CLIENT:
Cork City Council
PROJECT NAME: REPORT TITLE:
Cork City Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy
SEA Environmental Report
These local plans and policies are predicted to align with high-level policy defined in the national plans such as the National Planning Framework or the national Climate Action Plan (CAP24), and regional policy defined in the Southern Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy, for example. These higher order plans are predicted strongly influence the land use planning framework and environmental conditions in Cork City. These plans will support the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient society generally, including the transition to alternative fuel vehicles in particular, active travel development, compact growth and transport sector decarbonisation. Traffic and transport conditions in Cork City will evolve in line with the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040 which aims to deliver an accessible, integrated transport network in the Cork Metropolitan Area. This Strategy supports a variety of sustainable transport and travel initiatives such as the development of transport mobility hubs and strategic park and ride facilities. Not progressing the more focussed and local area specific set of EV charging infrastructure development proposals defined in the Strategy would present several significant lost opportunities. The Strategy provides a greater degree of focus and specificity in relation to the development of EV charging infrastructure in Cork City. A variety of likely positive environmental effects associated with the Strategy implementation would not come to fruition (e.g., the better facilitation of a reduction in Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) based vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improvements in local air quality conditions). A number of potential adverse effects associated with the existing baseline scenario are more likely to continue to occur (existing ICE based vehicle emissions may be maintained or reduced more gradually in the context of Cork City - resulting in ongoing impacts on climate and local air quality). The likelihood of exceedances of ambient air quality standards in the City due to vehicle emissions in congested areas would be greater as a result. In the event none of the proposals defined in the Strategy are implemented, the expansion of the EV network in the city will have less express policy support. Promoting and facilitating a shift from ICE-based vehicle use to the use of electric vehicles in Cork City will have less express policy support. Strategic Environmental Objectives The SEA Directive states that an SEA should also look at 'the environmental protection objectives, established at international, Community or Member State level, which are relevant to the plan or programme and the way those objectives and any environmental considerations have been taken into account during its preparation.' The identification of environmental protection objectives relevant to a plan provide the basis for evaluating the significance of impacts during the SEA process. All environmental protection objectives relevant to the Strategy have been identified. Strategic Environmental Objectives (SEOs) are methodological measures which facilitate the development of targets against which the environmental effects of the Strategy can be tested. SEOs are based on wider environmental protection objectives on local, regional, national, European and international level that are relevant to the Strategy. They are high-level in nature and set strategic goals for environmental protection and improvement. All SEOs applicable to the Strategy are presented in the table below.
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