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4: The Local Plan and the Environment

Introduction

4.01 In publishing its White Paper, This Common Inheritance (1990), the previous Government signalled its commitment to a “moral duty to look after our planet and hand it on in good order to future generations”. This responsibility is confirmed by the Declaration on Environment and Development, signed by the majority of the world’s nations at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Declaration sought to establish a set of principles for sustainable development, a goal which has been incorporated into Government advice on the preparation of development plans (see paragraph 3.04). The Council’s own commitment to sustainable development is demonstrated by its participation in a European Local Agenda 21 initiative (see paragraph 3.14).

4.02 Sustainable development is defined, in general terms, as development which does not “deny future generations the best of today’s environment” (Planning Policy Guidance Note 12). The United Nations’ definition focuses on improving our quality of life as an integrated part of, rather than an alternative to, the environment: sustainable development is considered to be “…development which improves people’s quality of life within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems”. Development plans have a role to play in this process, a role enhanced by the importance now attached to a plan-led planning system (see paragraph 1.05) and the need for those plans to take account of the environment in its widest sense.

4.03 In January 1998 the Government published a policy statement - Modernising Planning - which sets out its proposals for modernising the land use planning system. These include procedural changes to development plans and a commitment to sustainable development. It reiterates the importance of development plans in helping to deliver a sustainable pattern and form of development. In October of the same year the Government gave some practical guidance on how to achieve this with the production of ‘Planning for Sustainable Development: Towards Better Practice’. Key issues which emerge include making the best use of urban land, promoting new development that is integrated with existing and planned transport, and supporting good access to local services.

4.04 The Government’s continuing commitment to sustainable development was furthered in May 1999 with the publication of ‘A better quality of life, a strategy for sustainable development for the UK’. This promotes four broad objectives:

• social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;
• effective protection of the environment;
• prudent use of natural resources; and
• maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

4.05 The strategy sets out priorities for the UK. Of particular relevance to development plan policy formulation are the priorities of:

• more investment in people and equipment for a competitive economy;
• reducing the level of social exclusion;
• promoting a transport system that provides choice and minimises environmental impact and congestion;
• protecting wildlife and countryside;
• improving energy efficiency; and
• improving the large towns and cities to make them better places to live and work.

4.06 Sustainable development is an ambitious goal and the implementation of Local Plan policies will only be capable of making a limited contribution to its achievement. Sustainability will be influenced mainly by the overall level of built development, economic development, and transport policies, which are for the most part determined elsewhere:

i) the level of development for the plan period is established in the Structure Plan and in Regional Guidance, and the planning system must still operate on the basis that applications for development should be allowed, having regard to the development plan and other considerations, and that competition between users and investors must not be inhibited;

ii) national policy holds economic growth to be desirable and local prosperity must be one of the Local Plan’s key aims (see paragraph 3.23); and

iii) the Government holds the key to transport policies in the widest sense and the Borough of Poole is the Highway Authority with its policies being reflected in the Development Plan.

4.07 The Local Plan must therefore be appraised having regard to those areas which it is able to influence, principally how development is to be controlled, accommodated and encouraged.

4.08 Table 4.1 summarises some of the principal ways in which the Local Plan is trying to promote sustainable development through its policies.

Environmental Resources

4.09 Environmental resources may be grouped as follows:

i) those influencing global sustainability, including the atmosphere and wildlife. In this regard, the Local Plan can promote urban forms which reduce the need to travel and encourage the use of public transport, require energy efficient development, and safeguard wildlife habitats and tree cover;

ii) natural resources, including air, both freshwater and the marine environment, soil quality and mineral reserves. Urban form policies will also assist in maintaining air quality, and the Local Plan can safeguard good quality agricultural land and ensure that development which would harm water quality is not permitted; and

iii) local environmental quality, including landscape and open space, cultural heritage and the urban environment. Local assets can be protected and the quality of the urban environment and provision of open space enhanced through the implementation of Local Plan policies.

4.10 Some environmental assets will represent "critical environmental capital", where the impact of development would be greater than that which could be absorbed without irreversible loss or deterioration. Problems occur when local developments, which might be acceptable locally, combine with development elsewhere to produce a cumulative impact which may exceed a global limit. In Poole, such assets are likely to relate to sites which enjoy national or even international statutory protection. In addition, assets of more local importance may require similar protection because of their significance in the local environment.

4.11 In other cases, the loss of an asset may be acceptable if that loss can be made good elsewhere. Sometimes a loss of this kind will be outweighed by the benefits, environmental and otherwise, of the development. Where such “trade-offs” are made they should be explicit and where the environmental impact of a proposal is uncertain a precautionary approach should be adopted. In some cases, significant individual developments will require an Environmental Impact Assessment.

