Integrated Sustainability Appraisal for the North East Transport Plan 2021-2035 ISA Report Updated version following consultation on the Transport Plan Transport North East Strategy Unit March 2021 ISA Report for the North East Transport Plan ISA Report Quality information Prepared by Checked by Approved by Cheryl Beattie Nick Chisholm-Batten Iain Bell Senior Consultant Associate Director Regional Director Ryan Putt Environmental Consultant Revision History Revision Revision date Details Authorized Name Position V3.0 8th March 2021 Final version 8th March 2021 Nick Chisholm- Associate Batten Director Prepared for: Transport North East Strategy Unit Prepared by: AECOM Limited One Trinity Gardens, First Floor Quayside Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 2HF United Kingdom T: +44 (191) 224 6500 aecom.com © 2021 AECOM Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) for sole use of our client (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: Transport North East Strategy Unit AECOM ISA Report for the North East Transport Plan ISA Report Table of Contents Non-Technical Summary ..................................................................................... 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 1 The North East Transport Plan 2021-2035 ............................................................................................. 1 Integrated Sustainability Appraisal explained ......................................................................................... 5 This ISA Report ....................................................................................................................................... 7 2. What is the scope of the ISA? ................................................................. 9 ISA Scoping Report ................................................................................................................................. 9 Content of the ISA Scoping Report ....................................................................................................... 15 3. Assessment of reasonable alternatives for the NETP ........................... 24 Reasonable alternatives in ISA ............................................................................................................. 24 An area-led approach to considering reasonable alternatives .............................................................. 24 Tyne and Wear ...................................................................................................................................... 26 City of Durham ...................................................................................................................................... 32 Post-industrial communities .................................................................................................................. 36 Coastal areas ........................................................................................................................................ 42 Market towns ......................................................................................................................................... 46 Rural areas ............................................................................................................................................ 50 Overall conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 56 4. Appraisal of the current version of the NETP ........................................ 57 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 57 Current version of the NETP ................................................................................................................. 57 Appraisal of the NETP work programmes ............................................................................................. 60 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................................ 60 Water and Soil Resources .................................................................................................................... 65 Historic Environment ............................................................................................................................. 67 Landscape ............................................................................................................................................. 71 Air Quality and Noise ............................................................................................................................ 74 Climate Change and Flood Risk ........................................................................................................... 77 Population ............................................................................................................................................. 81 Human health ........................................................................................................................................ 85 Equalities ............................................................................................................................................... 88 Rurality .................................................................................................................................................. 90 Cumulative effects with other plans and programmes .......................................................................... 93 5. What are the next steps? ...................................................................... 95 Appendix A Policy and plan review and baseline information ......................... 97 Prepared for: Transport North East Strategy Unit AECOM ISA Report for the North East Transport Plan ISA Report This page has been left intentionally blank. Prepared for: Transport North East Strategy Unit AECOM ISA Report for the North East Transport Plan ISA Report Non-Technical Summary What is an Integrated Sustainability Appraisal? An Integrated Sustainability Appraisal (ISA) has been carried out to inform the preparation of the emerging North East Transport Plan 2021-2035 (NETP). ISA is a process that transport authorities such as the North East Joint Transport Committee undertake to inform their transport plans. ISA fulfils the requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)1 and discharges the duties for Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA)2 and Health Impact Assessment (HIA). It also enables issues relating to rural areas to be effectively considered through a rural proofing exercise. Transport authorities use ISA to assess transport plans against a set of sustainability objectives and the baseline developed in consultation with interested parties. The purpose of the appraisal is to help identify (and so be in a better position to avoid) negative environmental and socio-economic effects. It is also designed to identify opportunities to improve the environmental quality of the North East and the prosperity and quality of life of the region’s residents through the NETP. It also helps ensure that equalities and health considerations are considered appropriately through plan development and rural issues are addressed. What is the North East Transport Plan? The North East Transport Plan 2021-2035 (NETP) is the first comprehensive transport plan to be developed for the North East region, comprising the local authority areas of Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland. It brings together the region’s two local transport authorities (the North East Combined Authority and the North of Tyne Combined Authority) and meets the requirement under the Transport Act 2000 that they produce a single local transport plan via the North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC). Prior to the NETP, ten-year Local Transport Plans (LTPs) were published in 2011. These did not cover the North East as a whole; instead they presented three separate transport plans focusing on each local transport authority area: Tyne and Wear, Durham and Northumberland. The NETP, which will comprise an overarching strategy document accompanied by an Implementation Plan, will supersede the LTPs which are set to expire in 2021. It will set out the North East’s transport priorities up to 2035 and will communicate opportunities for investment and improvements to the region’s transport network. The NETP will form the basis for bids and requests for funding inward transport investment to the region from central government and other sources. Purpose and content of this ISA Report This ISA Report accompanies the latest version of the NETP3 and is the third document to be produced as part of the ISA process. The first document was the ISA Scoping Report4, which