Appendix 1 of SEA Environmental Report

Non-technical Summary

1         Introduction and Terms of Reference

This is the Non-Technical Summary of the Environmental Report (ER) of Proposed Amendment No. 2 of the Callan Local Area Plan 2009-2020.  The purpose of the ER is to provide a clear understanding of the likely environmental consequences of development resulting from the proposed amendment.

What is an SEA?

SEA is a systematic process of predicting and evaluating the likely environmental effects of implementing a proposed plan, or other strategic action, in order to ensure that these effects are appropriately addressed at the earliest appropriate stage of decision-making on a par with economic, social and other considerations.

Why is it needed?

The SEA is being carried out in order to comply with the provisions of the SEA Regulations and in order to improve planning and environmental management within Kilkenny. The output of the process is an ER and SEA Statement, both of which should be read in conjunction with the Development Plan.

How does it work?

All of the main environmental issues affecting the proposed amendment area were assembled and this helped to devise a site specific development objective that protects whatever is sensitive in the local environment.  

What is included in the Environmental Report which accompanies the Plan?

The ER contains the following information:

·         A description of the environment and the key environmental issues;

·         A description and assessment of alternatives for the Proposed Amendment;

·         An assessment of the Proposed Amendment objective; and,

·         Mitigation measures which set out to aid compliance with important environmental protection legislation - e.g. the Water Framework Directive, the Habitats Directive - and which will avoid/reduce the environmental effects of implementing the Plan.

What happens at the end of the process?

On the approval of the Proposed Amendment a document will be made public, referred to as the SEA Statement.  The SEA Statement includes information on how environmental considerations have been integrated into the Proposed Amendment and why the preferred alternative was chosen for the Plan in light of the other alternatives.

2         The Proposed Amendment

2.1       Content of the Proposed Amendment

The Proposed Amendment comprises a revised zoning map for Callan (Figure 4.3) which proposes to extend the LAP boundary to include an 8 acres site at Westcourt, Callan, and a site specific development objective for this site to facilitate development by the Camphill Community.  

2.2       Interactions with Relevant Policy, Plans or Programmes

The Plan sits within a hierarchy of other plans. The Plan must comply with higher level strategic plans and may, in turn, guide lower level strategic plans.  The higher level plans include the following:

International

·         Agenda 2000

·         Local Agenda 21

·         The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP)

·         Various EU Directives

National

·         Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16: Medium Term Exchequer Framework, 2011

·         Sustainable Development: A Strategy for Ireland, 1997

·         National Spatial Strategy 2002 – 2020 (NSS)

·         Ministerial Guidelines issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000-2011

Regional

·         Regional Planning Guidelines for the South East Region 2010-2022

County

·         Kilkenny County Development Plan 2014-2020

·         Callan Local Area Plan 2009-2020.  A SEA Environmental Report was prepared for the Callan Local Area Plan prior to its adoption in 2009. The life of the LAP was extended by a further 4 years (up to 2020) in 2014.  

3         The Environmental Baseline

3.1       Introduction

The environmental baseline of the area is described in this section. This baseline together with the Strategic Environmental Objectives is used in order to identify, describe and evaluate the likely significant environmental effects of implementing the Proposed Amendment and to determine appropriate monitoring measures.

The environmental baseline is described in line with the legislative requirements encompassing the following components –

1.       Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna: The proposed amendment area is located adjacent to the King’s River which forms part of a Natura 2000 site (River Barrow and River Nore SAC).   

2.       Population and Human Health: The population of Callan town (both Urban and Rural CSO areas) was recorded as being 2,330 in 2011.  This was up from 1,771 in 2006. 

3.       Soil: The underlying soil type of the amendment area is classified as ‘Acid brown earths – Brown Podzolics’.   

4.       Water: The most recent data from the EPA identify the King’s River as ‘moderate’.  The status of the groundwater underlying Callan is identified as being of ‘good’ status

5.       Air: Callan and its surrounds in County Kilkenny is located within Zone D where air quality is currently identified as being “good”.  

6.       Climatic factors: Flooding is influenced by climatic factors.  A Strategic Flood Risk Assessment has been carried out for this proposed amendment. 