4.12 The potential impact of the Local Plan’s proposals have been prepared having regard to the environmental criteria set out above, together with local assets which include areas of landscape value; woodland; open spaces; wildlife sites; archaeological sites; historic gardens; water bodies, coast and Harbour; and areas of townscape value. The remainder of this chapter represents a summary of the Local Plan’s impact on the environment. A comprehensive account of the appraisal process may be found in the document ‘Poole Local Plan: Environmental Appraisal’ and its companion document ‘Poole Local Plan First Alteration: Sustainability Appraisal’. The latter recognises that sustainable development is not limited to environmental concerns in a narrow sense and the same methodologies used for environmental appraisal have been developed to include economic and social issues.

4.13 Table 4.1 illustrates how the Local Plan addresses a variety of sustainable development issues. The following section summarises how specific topic areas of the Local Plan consider sustainable development, reflecting the sustainability appraisal work undertaken throughout the Local Plan review.

Geographic Strategy

4.14 The Local Plan strategy has been established with sustainable development as a key aim. The geographic strategy includes a tightly drawn Green Belt Boundary, protection of open spaces and a hierarchy of accessible centres designed to promote public transport and limit the need to travel. Care will need to be taken that higher densities and mixed development, both designed to foster best use of urban land and promote public transport, do not achieve their objective at the expense of the quality of the urban environment.

The Built Environment

4.15 Urban design policies are intended to secure an improvement in quality through the preparation of design briefs and the application of a design code. Skylines, ridges, slopes and views are protected and design criteria have also been prepared for shopfronts, advertisements and telecommunication developments.

4.16 Energy conservation is promoted and the built heritage protected. Nevertheless, there will be conflicts. Developments designed for energy conservation may not always be acceptable in design terms and density and other controls may lead to development pressures elsewhere.

The Natural Environment

4.17 Local Plan policies have been formulated to protect and conserve the Borough’s natural features. The degree of statutory protection offered to the Harbour and much of the area’s heathland, together with those other sites of nature conservation interest, clearly constrain development potential and have combined to justify a tightly drawn Green Belt. This is likely to result in greater pressure on the built up area but, despite benefits for public transport and accessibility, should not be allowed to justify a reduction in the quality of the urban environment. Whether these constraints will inhibit economic development in the long term is a matter for strategic planning in the area as a whole.

4.18 The likely results of climate change, including a rise in sea levels, have been taken account of in development policies for the coast.

Transportation

4.19 The Local Plan's transportation policies are intended to enhance accessibility in a sustainable way. There are conflicts, however, in securing economic development, allowing greater accessibility and limiting travel by car.

4.20 Policies in the Transportation Chapter aim to promote greater accessibility by public transport and by bicycle or on foot. At the same time parking zones are defined to ensure that on-site parking provision does not harm these objectives.

4.21 Highway improvements will inevitably encourage further traffic movement but will result in environmental improvement where traffic is diverted from congested residential areas. Traffic calming, itself, will have environmental dis-benefits on certain streets but will, overall, secure environmental gains.

4.22 Junction and other highway improvements, although often harmful to the urban environment, can assist in reducing accidents, as will improvements to the cycleway/footpath network. Nevertheless, it has to be acknowledged that economic development and trends quite outside the control of the local planning authority will continue to result in higher levels of traffic and initiatives to assist traffic flow will encourage further growth.

4.23 These influences will be mitigated by bus priority measures and the appropriate use of parking policies, together with policies to promote cycling and walking.

Housing

4.24 Poole has significant physical constraints to its future expansion: it has coast along much of its boundary, while in the north the built-up area is 4 contained by green belt and internationally important habitats. This places much emphasis upon the existing urban area in terms of accommodating future housing provision. Opportunities will exist in the form of infill, redevelopment and conversion, and the Central Area contains good opportunities for the reuse of urban land. The Plan contains policies designed to prevent the undesirable consequences of town cramming. Appropriate encouragement is given to higher densities, including flat development, with protection offered to areas where the urban environment is characterised by low-density housing. Additionally, the Design Code gives advice on achieving a high quality of design in new development.

Employment

4.25 The employment aims of the Local Plan include proposals to secure the retention of a varied economic base, the promotion of the Port, and a reduction in the threat and impact of pollution.

4.26 The stock of land suitable for employment related activities is largely protected and criteria are established for existing employment areas and sites outside established commercial and industrial areas. Development can, subject to safeguards, assist in reducing the need to travel and promoting use of public transport and for this reason major office development is to be concentrated in the Central Area and will only be permitted outside of this area if a package of measures is included to achieve a sufficient proportion of journeys by means other than the private car.

