If you look at the District Council’s webpage on the Local Development Framework consultation, you can download a BIG document.
It’s called the “Technical Appraisal” of the Council’s Core Strategy.
It’s 8 megabytes in size, 546 screen pages long and you can also download by clicking here.
There’s lots of stuff from the District Council’s consultants on whether the local Core Strategy is ‘sustainable’ and their main conclusions are on screen page 22. They think there’s lots of positives but some negatives as well:
“The majority of policies were found to have significant positive
sustainability benefits.
Positive effects identified:
Housing The plan will have significant positive effects through
meeting the housing needs of the District, particularly
affordable housing needs, and in locations where
housing is most needed.
Accessibility, Climate Change, Air Quality
The plan responds to existing high levels of car
ownership and accessibility issues, by including strong
policies in support of public transport and through
seeking to minimise out-commuting.
Balanced Communities
The plan provides an inclusive approach to
infrastructure provision, with particular benefits for
families, children and young people.
Balanced Communities, Healthy and Safe communities, Economy and Employment
The plan recognises the benefits of providing for and
consulting with children and young people, and may
assist in the retention of the District?s young people,
who can then contribute to the local economy.#
Balanced Communities, Housing
The plan recognises the needs of Rochford?s ageing
population and seeks to accommodate those needs,
for example through provision of lifetime housing.
Balanced Communities, Accessibility
The plan provides measures to regenerate rural
communities including developing better connectivity
between east and west.
Biodiversity, Landscape & townscape, Water, Land and soilThe plan recognises the distinctive landscape and
biodiversity areas in the District, (including coastal
landscapes and flood-prone areas) and takes an
approach to development that minimises impacts on
these areas through steering development toward the
more developed western side of the District and
existing settlements.
Landscape & townscape, Water, Land and soil Economy & Employment, Balanced Communities
The plan will have positive effects for the economic
regeneration of existing centres and the regeneration
of rural communities. New employment land and the
expansion of the Southend London Airport will further
meet these SA objectives.
Sustainable construction
The plan has a strong focus on sustainable design and
construction, including the requirement for travel
plans, encouraging sustainable transport, and ensuring
high level compliance with codes for sustainable
construction.
Alongside the many positive effects of the plan, negative sustainability
effects were also identified, generally as a result of the increased
development proposed in the plan. These are outlined below:
Significant negative effects of the emerging Core Strategy
Air Quality, Healthy & Safe Communities, Biodiversity, Water, Land & Soil
The cumulative effects of increased development,
including housing, employment development, the
expansion of London Southend Airport and other
infrastructure. These effects include:
increased air pollution (local and regional);
direct land-take;
pressures on water resources and water quality;
increased noise and light pollution, particularly from
traffic;
increased waste production;
loss of tranquillity ;
implications for human health (e.g. from increased
pollution); and
incremental effects on landscape and townscapes.
It is noted that whilst policies relating to the overall
amount of residential and employment development,
and to some extent, the support of the London
Southend Airport are determined at a higher policy
level in the East of England Plan, significant
environmental effects are evident for Rochford District.
It is important that these effects are recognised in the
SA so that adequate mitigation can be set in place in
the LDF.Climate Change and Energy
An increase in the District?s contribution to greenhouse
gas production- this is inevitable given the amount of
new development proposed, and includes factors
such as increased transportation costs, embodied
energy in construction materials and increased
energy use from new housing and employment
development.
Cultural Heritage, Balanced Communities Landscape & Townscape
Less tangible effects of significant physical, economic
and social changes for local communities, including
impacts on cultural heritage, landscape, community
cohesion and identify particularly in locations where
there will be significant increases in development”
But after the consultants report, on page 95 onwards, there is a massive ‘Baseline Information Profile’ for Rochford District.
It contains a huge amount data, on a wide variety of subjects such as: the condition of local flora and fauna (e.g. dormice) , air quality, aquifers, river chemistry, water quality, flood zones, recycling, listed buildings, scheduled monuments, local death rates from heart disease or cancer, life expectancy, teenage pregancy, participation in sport, facilities for teenagers, population changes, crime, numbers of local businesses, industrial floorspace, employment rates, average wages, number of homes, house prices, homelessness, gypsy sites, car ownership, travel to work methods, road congestion. road accidents…..
We’re still looking through it.
But we know that some of our readers love searching through data. What can YOU find that you think is significant or should be better known? Please leave a comment….