ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT Meath County Development Plan For: Meath County Council County Hall Navan County Meath By: CAAS Environmental Services Limited 4th Floor Red Cow Lane 71 / 72 Brunswick Street North Smithfield Dublin 7 Tel 01 872 1530 Fax 01 872 1519 E-mail: [email protected] DATE: 23 JUNE 2006 Table of Contents Glossary Of Terms ...................................................................................... iv Section 1 Introduction........................................................................1 1.0 Introduction and terms of reference ................................................................ 1 1.1 Legislation and legal status of the SEA........................................................... 1 1.2 Relationship with existing plans and strategies............................................... 2 1.3 Conformity with SEA Regulations ................................................................... 8 Section 2 Methodology .....................................................................10 2.0 Introduction.................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Scoping of the SEA for the Draft County Development Plan ........................ 10 2.2 Consultation with Environmental Authorities ................................................. 10 2.3 Hierarchy of Strategic Actions....................................................................... 10 2.4 Environmental assessment methods and difficulties encountered................ 11 Section 3 The Draft County Development Plan..................................12 3.0 Introduction.................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Draft Development Plan Strategic Policy ...................................................... 12 3.2 Envisaged Development ............................................................................... 13 Section 4 Alternatives.......................................................................14 4.0 Introduction and Background ........................................................................ 14 Section 5 Environmental Baseline.....................................................17 5.0 Introduction.................................................................................................... 17 5.1 Baseline description of the current physical environment ............................. 17 5.2 Types or patterns of development which may be linked to environmental issues or have particular environmental advantages .................................... 27 5.3 Existing Significant Environmental Issues in County Meath.......................... 28 5.4 Existing Development Entailing Environmental Issues ................................. 32 Section 6 Environmental Characteristics Likely to be significantly affected 36 6.0 Introduction.................................................................................................... 36 6.1 Environmental Assets.................................................................................... 36 6.2 Environmental Constraints ............................................................................ 36 Section 7 Likely Significant Effects on the Environment ...................39 7.0 SEA Objectives ............................................................................................. 39 7.1 Summary of Impacts ..................................................................................... 39 7.2 Ground Water Quality.................................................................................... 40 7.3 Surface Water Quality ................................................................................... 41 7.4 Ancient Areas and Landscapes..................................................................... 43 7.5 Biodiversity & Soil.......................................................................................... 44 7.6 Minerals......................................................................................................... 46 7.7 Population and Human Health ...................................................................... 47 7.8 Air/Climatic Factors ....................................................................................... 48 7.9 Material Assets.............................................................................................. 48 Section 8 Measures envisaged to mitigate adverse Impacts.............49 8.0 Introduction.................................................................................................... 49 8.1 Local Spatial Strategies................................................................................. 49 8.2 Thematic Spatial Strategies .......................................................................... 49 8.3 Conflicts Identified to date............................................................................. 50 Potential conflicts identified which will be determined at LAP stage ..................... 53 Potential Conflicts Identified Which Have Been or Will be Determined at a Higher Policy Level ................................................................................................... 56 Section 9 Proposed Monitoring Measures & Indicators .....................58 Section 10 Likely Interactions of Environmental Topics.......................62 Appendix I Non Technical Summary.................................................63 Appendix II Protected Habitats ..........................................................72 Special Areas of Conservation (cSAC’s) ............................................................... 72 Proposed Natural Heritage Areas (pNHA’s) .......................................................... 81 Special Protection Areas (SPA’s) .......................................................................... 86 GLOSSARY OF TERMS Goals are the broadest expressions of community’s desires. Goals give direction to the plan as a whole. Goals are concerned with the long term, and often describe ideal situations that would result if all plan purposes were fully realised. Since goals are value-based, their attainment is difficult to measure. Policies are broad statements that set preferred courses of action. Policies are choices made to carry out the goals in the foreseeable future. Policies need to be specific enough to help determine whether a proposed project or program would advance community values expressed in the goals. Objectives are specific statements that carry out a plan in the short term. Objectives are measurable benchmarks that can be used to assess incremental progress in achieving the broader purposes expressed in policies and goals. Strategic Environmental Objectives (SEO’s): Methodological measure against which the environmental effects of the plan can be tested. SEA objectives are distinct from the plan objectives although will often overlap. SEA Objectives are developed from, national, international and regional policy as set out in Section 2.1.3 and further development in Section 4. External Objectives: Objectives to which the plan must have regard, inherited from higher level plans, policies or programmes to which the plan must have regard and which are external from the SEA process for various reasons. Scoping: The process of determining what issues are to be addressed, and setting out a methodology in which to address them in a structured manner appropriate to the plan or programme. Scoping is carried out in consultation with the appropriate bodies. Significant environmental effect: Significance is a function of impact magnitude and the importance/sensitivity of the resources of the receptor. This is dealt with more comprehensively in Section 4 of this report. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): The formal, systematic evaluation of the likely significant environmental effects of implementing a plan or programme before a decision is made to adopt the plan or programme. Seveso: The European Communities (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances) Regulations, 2000 (S.I. No. 476 of 2000), were signed into law by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on 21 December 2000 and came into effect from that date. S.I.No.402 of 2003, European Communities (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances)(Amendment) Regulations 2003, give effect to European Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances, also known as the Seveso II Directive. The regulations apply to companies where dangerous substances are present in quantities equal to or above specified thresholds. Mitigate To make or become less severe or harsh MRP Molybdate Reactive Phosphorus, MRP is a commonly used measure of nutrient enrichment/pollution based on the Phosphorus content. The sampling, monitoring, reporting of MRP forms an integral part of the Phosphorous Regulations. Offset Allowance made to counteract an effect Section 1 Introduction 1.0 Introduction and terms of reference This is the Environmental Report of the SEA on the Meath Draft County Development Plan. It presents the range of environmental issues and objectives that need to be considered when reviewing alternatives and beginning the process of considering the Draft County Development Plan. The purpose is to provide Members with a clear understanding of the likely environmental consequences of decisions regarding the future planning of the County. The Environmental Report is part of the Strategic