4.27 Port expansion is allowed for, subject to highway capacity and the need to safeguard the urban environment and the ecological value of the Harbour. Port activity is almost entirely highway based, but the Plan protects the potential for rail based activity and promotes the increased use of the railway for the handling of freight.

4.28 Traffic growth is closely associated with economic development but the strategy of the Local Plan is intended to minimise the impact of travel by car, which will inevitably increase. Major new developments are generally proposed for sites adjacent to the main road network, minimising impact on the urban environment.

Tourism

4.29 A key component of the Council’s corporate strategy is to secure a broad and sustainable economic base. In support of this, the Local Plan contains policies to encourage growth in tourism subject to the protection of existing tourism assets.

4.30 Tourism growth and the development of new attractions will increase pressure on environmental assets and will encourage traffic growth but the varied nature and location of the Borough’s attractions should assist in spreading the impact. Mitigation will be further assisted by the encouragement offered to visitor and traffic management, improved information services and countryside protection policies. To reduce the impact of tourists in sensitive areas, management plans controlling traffic and visitors will be prepared. The reuse of redundant buildings in the countryside for tourist accommodation and the limited provision of sites for touring caravans will be encouraged, subject to safeguards.

Leisure and Recreation

4.31 The Local Plan recognises that, like tourism, leisure and recreation are important components of economic development and that the nature of participation is changing rapidly. Policies to secure the protection of the Borough’s open spaces and urban greenspace are accompanied by a recognition that leisure based development can be appropriate on open space where it is complementary to its function. Replacement open space will be required in circumstances where development results in a loss of open space, so that the loss of the Tatnam Farm Playing Fields to the new Oakdale South Road Middle School will be offset by the creation of a new park on the site of the former Oakdale school.

4.32 For the most part, new facilities will be located in existing centres so that local accessibility is promoted. However, substantial playing field development, such as that at Moortown Aerodrome, will depend upon car borne travel. In addition, particular care must be taken to ensure that peripheral recreational development is compatible with its Green Belt location.

4.33 Water based recreation presents a particular problem in Poole, principally because the Harbour, a unique asset, is of international ecological importance. In addition, the built up nature of much of the Poole shoreline means that access to the Harbour can conflict with the residential environment. Larger scale developments, such as the yacht haven at Town Quay, may have an impact on the urban and natural environment but will facilitate a reduction in swinging moorings elsewhere in the Harbour. Poole Harbour Management Policies (April 1998) attempt to resolve, in a practical way, some of the conflicts which can arise in the Harbour.

Shopping

4.34 Retailing has changed considerably in recent years with a wave of superstore and retail warehousing development, largely supporting car borne shopping. It has been suggested that, given the nature of modern convenience shopping, a network of superstores of the kind that now exists in Poole may assist in reducing trip length. However, the shopping strategy aims to ensure that the hierarchy of town and local centres retains its vitality and viability so that locally accessible facilities will assist in reducing car journeys.

The Central Area and Local Centres

4.35 The Central Area has a key role in sustainable development, being that part of the town best served by public transport and a focus for commerce, retailing, recreation and tourism. It also offers significant opportunities for bringing forward new housing development on previously developed land. The Local Plan seeks to consolidate this role by making best use of the considerable scope for further development and providing the framework for bringing forward a new harbour crossing. Policies are closely aligned with the transport strategy, and urban design policies are particularly geared to the enhanced quality of public spaces, while Policies in the Central Area chapter seek improved pedestrian accessibility between and within the Town Centre, the waterfronts and Lower Hamworthy.

4.36 The Local Plan also aims to promote accessible centres, as a focus for the community and as a component of the sustainable transport strategy.

Community Facilities

4.37 Many areas of community provision are outside the control of the local planning authority although where planning control is exercised, as in the case of development at the University, policies have regard to environmental impact. In addition, the Plan seeks to make best use of existing facilities, particularly schools.

Conclusions

4.38 Achieving sustainable development relies upon a long-term commitment and so it is crucial that Poole’s economic, social and environmental needs are provided for in a balanced way rather than at each other’s expense. To this end the Plan seeks to ensure that the land use planning framework is in place to achieve a sustainable pattern of development. To ensure that the plan addresses the appropriate issues, it is important to maintain an on-going sustainability appraisal of policies.

4.39 Policy appraisal is also a dynamic process and requirements will change with greater knowledge and new priorities. The Local Plan will need to be monitored so that its actual impact can be assessed and necessary amendments made.

4.40 In the case of some developments an environmental impact assessment under the terms of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 will be required. In deciding whether to require such an assessment for Schedule 2 developments the Council will have particular regard to the potential impact on the Borough’s designated areas of nature conservation interest. Planning applications will be determined on the basis that all development should respect its immediate environment.

Table 4.1 - How the Local Plan promotes sustainable development