4. THE ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ................................................................................................... 27 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 27 4.2 Population and Human Health ...........................................................................................................30 4.3 Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna .............................................................................................................32 4.4 Landscape, Seascape and Visual Amenity ..........................................................................................39 4.5 Cultural Heritage - Archaeological and Architectural.........................................................................41 4.6 Soils ..................................................................................................................................................... 44 4.7 Land Use .............................................................................................................................................48 4.8 Air Quality and Noise ..........................................................................................................................50 4.9 Water .................................................................................................................................................. 53 4.10 Material Assets ...................................................................................................................................67 4.11 Tourism and Recreation .....................................................................................................................70 4.12 Climate Change ................................................................................................................................... 70 4.13 Constraints and Opportunities ...........................................................................................................71 4.14 Evolution of the Baseline Environment Without the Implementation of the Strategy .....................74 5. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 75 6. DESCRIPTION AND EVALUATION OF STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES .................................................... 77 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 77 6.2 Goal of the Reasonable Alternative Evaluation Process in SEA..........................................................77 6.3 Approach to Developing Reasonable Alternatives.............................................................................78 6.4 Identification, Description and Evaluation of Reasonable Alternatives.............................................79 6.5 Data Gaps and Technical Limitations relating to the Identification and Evaluating Reasonable Alternatives ..................................................................................................................................................82 7. EVALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION ...................83 7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 83 7.2 Evaluation of the Environmental Effects of Strategy Implementation ..............................................83 7.3 Potential Cumulative Effect of the Strategy in combination with other Plans and Projects .............85 8. MITIGATION MEASURES................................................................................................................. 88 8.1 Mitigation through consideration of alternatives ..............................................................................88 8.2 Mitigation through integration of environmental considerations into the Strategy.........................89 8.3 Mitigation through consideration of environmental protection objectives contained in the City Development Plan ........................................................................................................................................95 8.4 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................................95 9. POST DRAFT STRATEGY CONSULTATION MODIFICATIONS ............................................................ 96 10. MONITORING MEASURES ..................................................................................................... 97
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