SEA Screening Report: Cork City Council Local Economic and Community Plan
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Introduction – Strategic Policy Context
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Strategic Environmental Assessment
The European Union Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive (2001/42/EC) requires an environmental assessment be carried out for all plans that are prepared for certain specified sectors, including land use of which the Cork City Council Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP) (the Plan) relates. The following Regulations transpose this Directive into Irish law: • The European Communities (Environmental Assessment of Certain Plans and Programmes) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 435 of 2004), • The Planning and Development (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 436 of 2004) and further amended by • S.I. No. 200 of 2011 (European Communities (Environmental Assessment of Certain Plans and Programmes) (Amendment) Regulations 2011) and S.I. No. 201 of 2011 (Planning and Development (Strategic Environmental Assessment) (Amendment) Regulations 2011). The Planning and Development (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulations, 2004 (as amended) state that SEA is mandatory for certain plans while screening for SEA is required for other plans that fall below the specified thresholds. The purpose of this screening report is to determine whether the making and implementation of the Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP) for Cork City Council will or will not, lead to significant environmental effects for the plan area and if it will require a full Strategic Environment Assessment. In deciding whether a particular plan is likely to have significant environmental effects, regard must be had to the criteria set out in Annex II of the SEA Directive, which is reproduced in the Schedule 2A to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as inserted by Article 12 of the Planning and Development (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulations 2004. The approach to this SEA screening assessment is to assess the Plan based on the LECP Guidelines 2021 prepared by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage against the criteria contained in Schedule 2a of the SEA Regulations. This assessment is presented in Section Four of this Screening Report and Annex A presents the assessment of the high-level goals, sustainable community and economic objectives, and their respective actions areas. An assessment under Article 6(3) of the EU Habitats Directive has also been undertaken in conjunction with this SEA Screening report and should be read in tandem with this Screening Report and the Plan . This SEA Screening report was issued to statutory environmental authorities under SI 435 of 2004, as amended from 3rd April 2024 to 1st May 2024. Responses were received from the Environmental Protection Agency, Geological Survey Ireland (a division of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications) and an acknowledgement from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage stating the Department has no observations at this time. This submissions have been
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