STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT FOR VARIATION NO. 2 (SANDYFORD URBAN FRAMEWORK PLAN) TO THE DÚN LAOGHAIRE-RATHDOWN COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2010-2016 for: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council County Hall Marine Road Dún Laoghaire by: CAAS Ltd. 2nd Floor, The Courtyard 25 Great Strand Street Dublin 1 SEPTEMBER 2011 Includes Ordnance Survey Ireland data reproduced under OSi licence no. 2010/25/CCMAlDunlaoghaire/RathdownCountyCouncil. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland copyright. © Ordnance Survey Ireland 2008 SEA Environmental Report for Variation No. 2 to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown CDP 2010-2016 Table of Contents List of Figures..........................................................................................................iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................v List of Abbreviations ...............................................................................................vi Glossary..................................................................................................................vii Preamble ................................................................................................................ ix Section 1 SEA Introduction and Background..................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction and Terms of Reference........................................................................... 1 1.2 SEA Definition............................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Legislative Context ..................................................................................................... 1 1.4 Implications for the Council and the Elected Members ................................................... 1 Section 2 SEA Methodology ............................................................................... 3 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Screening .................................................................................................................. 4 2.3 Scoping ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.4 Environmental Baseline Data and Other Strategic Actions .............................................. 4 2.5 Alternatives ............................................................................................................... 5 2.6 The SEA Environmental Report.................................................................................... 5 2.7 The SEA Statement .................................................................................................... 5 2.8 Legislative Conformance ............................................................................................. 5 2.9 Difficulties Encountered .............................................................................................. 6 Section 3 Environmental Baseline of Sandyford................................................ 8 3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Evolution of the Environment in the Absence of the Variation......................................... 9 3.3 Biodiversity and Flora and Fauna ................................................................................10 3.4 Population and Human Health ....................................................................................23 3.5 Soil ..........................................................................................................................26 3.6 Water.......................................................................................................................31 3.7 Material Assets..........................................................................................................40 3.8 Air and Climatic Factors .............................................................................................46 3.9 Cultural Heritage .......................................................................................................54 3.10 Landscape ................................................................................................................57 Section 4 Strategic Environmental Objectives ................................................ 60 4.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................60 4.2 Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna......................................................................................60 4.3 Population and Human Health ....................................................................................62 4.4 Soil ..........................................................................................................................63 4.5 Water.......................................................................................................................63 4.6 Material Assets..........................................................................................................66 4.7 Air and Climatic Factors .............................................................................................68 4.8 Cultural Heritage .......................................................................................................69 4.9 Landscape ................................................................................................................71 CAAS Ltd. for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council ii SEA Environmental Report for Variation No. 2 to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown CDP 2010-2016 Section 5 Context for the Variation ................................................................. 72 5.1 Background ..............................................................................................................72 5.2 The Variation Area ....................................................................................................72 5.3 Content and Structure of the Variation ........................................................................72 5.4 Purpose and Rationale for the Variation.......................................................................72 5.5 Alternatives ..............................................................................................................73 5.6 Interactions with Relevant Policy, Plans or Programmes................................................73 5.7 Environmental Protection Objectives ...........................................................................75 Section 6 Description of Alternative Scenarios for the Variation .................... 77 6.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................77 6.2 Description of Alternative Scenarios ............................................................................77 Section 7 Evaluation of Alternative Scenarios for the Variation ..................... 84 7.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................84 7.2 Methodology.............................................................................................................84 7.3 Evaluation of Alternative Scenarios .............................................................................86 Section 8 Evaluation of Variation Provisions ................................................... 95 8.1 Methodology.............................................................................................................95 8.2 Determination of Potential Interactions .......................................................................96 8.3 Section 1: Introduction ..............................................................................................97 8.4 Section 2: Future Land Uses.......................................................................................98 8.5 Section 3: Indicative Urban Form, Public Realm, Linkages and Building Height..............109 8.6 Section 4: Infrastructure ..........................................................................................114 8.7 Section 5: Phasing and Funding................................................................................128 8.8 Specific Local Objectives ..........................................................................................132 Section 9 Mitigation Measures....................................................................... 135 9.1 Introduction............................................................................................................135 9.2 Mitigation through Consideration of Alternatives.........................................................135 9.3 Measures integrated into the Variation ......................................................................135 9.4 Mitigation Measures already in force through the existing County Development Plan .....136 Section 10 Monitoring Measures ..................................................................... 140 10.1 Introduction............................................................................................................140 10.2 Indicators and Targets.............................................................................................140 10.3 Sources