7.       Material Assets: The current wastewater treatment plant in Callan has capacity for development proposed by this amendment to the LAP.  There is a Recorded Monument within the amended area, ref. KK026-002 ‘Castle’ located in Westcourt Demesne (shown in figure 4.10 below).  There is one Protected Structure within the Amendment area: ‘Ruin of a seven bay, two storey house, c18th’.  The only remaining structure on the site is the walled garden associated with this house.   

8.       Cultural Heritage (architectural and archaeological)

9.       Landscape: The town of Callan is located in a ‘Lowland’, classified as the ‘Kilkenny Western Basin’ area as set out in Figure 8.2 of the County Development Plan. 

10.   The inter-relationship between these issues: There are sensitivities within the amendment area regarding natural heritage, archaeology & built heritage and flood hazard.  The occurrence of multiple sensitivities in any location does not preclude development; rather it flags at a strategic level that the mitigation measures - which have already been integrated into the special development objective as part of the proposed Amendment- will need to be complied with in order to ensure that the implementation of the Plan contributes towards environmental protection.

3.2       Evolution of Environment in the absence of the Proposed Amendment

In the absence of the proposed amendment, the policies and objectives of the current County Development Plan 2014-202 would apply to the area.  The County Development Plan contains high level objectives for the protection of the environment, for example in relation to the protection of areas of heritage significance. 

3.3       Strategic Environmental Objectives

Strategic Environmental Objectives (SEOs) are measures against which the environmental effects of the Plan can be tested.  If complied with in full, SEOs would result in an environmentally neutral impact from implementation of the Planning Scheme.  

The SEA Directive requires that relevant environmental protection objectives (EPOs), established at international, EU or national level are listed in the Environmental Report.  The Guidelines include an indicative list of EPOs, which has been followed here. The Guidelines also recommend that broad planning policy objectives (PPOs) are defined for the area.  Both the EPOs and the PPOs combine to form the SEA objectives, and these are set out in Table NTS1.  

Environmental Parameter	No.	Objective (EPO)	Indicators	Targets
Biodiversity, fauna and flora	B1	Protect, and where appropriate, enhance biodiversity, particularly protected areas and protected species including ecological linkages / corridors.	B1i: Conservation status of habitats and species as assessed under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive B1ii: Number of significant impacts on relevant habitats and species B1iii: Number of significant impacts on the protection of species listed on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife Act 1976.	B1i: Maintenance of favourable conservation status for all habitats and species protected under national and international legislation to be unaffected by implementation of the Plan as amended[1].  B1ii: Avoid significant impacts on relevant habitats and species. B1iii: No significant impacts on the protection of species listed on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife Act 1976.
Population and Human Health	P1	Improve people’s quality of life based on high-quality residential, working and recreational environments and on sustainable travel patterns.	Occurrence (any) of a spatially concentrated deterioration in human health arising from environmental factors resulting from development provided for by the Plan, as identified by the Health Service Executive and Environmental Protection Agency	No spatial concentrations of health problems arising from environmental factors as a result of implementing the Plan.
Soil	S1	To avoid damage to the hydrogeological and ecological function of the soil resource	Soil extent and hydraulic connectivity	To minimise reductions in soil extent and hydraulic connectivity.
Water	W1	To prevent pollution and contamination of ground water	Groundwater Quality Standards and Threshold Values under Directive 2006/118/EC	Not to affect the ability of groundwaters to comply with Groundwater Quality Standards and Threshold Values under Directive 2006/118/EC
	W2	To comply as appropriate with the provisions of the Planning System and Flood Risk Management: Guidelines for Planning Authorities (DEHLG, 2009)	Number of incompatible developments granted permission on lands which pose - or are likely to pose in the future - a significant flood risk	Minimise developments granted permission on lands which pose - or are likely to pose in the future - a significant flood risk in compliance with The Planning System and Flood Risk Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities
	W3	To maintain and improve, where possible, the quality and status of surface waters	Classification of Overall Status (comprised of ecological and chemical status) under the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) Regulations 2009 (SI No. 272 of 2009)	Not to cause deterioration in the status of any surface water or affect the ability of any surface water to achieve ‘good status’ by 2015
Air and Climatic Factors	A1	To reduce travel related emissions to air and to encourage modal change from car to more sustainable forms of transport	Percentage of population travelling to work, school or college by non-mechanical means	An increase in the percentage of the population travelling to work, school or college by public transport where available or non-mechanical means
Material Assets	M1	To serve new development with adequate and appropriate waste water treatment	Number of new developments granted permission which can be adequately and appropriately served with waste water treatment over the lifetime of the Plan	All new developments granted permission to be connected to and adequately and appropriately served by waste water treatment over the lifetime of the Plan
	M2	To serve new development with adequate drinking water that is both wholesome and clean	Number of non-compliances with the 48 parameters identified in the European Communities (Drinking Water) Regulations (No. 2) 2007 which present a potential danger to human health as a result of implementing the Plan	No non-compliances with the 48 parameters identified in the European Communities (Drinking Water) Regulations (No. 2) 2007 which present a potential danger to human health as a result of implementing the Plan
	M3	To reduce waste volumes, minimise waste to landfill and increase recycling and reuse	Total collected and brought household waste Packaging recovered (t) by self-complying packagers	Minimise increases in and, where possible, reduce household waste generation Maximise increases in packaging recovered (t) by self-complying packagers
Cultural Heritage (architectural and archaeological)	H1	To protect archaeological heritage including the zone of Archaeological Heritage and entries to the Record of Monuments and Places and/or their context	Percentage of entries to the Record of Monuments and Places protected from significant adverse effects arising from new development granted permission under the Plan.	Protect the zone of Archaeological Heritage and  entries to the Record of Monuments and Places  from significant adverse effects arising from new development granted permission under the Plan
	H2	To protect architectural heritage including entries to the Record of Protected Structures and Architectural Conservation Area and their context	Percentage of entries to the Record of Protected Structures and Architectural Conservation Area and their context protected from significant adverse effects arising from new development granted permission under the Plan	Protect entries to the Record of Protected Structures and Architectural Conservation Area and their context from significant adverse effects arising from new development granted permission under the Plan.
Landscape	L1	Conserve and enhance valued natural and historic landscapes, their character and features within them.	Number of complaints received from statutory consultees regarding avoidable adverse visual impacts on the landscape resulting from development which is granted permission under the Plan.	No developments permitted which result in avoidable adverse visual impacts on the landscape from development which is granted permission under the Plan.

