Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal - Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies DPD

Adopted Policy 2011

Revised Policy 2013

Reasons for changes

SA Comments

CS7 The Amount of Housing Required

The Regional Spatial Strategy gave the Council a target to allocate land to accommodate at least 15,400 additional residential units between 2001 and 2021. This is equivalent to 770 dwellings per year. However, the Council revised this figure to 700 dwellings per annum through the adopted Core Strategy (14,000 from 2001 to 2021) in the light of additional local evidence.

Land supply for the years 2021 to 2027 is addressed principally by the Northern Fringe area.

The figure for the amount of housing required has been reduced to 13,550 dwellings, at 677 dwellings per annum between 2011 and 2031.

Windfall sites will contribute to the land supply for housing.

The changes are based on updated population and household projection modelling work.

The phasing of the housing sites is informed by the SHLAA and the figures of the land supply on PDL have been updated based on the availability of brownfield sites.

The Northern Fringe area is considered for development at an earlier stage than foreseen in 2011 due to limited availability of brownfield sites within the borough.

The revised policy envisages the use of a greenfield land for housing supply throughout the duration of the plan rather than after 2021 as originally considered. Although the revised housing figures per annum suggest fewer residential dwellings to be built, the assessment shows that the revised policy performs well against SA objectives HW1 (health), HW2 (quality of life) and economic objectives (ER1, ER2, ER3, ER4). This is mostly due to the fact that the policy reflects the current housing needs of the borough and the housing growth is still substantial to attract further investment and create job opportunities.

The revised policy is likely to have some negative effects on soil resources as it relies predominantly on greenfield land allocated at the Northern Fringe. However, windfall sites may provide opportunities to use PDL and reduce the impact on greenfield land use.

Potential negative effects related to air quality, biodiversity, flood risk and crime could be mitigated and reduced in the long term by improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, the provision of public transport services, enhancement of open space and creation of habitats, the use of SuDS and safety by design principles policies.

CS10 Ipswich Northern Fringe

Land at the Northern Fringe of Ipswich, north of Valley Road / Colchester Road and between Henley Road in the west and Tuddenham Road in the east, will form the main source of supply of housing land in Ipswich after 2021.

Due to the limited availability of previously developed land in the rest of the town, the delivery of 1,000 dwellings will be expected to commence prior to 2021 on land to the east of Henley Road and south of the railway line.

The indicative capacity at the Northern Fringe identified in the SHLAA is about 4,500 dwellings.

In order to meet objectively assessed housing need, developing the whole Northern Fringe for approximately 3,500 dwellings is required throughout the duration of the plan. The Northern Fringe site consists of 195ha of land which will be developed as three neighbourhoods: a Northern neighbourhood (east of Henley Road and north of the railway line), a Southern neighbourhood (west of Westerfield Road and south of the railway line) and an Eastern neighbourhood (east of Westerfield Road).

Land at the Northern Fringe of Ipswich will form a key component of the main source of supply of housing land in Ipswich during the plan period due to the limited availability of previously developed land within the borough and the need to meet objectively assessed housing need.

Same as above.

In addition, the revised policy performs well against SA objectives ER4, ER6, and ER7 through the provision of community and education facilities, though encouraging sustainable modes of transport and increasing the attractiveness of the area for inward investment.

Negative effects from the revised policy are likely to occur with regards to air pollution due to increased traffic, loss of agricultural land, potential loss of habitats and waste generation. The revised policy performs better against SA objective ET6 (climate change) due to fewer residential dwellings being delivered in the long term hence reduced greenhouse emissions.

Mitigation measures have the potential to reduce any negative effects through allocation of land for open space and parks, creation and enhancement of habitats where appropriate, and improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

CS13 Planning for Jobs Growth

The Council will promote sustainable economic growth in the Ipswich Policy Area. It will encourage the provision of at least 18,000 jobs between 2001 and 2025. In allocating sites for employment development, the Council will take account of the sectors projected to have the highest jobs growth between 2006 and 2026 as identified in the Suffolk Haven Gateway Employment Land Review (2009). These include construction; retail / hotels; distribution; finance and other business services; and public services.

The Council will promote sustainable economic growth in the Ipswich Policy Area, with a focus on the delivery of jobs within the Borough. It will encourage the provision of in the region of12,500 jobs between 2011 and 2031.

