SEA Environmental Report for the Draft Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028
Proposals for new development in Cork City will be required to minimise the need for the private car, prioritise walking, cycling and public transport, be permeable, safe and secure for walking and cycling and where possible provide for filtered permeability. New developments will provide infrastructure for Electric Vehicles within the developments. Development proposals will provide for easy access to local amenities and education facilities. Proposals for new development will be required demonstrate their impact on the existing transport networks, commensurate with the nature and scale of the development. Mobility management plans will be required for developments that will accommodate a large number of people living, working or otherwise using the development. All new development proposals will be subject to maximum car parking standards to achieve greater modal shift and promote sustainable transport patterns. In locations where the highest intensity of development occurs, Cork City Council may consider an approach that caps car parking on an area-wide basis by means of Area Based Transport Assessments (ABTAs). Objective 4.1 CMATS Cork City Council will work in cooperation with the NTA, TII and Cork County Council to fully implement the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy subject to detailed engineering design and environmental considerations. Objective 4.2 Cork City Movement Strategy Cork City Council will work in cooperation with the NTA to complete the rollout of the City Centre Movement Strategy. Objective 4.3 Strategic Location of New Development To ensure that all new residential, employment and commercial development are focused in areas with good access to the planned high frequency public transport network. Objective 4.4 Active Travel To actively promote walking and cycling as efficient, healthy, and environmentally friendly modes of transport by securing the development of a network of direct, comfortable, convenient, and safe cycle routes and footpaths across the city. To support the expansion of the Cork Bikes scheme. To accommodate other innovations such as electronic bikes, public car hire, and other solutions that will encourage active travel. To support the rollout of the NTA 5 Year Cycle Plan. Objective 4.6 Permeability (a) All new development, particularly alongside the possible routes identified for public transport improvements, shall include permeability for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport so as to maximise its accessibility. (b) To maximise permeability, safety, security and connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists by creating direct links to adjacent roads and public transport networks in accordance with the provisions of statutory guidance as prescribed. (c) Prepare a permeability strategy for areas throughout the city. Objective 4.5 Corridor & Route Selection Process Policies and Objectives relating to new roads and other transport infrastructure projects (including greenways, walkways, cycleways and blueways) that are not already provided for by existing plans/ programmes or are not already permitted, are subject to the undertaking of feasibility assessment having regard to normal planning considerations and environmental sensitivities as identified in the SEA Environmental Report and the objectives of the Plan relating to sustainable mobility. Commentary The assessment of the Plan’s Transport and Mobility provisions against Strategic Environmental Objectives (SEOs BFF, PHH, S, W, MA, A, C, CH and L) is consistent with the: Environmental effects detailed under subsections 8.2 to 8.7 of this report; and Assessments of the selected alternatives for the Plan provided at Section 7 of this report.
Implementing the Plan will help to direct incompatible development away from the most sensitive areas in the City and focus on directing: compact, sustainable development within and adjacent to the existing built-up footprint of the City, including its surrounding settlements; and sustainable development elsewhere. Development of areas within and adjacent to the existing built-up footprint, which are generally more robust, better serviced and better connected, will contribute towards environmental protection and sustainable development, including climate mitigation and adaptation. Compact development can be accompanied by placemaking initiatives to enable the City to become a more desirable place to live – so that it can sustainably accommodate new residents and maintain and improve services to existing and future communities. Compatible sustainable development in the City’s sensitive areas is also provided for, subject to various requirements relating to environmental protection and management being met. The provisions in this Chapter of the Plan would contribute towards the Statutory consent granting and decision-making framework for land use developments and activities, and sustainable development of the City, in combination with other Plan provisions and other plans, programmes, strategies, etc. Potential adverse environmental effects arising from land use development and activities include in-combination effects arising from services and infrastructure to service development, for example those relating to water services, transport and energy. Many of the provisions in this Chapter primarily contribute towards maximising sustainable mobility and associated interactions with emissions to air (including noise and greenhouse gas emissions), energy usage, air quality and human health. The facilitation of journeys by car, in particular, would give rise to emissions to air. The Plan references various projects that are provided for by higher level plans and programmes, particularly the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy. Objective 4.5 provides for a Corridor & Route Selection Process for certain transport infrastructure projects (including greenways, walkways, cycleways and blueways). The development of new greenways, blueways and walking and cycling routes, including those between Cork City, the adjoining County area and beyond has the potential to contribute towards sustainable mobility and a better management of movements in sensitive areas, thereby benefitting various environmental components including habitats at certain locations. The development of these projects, however, presents a variety of potentially adverse environmental effects that would, if unmitigated, have the potential to arise from both the construction and operation of such developments and/or their ancillary infrastructure. These types of infrastructure are often constructed in ecologically and visually sensitive areas adjacent to the banks of rivers and streams and along coasts and estuaries. Potential adverse effects would be mitigated both by measures that have been integrated into the Plan which provide for and contribute towards environmental protection, environmental management and sustainable development (including those identified at Section 9 of this report) and by measures arising from lower tier assessments (including those for the preparation of lower tier plans and projects). Projects would need to be subject to normal planning and environmental assessment processes, as well as complying with the Corridor and Route Selection Process under Objective 4.5. The development of green and blue infrastructure can achieve synergies with regard to the provision of open space amenities, sustainable mobility, the sustainable management of water, the protection and management of biodiversity, the protection of cultural heritage and the protection of protected landscape sensitivities.
CAAS for Cork City Council
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