4         Alternative Scenarios

4.1       Description of the Alternative Plan Scenarios

One of the critical roles of the SEA is to facilitate an evaluation of the likely environmental consequences of a range of alternative scenarios for the future development of the proposed amendment area. 

Kilkenny County Council in preparing the Proposed Amendment to the Callan Local Area Plan 2009-2020 developed three alternative development strategies as follows:

·         Alternative A is a do-nothing scenario whereby the site remains un-zoned and outside the Callan LAP boundary as it is presently. 

·         Alternative B provides for a zoning change to ‘Residential’ with no site specific development objective to integrate environmental considerations arising from the SEA, AA and SFRA processes. 

·         Alternative C provides for a zoning change to ‘Agriculture’ with a site specific objective that integrates environmental considerations identified by the AA, SEA and SFRA into the proposal.  These considerations were identified during the SEA Scoping exercise, and were informed by both the AA and SFRA and by submissions from the environmental authorities. 

4.2       Evaluation of Alternative Scenarios

This section summarises the evaluation of the Alternative Scenarios that is found in Section 7 of the Environmental Report. 

Alternative A - Likely significant effects

Alternative A involves the ‘do nothing’ approach whereby the site remains un-zoned as it is presently.  The ‘un-zoned’ nature of the site generally does not favour new built development and for this reason Alternative A would be likely to continue the protection of the following environmental components: Biodiversity and Flora and Fauna (including the River Barrow and Nore cSAC); Population and Human Health; Soil; Water; Cultural Heritage; Landscape.  There would be no new potential conflicts or associated effects arising with Alternative A, above those which have already been predicted by and mitigated by the SEA of the existing Plan (these potential conflicts are detailed below).  This is because Alternative A does not propose a change to the Plan.  The likelihood of potential and residual adverse effects occurring under Alternative A would be far lower than Alternatives B and C as the un-zoned nature of the site generally does not favour new built development.  Potential conflicts with environmental components would however exist (due to a small number of potential uses which would be considered as being Open for Consideration by the current Plan e.g. rural housing) however these conflicts would be fully mitigated by current Development Plan provisions. 

