Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: Spatial Development Strategy Integrated Appraisal Scoping Report (Post Consultation Update) October, 2020 Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy Scoping Report Integrated Apppraisal Quality information Prepared by Checked by Verified by Approved by Larna Smith Ian Mccluskey Ian Mccluskey Frank Hayes Graduate Urban Planner Principal Consultant Principal Consultant Associate Director Laurie Marriott Graduate Urban Planner Simon Long Economics Consultant Ian McCluskey Principal Consultant Laura Walker Equalities Specialist Alexandria Moore Principal Sustainability and Resilience Consultant Revision History Revision Revision date Details Name Position V1.1 May 2020 First draft for internal review. V1.2 May 2020 First draft for client review Ian McCluskey Principal Consultant V2.1 June 2020 Final draft for internal review V2.2 June 2020 Final draft for Client Review Ian McCluskey Principal Consultant V3 October 2020 Updated For Client Review Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) AECOM Limited 4th Floor Bridgewater House Whitworth Street Manchester M1 6LT UK T: +44 (161) 907 3500 aecom.com © 2020 AECOM Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) in accordance with its contract with Locality (the “Client”) and 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. AECOM shall have no liability to any third party that makes use of or relies upon this document. Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority AECOM Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy Scoping Report Integrated Apppraisal Table of Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 2. Climate change resilience ................................................................................................ 11 3. Climate change mitigation ............................................................................................... 28 4. Health and wellbeing .......................................................................................................... 45 5. Housing ................................................................................................................................... 74 6. Economy................................................................................................................................. 92 7. Transportation ................................................................................................................... 121 8. Equality and diversity ...................................................................................................... 135 9. Biodiversity ......................................................................................................................... 160 10. Air quality ............................................................................................................................ 173 11. Water..................................................................................................................................... 184 12. Soil and land ....................................................................................................................... 196 13. Landscape .......................................................................................................................... 206 14. Historic Environment ...................................................................................................... 216 15. Waste .................................................................................................................................... 230 16. Minerals ............................................................................................................................... 241 17. Proposed methodology ................................................................................................. 244 18. Next steps ........................................................................................................................... 251 Appendix A: Stage 2 EqIA Framework ................................................................................... 253 Appendix B: List of References ............................................................................................... 254 Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority AECOM Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy Scoping Report Integrated Apppraisal 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) consists of Halton Council, Knowsley Council, Liverpool City Council, Sefton Council, St Helens Council and Wirral Council. Figure 1.1 provides a location map for the Liverpool City Region, showing each of the constituent authorities and the surrounding areas. The LCRCA are looking to prepare a statutory Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) which will be the first of its kind for the region. It will set out a high-level spatial strategy to help guide future development; whilst tackling climate change and addressing social inequalities. AECOM has been commissioned by the LCRCA to lead on an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) in support of the SDS. This document is a ‘scoping report’, which sets out the background information, policy context and key issues in relation to a range of sustainability issues. This is one of the first outputs from the IIA process, and it sets the framework for future work. Table 1.1: Key facts relating to the Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) Name of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: Responsible • Halton Borough Council Authorities • Knowsley Council • Liverpool City Council • Sefton Council • St. Helens Council • Wirral Council Title of Plan Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: Spatial Development Strategy Spatial Area The SDS will cover the Liverpool City Region which consists of six covered by the local authorities listed above. However, there will also be a need to plan consider cross boundary issues with neighbouring locations (especially those with a strong link to the LCR such as Warrington and West Lancashire). Plan contact point Jamie Longmire Senior Spatial Planning Officer [email protected] Ian McCluskey IIA Contact Point Principal Consultant [email protected] Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 1 Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy Scoping Report Integrated Apppraisal The Blue outline is compiled from constituent Local Authority boundary data which extends beyond the land boundaries. This open source data allows for more fine-grained analysis at LSOA level (rather than using the ‘land-only’ boundaries for the LCR, which only present data at MSOA level). Source for all of the LA boundaries: UK Data Service https://borders.ukdataservice.ac.uk/bds.html) under ‘Open Government Agreement’. Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 2 Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy Integrated Apppraisal 1.2 Relationship with other plans The LCR Spatial Development Strategy is driven by a range of other plans, policies and strategies, and will have connections with other City Region and Local Authority documents. Figure 1.2 below sets out the broad framework within which the LCRSDS will sit; listing key policy drivers and how the strategy fits within a wider hierarchy of land use plans at local authority level. Other important policies, plans and strategies have also been illustrated, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 3 Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy: Scoping Report Integrated Apppraisal Figure 1.2: Relationship with other Plans Prepared for: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 4 Liverpool City Region Spatial Development Strategy Scoping Report Integrated Apppraisal 1.3 What is Integrated Impact Assessment? There are a range of impact assessment tools that can be used to assess how a plan, programme, project or particular development performs against a range of criteria. The common aim of these tools is to gain an understanding of impacts upon environmental, social or economic issues (or a combination of these); with the aim of achieving a better performing proposal overall. Certain impact assessment tools are a legal requirement for when preparing particular plans, and this is the case for the LCR Spatial Development Strategy. For example: - A Sustainability Assessment / Strategic Environmental Assessment (SA/ SEA) which reviews and predicts how a proposal performs against a range of environmental and sustainability factors; whilst suggesting ways in which mitigation and enhancement measures can be taken into consideration. - A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) as defined by the World Health Organisation is a practical approach to reviewing potential health effects of plans, policies and projects. - An Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) reviews and seeks to ensure that equality and fairness is achieved in the delivery of services and how people experience life. - An assessment which has regard to community safety and the ‘prevention of crime’. It is possible to undertake these processes separately,