There is a wider range of sectors anticipated to have highest job growth and these include:

• advanced manufacturing and technology;

• energy;

• information and communication technology;

• finance and insurance;

• food, drink and agriculture;

• ports and logistics;

• life sciences, biotechnology and bloodstock;

• tourism;

• creative and cultural industries.

The jobs figure is lower than that previously identified to reflect more recent evidence from the East of England Forecasting Model in 2012 and covers the period 2011 to 2031. The previous figure was derived from an indicative target of 30,000 jobs for the Suffolk Haven Gateway area including Suffolk Coastal and Babergh District Councils between 2001 and 2021 as identified in the East of England Plan.

Although the job figure is lower than that previously identified, it reflects the most recent Forecasting Model in 2012. The revised policy includes a much wider range of growth sectors and the economic SA objectives are likely to be achieved through the allocation and protection of employment land and through the joint work with local partners to encourage sustainable growth. It is also anticipated that employment opportunities will have indirect positive effects on SA objectives ER1 and ER4 (poverty and sustainable growth) as the policy continues to encourage local partnerships and envisages allocation of land for education uses. Opportunities are identified to address issues related to contaminated land of brownfield sites.

Alternative 1 (the adopted policy 2011) performs better than the revised policy with regards to SA objectives HW1 (health), ER7 (inward investment), and CL1 (education) due to more opportunities for employment and training and more land allocated for employment use. Alternative 1 performs worse in the long term against the environmental SA objectives air quality, waste and climate change.

Mitigation measures to reduce the negative effect would involve the use of sustainable modes of transport and reuse/recycling of materials.

CS14 Retail development

Through the IP-One Area Action Plan, the Council will extend the Central Shopping Area to include the Westgate quarter and the land south of Crown Street and Old Foundry Road and allocate sites for retail development within it. This will enable the delivery of at least 35,000 sqm net of additional floorspace to diversify and improve the retail offer.

Through the Site Allocations and Policies (incorporating IP-One Area Action Plan) DPD, the Council intends to extend the Central Shopping Area to include the Westgate quarter and allocate sites for retail development within it. This will enable the delivery in the region of 15,000 sqm net of additional floorspace to diversify and improve the retail offer. Further allocations will be made through the Site Allocations DPD review following a review of the Retail capacity study to address provision after 2026.

The reduction of the retail floorspace figure is considered as a result of the DTZ Opportunity Sites Study 2013 and more recent monitoring data in order to reflect the current needs of the borough and to avoid over supply of land for retail use.

The revised policy allows more flexibility for further reassessment depending on the retail needs of the borough after 2026.

Although the retail floorspace has been significantly reduced, the revised policy still performs well against the economic SA objectives ER1 (poverty), ER2 (employment), ER4 (sustainable growth), ER5 (vital and viable town centres), and ER7 (inward investment). In addition, some benefits are identified with regards to the allocation of retail floorspace in easily accessible areas encouraging the use of sustainable modes of transport with some positive indirect effect on climate change (SA objectives ET4, ET5 and ET6). Air quality effects are likely to be worse if alternative 1 (adopted policy 2011) is implemented due to more traffic generation to and from Ipswich town centre on weekends and public holidays.

CS17 Delivering Infrastructure

Ipswich Borough Council adopted a standard charge approach to the delivery of infrastructure. Affordable housing and on-site open space provision was dealt with through planning obligations.

Developer will contribute to the delivery of infrastructure through Section 106 Agreements or CIL.

Section 106 Agreements will secure only affordable housing, on-site infrastructure and specifically identified off-site infrastructure items that will not require the pooling of more than five obligations.

The developers’ contributions under CIL regulations will allow infrastructure improvements throughout the whole area of Ipswich rather than just within the vicinity of new developments.

The revised policy performs particularly well against SA objectives ET4 (traffic), ET5 (access), ET6 (climate change). It strongly supports objective ET7 (flood risk) through clear commitment to allocate contributions against flood defence works.

In addition, it is considered that the revised policy provides more opportunities to contribute to the achievement ET8 objective due to increased potential to distribute contributions across the whole borough and cover a much wider area.

Indirect positive effects are likely to occur with regards to economic objectives ER1 (poverty) and ER4 (sustainable growth) though the provision of key infrastructure where needs are identified.