Alternative B - Likely significant effects

Alternative B provides for a zoning change to ‘New Residential’ with no site specific development objective to integrate environmental considerations arising from the SEA, AA and SFRA processes.  The likelihood of potential and residual adverse effects occurring under Alternative B would be higher than Alternatives A and C as the Residential zoning objective favours new built development.  Under Alternative B, two significant residual adverse effects would be likely to occur that would not occur under the other alternatives:

1.            Effects on the River Barrow and Nore cSAC, in conflict with the requirements of the Habitats Directive; and

2.            Increases in levels of flood risk, in conflict with the requirements of the Flood Risk Management Guidelines, and associated interactions with human health.

The Appropriate Assessment (AA) process, undertaken alongside this SEA, identified that if the lands located within the cSAC and proposed to be zoned Residential by Alternative A were to be built upon, then residual effects on the cSAC would be likely.  The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) process, undertaken alongside this SEA, identified that residential uses should be excluded from the part of the site that has been determined to be Flood Zone B. 

Alternative C - Likely significant effects

Alternative C provides for the zoning of the site to ‘Agriculture’ and the inclusion of a site specific objective that integrates environmental considerations - identified by the SEA, AA and SFRA – into the proposal.  These considerations (the River Barrow and Nore cSAC, flood risk areas and archaeological monitoring) were identified during the SEA Scoping exercise and were informed by both the AA and SFRA and by submissions from environmental authorities.  

The likelihood of potential and residual adverse effects occurring under Alternative C would be higher than Alternative A as the site specific development objective favours new built development.  However the two significant residual adverse effects that would be likely to occur under Alternative B would not occur under Alternative C:

1.            Under Alternative C, protection of the cSAC would be maintained by the provisions of the site specific objective which includes various to prevent any adverse effects upon the cSAC arising from development.

2.            Under Alternative C, the Flood Risk Zones for the site would be established and residential uses excluded from part of the site would mitigate risk.

4.3       Selection of Preferred Alternative

The preferred alternative which emerged from the evaluation process is Alternative C.   This scenario contributes towards the protection of the environment and conforms to high level planning objectives.  The proposed amendment has regard to:

1. The environmental effects which were identified by the SEA (and AA and SFRA) and are detailed above; and

2. Planning - including social and economic - effects which also were considered by the Council.

By complying with appropriate mitigation measures - including those which have been integrated into the Proposed Amendment - potential adverse environmental effects which could arise as a result of implementing this scenario would be likely to be avoided, reduced or offset.

4.4       Appropriate Assessment and Flood Risk Assessment

A Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) was carried out for the proposed Amendment.  An Appropriate Assessment has also been carried out for the Plan; this is produced as a separate Natura Impact Report. 

The preparation of the Plan, SEA, AA and SFRA has taken place concurrently and the findings of the AA and SFRA have informed both the Plan and the SEA.

5         Mitigation and Monitoring Measures

5.1       Mitigation

Mitigation measures are measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and, as fully as possible, offset any significant adverse impacts on the environment of implementing the Plan.  Potential adverse effects have been and will be avoided, reduced or offset through:

·         The consideration of alternatives;

·         Through communication of environmental considerations and integration of these considerations into the Plan;

·         Through the application of a comprehensive risk-based planning approach to flood management in the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment; and

·         Adherence to mitigation measures which have been integrated into the Plan either as Objectives in the case of Natura 2000 sites and flood risk management, or Development Management Standards.

5.2       Monitoring

The SEA Directive requires that the significant environmental effects of the implementation of plans and programmes are monitored. The Environmental Report contains proposals for monitoring the Plan which are adopted alongside the Plan.  Monitoring enables the identification of unforeseen adverse effects and the undertaking of appropriate remedial action.

The Environmental Report identifies indicators - which allow quantitative measures of trends and progress in the environment over time.  Measurements for indicators generally come from existing monitoring sources.  A monitoring report will be prepared as part of the Manager’s Report on the implementation of the Development Plan, which must be carried out within two years of the making of the Plan. 

 

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