategic work undertaken by the Council to ensure contribution towards environmental protection and sustainable development ..................................................................................... 5 2.6 Relationship with other relevant Plans and Programmes .................................................. 5 Section 3 SEA Methodology .............................................................................. 7 3.1 Introduction to the Iterative Approach ........................................................................... 7 3.2 Appropriate Assessment and Integrated Biodiversity Impact Assessment .......................... 8 3.3 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment .................................................................................... 8 3.4 Scoping ........................................................................................................................ 9 3.5 Alternatives .................................................................................................................. 9 3.6 Environmental Report .................................................................................................... 9 3.7 SEA Statement ............................................................................................................ 10 Section 4 Environmental Baseline ................................................................... 12 4.1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 12 4.2 National Reporting on the Environment ........................................................................ 12 4.3 Sustainable Development Goals ................................................................................... 13 4.4 Likely Evolution of the Environment in the Absence of a new Plan and Material Alterations 13 4.5 Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services ........................................................................ 15 4.6 Biodiversity and Flora and Fauna ................................................................................. 16 4.7 Population and Human Health ...................................................................................... 25 4.8 Soil ............................................................................................................................ 26 4.9 Water ......................................................................................................................... 29 4.10 Air and Climatic Factors ............................................................................................... 35 4.11 Material Assets ........................................................................................................... 38 4.12 Cultural Heritage ......................................................................................................... 41 4.13 Landscape .................................................................................................................. 46 4.14 Overlay of Environmental Sensitivity Mapping ............................................................... 50 Section 5 Strategic Environmental Objectives ................................................ 52 Section 6 Description of Alternatives .............................................................. 57 6.1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 57 CAAS for Westmeath County Council i SEA Environmental Report for the Relevant Proposed Material Alterations 6.2 Limitations in Available Alternatives .............................................................................. 57 6.3 Tier 1: Alternatives for Settlement Hierarchy ................................................................ 57 6.4 Tier 2: Population Projection Scenarios ......................................................................... 57 6.5 Tier 3: Consideration of Policy for Rural Areas under Strong Urban Pressure ................... 59 6.6 Tier 4: Densities.......................................................................................................... 59 6.7 Tier 5: Land Use Zoning .............................................................................................. 59 Section 7 Evaluation of Alternatives ............................................................... 61 7.1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 61 7.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 61 7.3 Detailed Assessment of Alternatives ............................................................................. 63 7.4 Selected Alternatives ................................................................................................... 70 Section 8 Evaluation of Draft Plan and Proposed Material Alterations ........... 71 8.1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 71 8.2 Cumulative Effects ...................................................................................................... 72 8.3 Appropriate Assessment and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment ....................................... 74 8.4 Interrelationship between Environmental Components .................................................. 74 8.5 Overall Evaluation of Draft Plan Provisions to which the Proposed Material Alterations Relate 76 8.6 Detailed Evaluation of Individual Proposed Material Alterations ...................................... 81 Section 9 Mitigation Measures ........................................................................ 84 9.1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 84 9.2 Strategic work undertaken by the Council to ensure contribution towards environmental protection and sustainable development ................................................................................... 84 9.3 Consideration of Alternatives ....................................................................................... 84 9.4 Integration of environmental considerations into Zoning of the Plan ............................... 85 9.5 Integration of individual SEA, AA and SFRA provisions into the text of the Draft Plan ...... 85 Section 10 Monitoring Measures ..................................................................... 103 10.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 103 10.2 Indicators and Targets .............................................................................................. 103 10.3 Sources .................................................................................................................... 103 10.4 Reporting ................................................................................................................. 103 Appendix I Relationship with Legislation and Other Policies, Plans and Programmes ....................................................................................................... 109 Appendix II Non-Technical Summary………………………………..…Separately bound Appendix III SEA Screening Report…………………………………..…Separately bound CAAS for Westmeath County Council ii SEA Environmental Report for the Relevant Proposed Material Alterations List of Figures Figure 1.1 Overlay of Environmental Sensitivities in County Westmeath ............................................ 2 Figure 3.1 Overview of the SEA/AA/SFRA Plan-preparation Processes ............................................... 7 Figure 4.1 European Sites within and adjacent to the Plan area ....................................................