Appendix B

Baseline and Key Sustainability Issues and Opportunities

Baseline and Key Sustainability Issues and Opportunities

1.1.4 The Ipswich Housing Market Area and Functional Economic Area is made up of four districts; Suffolk Coastal District Council (now within East Suffolk Council), Babergh District Council, Mid Suffolk District Council, and Ipswich Borough Council. Figure 3, below, shows a map of the Ipswich Housing Market Area. The housing market area is predominately rural in character with some significant urban areas such as Ipswich, Felixstowe, Stowmarket and Sudbury. The A12 and A14 are significant transport corridors supported by the main line railway connecting Norwich and London and other branch lines.

1.1.5 This appendix sets out the baseline situation - that is the current status, in relation to society, the environment and the economy - in Ipswich Borough and the wider Ipswich Housing Market Area and Functional Economic Area. The topics identified above during the PPP review were organised under the three themes as illustrated in Table B-1.

Table B-1: Topics of baseline characteristics

1.1.6 Each topic was broken down into the following elements:

• Current status;
• Future Considerations;
• Likely Evolution of the Baseline Without the Local Plan;
• Key Data Sources; and
• Key Issues for the Sustainability Appraisal.

1.1.7 The baseline data is presented in its entirety in the Scoping Report available on the Council website^[1].

^[1] Ipswich Local Plan Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report Consultation, August 2017, available online at: https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/services/new-local-plan-review