ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT OF THE DÚN LAOGHAIRE-RATHDOWN COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2010-2016 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT for: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council County Hall Marine Road Dún Laoghaire by: CAAS 2nd Floor, The Courtyard 25 Great Strand Street Dublin 1 APRIL 2010 Includes Ordnance Survey Ireland data reproduced under OSi licence no. 2008/10CCMA/ Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland copyright. © Ordnance Survey Ireland 2008 Environmental Report of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2010-2016 SEA Table of Contents List of Abbreviations..................................................................................................... v Glossary .......................................................................................................................vi Preamble .......................................................................................................................i 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 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Elected Members ..............1 Section 2 SEA Methodology.....................................................................................3 2.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................3 2.2 Scoping ...........................................................................................................................3 2.3 Environmental Baseline Data and Other Strategic Actions.....................................................4 2.4 Alternatives......................................................................................................................5 2.5 The SEA Environmental Report ..........................................................................................5 2.6 The SEA Statement...........................................................................................................5 2.7 Legislative Conformance....................................................................................................5 2.8 Difficulties Encountered.....................................................................................................7 Section 3 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown’s Baseline Environment.................................8 3.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................8 3.2 Biodiversity and Flora and Fauna......................................................................................11 3.3 Population and Human Health..........................................................................................28 3.4 Soil................................................................................................................................31 3.5 Water ............................................................................................................................38 3.6 Air and Climatic Factors...................................................................................................58 3.7 Material Assets ...............................................................................................................64 3.8 Cultural Heritage ............................................................................................................70 3.9 Landscape .....................................................................................................................77 3.10 Overlay Mapping of Environmental Sensitivities .................................................................82 Section 4 Strategic Environmental Objectives......................................................85 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................85 4.2 Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna...........................................................................................85 4.3 Population and Human Health..........................................................................................88 4.4 Soil................................................................................................................................89 4.5 Water ............................................................................................................................90 4.6 Air and Climatic Factors...................................................................................................92 4.7 Material Assets ...............................................................................................................93 4.8 Cultural Heritage ............................................................................................................94 4.9 Landscape .....................................................................................................................95 Section 5 Context for a Development Plan for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown ...........97 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................97 5.2 Structure and Content.....................................................................................................97 5.3 Vision and Goals.............................................................................................................98 5.4 Alternatives....................................................................................................................98 CAAS for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council i Environmental Report of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2010-2016 SEA 5.5 Interactions with Relevant Planning Policy ........................................................................98 5.6 Environmental Protection Objectives............................................................................... 100 Section 6 Description of Alternative Plan Scenarios...........................................101 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 101 6.2 Excluding the ‘Do-Nothing’ Scenario ............................................................................... 101 6.3 Identification and Description of Alternative Scenarios ..................................................... 101 Section 7 Evaluation of Alternative Plan Scenarios ............................................105 7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 105 7.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 105 7.3 Evaluation against Overlay Mapping ............................................................................... 107 7.4 Evaluation against Environmental Baseline...................................................................... 108 7.5 Evaluation against SEOs................................................................................................ 114 7.6 Summary; the Alternative Scenario for the Plan............................................................... 115 Section 8 Evaluation of Plan Policies and Objectives .........................................118 8.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 118 8.2 Chapter 2: Overall Strategy ........................................................................................... 120 8.3 Chapter 4: Dún Laoghaire Urban Framework Plan............................................................ 123 8.4 Chapter 5: Residential................................................................................................... 124 8.5 Chapter 6: Enterprise and Employment .......................................................................... 126 8.6 Chapter 7: Retail .......................................................................................................... 128 8.7 Chapter 8: Social Community and Cultural Development .................................................. 129 8.8 Chapter 9: Landscape, Heritage and Biodiversity ............................................................. 131 8.9 Chapter 10: Open Space and Recreation......................................................................... 134 8.10 Chapter 11: Conservation of Archaeological and Architectural Heritage.............................. 135 8.11 Chapter 12: Sustainable Travel and Transportation.......................................................... 137 8.12 Chapter 13: Environmental Infrastructure ....................................................................... 139 8.13 Chapter 14: Climate Change and Energy Infrastructure.................................................... 142 8.14 Chapter 15: Urban Design ............................................................................................. 143 8.15 Chapter 16: Development