Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report

Ended on the 30 October 2017

(1) Chapter 7 - Sustainability Issues and Problems (Task A3)

7.1 Through the identification of the baseline characteristics, it is possible to identify the key sustainability issues and problems. The identification of these issues helps establish the objectives outlined in the Sustainability Appraisal Framework.

7.2 The key sustainability issues have been derived jointly between Ipswich and Suffolk Coastal and a number of these issues are common across the two authorities. However, in recognition of the specific characteristics of the two authorities we have also developed a sub set of Suffolk Coastal specific issues.

	Key SA issue across Ipswich and Suffolk Coastal	Ipswich Borough Specific Issues
Population	The need to reduce inequality and social exclusion	Ipswich scores worse than the Suffolk average against every indicator the 'Index of Multiple Deprivation Score' except, barriers to housing and services. One in five children in Ipswich lives in poverty. High comparative level of teenage pregnancy
Population	Impact of changing demographics and migration trends	The Borough, compared to the rest of the county has a higher number of children, a higher population of working age because of the availability of job opportunities. Although there is an aging population, there is a trend to retire out to rural areas. Ipswich expects to see more births than deaths across the decade, 2014-2024.
Housing	The need to ensure the delivery of a sustainable supply of housing	Limited land availability and large areas of protected land. Over the last two years house sales have fallen by 50% in Ipswich.
Housing	Ensuring the delivery of mix of housing types and tenures (including affordable housing)	Low comparative level of owner occupiers with no mortgage, higher socially rented stock and higher private rental sector. Ipswich has the lowest house price to income ratio in the IHMA. Homes cost on average 6.44 times average income. However prices have risen significantly in the last few years and Ipswich has the highest affordable housing need. Need to deliver a more diverse range of housing types. The impact of a changing population on housing supply. Increased demand for specialist housing including student accommodation.
Health and Wellbeing	The need to ensure the delivery of health and social care provision in line with growth	Population is younger than the county, regional and national averages. Requirement to retain and improve existing community health facilities and services and ensure the timely delivery of new facilities to meet needs arising from new development
	The need to address health inequalities and public health	Gypsies and Travellers experience some of the worst health in all BME groups. Ipswich has proportionally more 0-5 year olds than other districts
	Promoting healthy lifestyles	Ipswich has the lowest levels of physical activity in the region
	Crime rates and anti-social behaviour	Ipswich had the highest number of criminal offences committed in 2013 in the IHMA. Addressing fear of crime.
Education	The need to ensure the delivery of education provision in line with growth	Insufficient primary and secondary capacity in some areas of the Borough.
Education	The need to ensure appropriate skills to match future employment needs	Overall in comparison with the rest of the region and Britain, Ipswich had lower levels of qualified people at all levels in 2015.
Water	Managing water resources and water quality	There are a number of Groundwater Source Protection Zones in Ipswich. High number of existing groundwater and surface water Nitrate Vulnerable Zones.
Water	The timely provision of new water services infrastructure in line with growth	The timely provision of new water services infrastructure in line with growth
Air	Improving air quality	Congestion at various locations in the town centre and associated air quality issues There are currently four Air Quality Management Areas in Ipswich
Air	The requirement for clean vehicle infrastructure to encourage uptake of technologies	The requirement for clean vehicle infrastructure to encourage uptake of technologies
Material Assets (including soil and waste)	The need to maintain and/or enhance soil quality	The need to remediate contaminated sites and avoid contamination. Very little high quality agricultural land remaining.
	The need to manage waste arisings in accordance with the waste hierarchy	The need to manage waste arisings in accordance with the waste hierarchy
	The need to encourage development on previously developed land and/or make use of existing buildings and infrastructure	The average percentage of housing built on previously developed land in Ipswich from 2001/02 to 2013/14 was 92.9%.
	The need to protect and enhance sites designated for their geological interest	The need to protect and enhance sites designated for their geological interest
Climatic Change	The need to ensure that the built environment adapts to the impact of climate change and extreme weather events	The need to increase renewable energy provision and deliver carbon neutral development. The need to ensure sustainable construction techniques and green infrastructure are employed to mitigate climate change and address fuel poverty.
Climatic Change	The need to address pluvial, fluvial and coastal flood risk	Ipswich has a Flood Defence Management Strategy including a tidal surge barrier which will be completed this year.
The Coast and Estuaries	The need to manage pressure on protected sites	Large areas protected for species and habitat value which come under pressure from increased recreational and tourist activity
Biodiversity	The need to conserve and enhance biodiversity (including sites designated for the their nature conservation value)	Numerous protected species, habitats and sites across the borough and pressures on climate biodiversity arising from climate change and urban development. Need to extend and enhance the green infrastructure network across the whole IHMA.
Biodiversity	The need to halt biodiversity net loss	High biodiversity value.
Cultural Heritage	Maintaining and enhancing designated and non-designated heritage and cultural assets	High number of heritage assets.
Landscape	The need to ensure the protection and enhancement of local distinctiveness and character	Managing development while protecting significant areas of environmental protection. Delivering high quality design that respects local character.
Landscape	The need to manage pressure from new development on the AONB	Some AONB areas in Ipswich.
Economy	The need to support and maintain a sustainable local economy	Competition for land from housing. Full-time female workers earn a third less than full-time male workers in Ipswich. Promoting growth in key employment sectors.
Economy	Enhancing town and service centres and their role	Changing nature of the high street, local and district centres and changing shopping habits.
Transport and connectivity	Reducing the need to travel	Co-location of services.
Transport and connectivity	Encouraging the use of sustainable transport modes	Improving the walking and cycling environment, lack of integrated public transport and relatively cheap car parking. Provision of adequate public transport infrastructure
Digital Infrastructure	The need to realise opportunities for social inclusion through the provision of improved online services	Access to fast broadband and wifi across the town. Unreliable mobile phone coverage in some areas.
Digital Infrastructure	The need to support the growth of the digital economy	Access to fast broadband and wifi across the town.

Table 45: Key Issues - Sustainability Issues and Problems (Task A3)

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