SEA ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT FOR THE DRAFT WICKLOW COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2021-2027 for: Wicklow County Council County Buildings Whitegates Wicklow Town by: CAAS Ltd. 1st Floor 24-26 Ormond Quay Upper Dublin MAY 2021 SEA Environmental Report for the Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-2027 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 .................................................................................... 4 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Content of the Plan .................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Plan Vision and Strategic Principles .............................................................................. 4 2.4 Strategic County Outcomes ......................................................................................... 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 ................................................ 6 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 ..................................................................................................................... 8 3.5 Alternatives ............................................................................................................... 9 3.6 The Chief Executive’s Draft Plan and the Members’ Amendments ................................... 9 3.7 Environmental Report ................................................................................................. 9 3.8 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 .................................13 4.5 Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services .......................................................................15 4.6 Biodiversity and Flora and Fauna ................................................................................15 4.7 Population and Human Health ....................................................................................28 4.8 Soil .......................................................................................................................... 29 4.9 Water .......................................................................................................................35 4.10 Air and Climatic Factors .............................................................................................51 4.11 Material Assets ..........................................................................................................53 4.12 Cultural Heritage .......................................................................................................60 4.13 Landscape ................................................................................................................65 4.14 Overlay of Environmental Sensitivity Mapping ..............................................................70 Section 5 Strategic Environmental Objectives ................................................ 72 Section 6 Description of Alternatives .............................................................. 77 6.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................77 6.2 Limitations in Available Alternatives ............................................................................77 CAAS for Wicklow County Council i SEA Environmental Report for the Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-2027 6.3 Tier 1: Alternatives for Population Allocations ..............................................................77 6.4 Tier 2: Alternatives for Settlement Function .................................................................78 6.5 Tier 3: Alternatives for Rural Areas .............................................................................78 6.6 Tier 4: Alternatives for Land Use Zoning ......................................................................79 Section 7 Evaluation of Alternatives ................................................................ 80 7.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................80 7.2 Methodology .............................................................................................................80 7.3 Detailed Assessment of Alternatives ............................................................................82 Section 8 Evaluation of Plan Provisions ......................................................... 103 8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 103 8.2 Cumulative Effects ................................................................................................... 104 8.3 Overall Evaluation ................................................................................................... 106 8.4 Members’ Amendments and Environmental Consequences .......................................... 111 8.5 Appropriate Assessment and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment ..................................... 116 8.6 Integration of Climate Action into the Plan ................................................................. 116 8.7 Interrelationship between Environmental Components ................................................ 119 8.8 Detailed Evaluation .................................................................................................. 120 Section 9 Mitigation Measures ....................................................................... 177 9.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 177 9.2 Strategic work undertaken by the Council to ensure contribution towards environmental protection and sustainable development ................................................................................ 177 9.3 Consideration of Alternatives .................................................................................... 178 9.4 Integration of environmental considerations into Zoning of the Plan ............................ 178 9.5 Integration of individual SEA, AA and SFRA provisions into the text of the Plan ............. 178 Section 10 Monitoring Measures ..................................................................... 195 10.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 195 10.2 Indicators and Targets ............................................................................................. 195 10.3 Sources .................................................................................................................. 195 10.4 Reporting ............................................................................................................... 195 Appendix I Relationship with Legislation and Other Policies, Plans and Programmes ........................................................................................................ 200 Appendix II General Location of Land Use Zoning Alternatives ......................... 234 Appendix III Non-Technical Summary……………………………...…Separately bound CAAS for Wicklow County Council ii SEA Environmental Report for the Draft Wicklow County Development Plan 2021-2027 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Overlay of Environmental Sensitivities in County Wicklow ................................................ 3 Figure 3.1 Overview of the SEA/AA/SFRA Plan-preparation Processes .............................................. 7 Figure 4.1 European sites within and within 15