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Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability Chapter 8: Environment and Sustainability 1 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability Document control Document title Purpose Author Date of publication Valid until Owner/responsibility Distribution Version 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.1 Environment and Sustainability Chapter Dave Walker and Julie Hotchkiss Julie Hotchkiss Date 8/03/11 18/03/11 18/03/11 24/03/11 28/06/11 Comments Sent to Dave Walker Amended by Dave Walker Formatted by Julie Hotchkiss Recommendations added Final editing Please note that these recommendations come from the assessment and are not (necessarily) the policy of any of the contributing agencies. 2 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability Contents Page Section Number Section Name Page Number 8.0 8.1 8.1.1 8.1.2 Introduction Climate Change Improving active travel across the social gradient Improving good quality spaces available across the social gradient Improving the food environment in local areas across the social gradient Improving energy efficiency of housing across the social gradient Evidence Local Development Framework evidence base Topic Papers Key Local Studies Climate Change and Health evidence base Analysis Issues Recommendations Spatial Planning Climate Change Transport 5 5 5 6 8.1.3 8.1.4 8.2 8.2.1 8.2.1 8.2.2 8.2.3 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.5.1 8.5.2 8.5.3 6 6 7 7 7 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 This document represents a snap-shot – a picture at a single point in time. Assessing needs is an on-going process, and updates and new sections will be added over the year, and posted on the web-site Wigan JSNA web pages. 3 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability Summary of Recommendations “Environment and Sustainability” key findings and recommendations extracted from the full JSNA Introduction (37 in total). At the end of this chapter are the detailed “Environment and Sustainability” recommendations. The creation of healthy and sustainable communities should go hand-in-hand with climate change mitigation. An exhaustive exploration of all the factors influencing Place was undertaken in the preparation for the new Local Development Framework, and this serves as a detailed evidence-base which is available to use to inform decisions about particular policies and commissioning specific projects. Recommendation 23 Require Health Impact Assessments for all major developments. Recommendation 24 Promote healthy activity by retaining and improving parks and open spaces, sports pitches and facilities for community including use of school sports facilities, providing adequate and accessible play space for children. Recommendation 25 Promote locally grown food through increased allotments provision. Recommendation 26 Work in partnerships to develop a transport strategy to cater for all transport needs across the borough. In the current financial climate, Wigan Council and Greater Manchester need to maximise funding opportunities and seek match funding wherever possible, to deliver transport aspirations. Recommendation 27 Promote behavioural change through “Active Travel”, to encourage more drivers to leave the car at home and use active modes of travel to increase levels of physical activity and reduce carbon emissions. Recommendation 28 Promote a refreshed approach to road safety education, training and publicity, to support communities to use active travel modes for local journeys. Recommendation 29 Adopt a new road user hierarchy within Transport Planning: disabled people as pedestrians, or wheelchair users able-bodied pedestrians cyclists public transport users motorists Assess all works to ensure this hierarchy is being used. 4 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability 8.0 Introduction This introduction is a summary of the section on Policy Objective E - Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities from “Fair Society, Healthy 1 Lives - The Marmot Review” – a strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010. This sets out the national position on health and the environment and sustainability. The health and well-being of individuals is influenced by the communities in which they live. People‟s health is affected by the nature of their physical environment; living in poor housing, in a deprived neighbourhood with a lack of access to green spaces impacts negatively on physical and mental health. As well as physical places, the communities and social networks to which individuals belong over their life course also have a significant impact on health and health inequalities. The extent of people‟s participation in their communities and the added control over their lives that this brings has the potential to contribute to their psychosocial well-being and, as a result, to other health outcomes. We live, grow, learn, work and age in a range of environments, and our lives are affected by residential communities, neighbourhoods and relational communities and social structures. The creation of healthy, sustainable places and communities should go hand in hand with the mitigation of climate change and have a shared policy agenda. Access to good quality air, water, food, sporting, recreational and cultural facilities and green space all contribute to reducing inequalities as well as helping to create sustainable communities. Policies concerning sustainable places and communities and designed to mitigate climate change prioritise the environment, and should, and sometimes do, include strategies to improve diet, physical activity, and mental health. Aligning the sustainability and climate change agendas can help to frame the way healthy communities and places are created and developed and create conditions that enable everyone to flourish equally, within the limits of finite ecological resources. Aligning these two agendas requires a conscious effort and will not happen automatically. For example, widening access to green spaces has to occur in all communities, across the social gradient and not just where it might be „easy‟. Measures intended to respond to climate change must not widen health inequalities. 8.1 Climate change Climate change is a fundamental threat to health and reducing emissions to mitigate climate change will also make people healthier. By 2020 the UK will have to dramatically reduce greenhouse emissions if the country is to succeed in playing its part in tackling climate change. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has set a legally binding target to reduce UK emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, and at least 34 per cent by 2020 (against 1990 levels). The Act also establishes a system of five-year „carbon budgets‟, limits on UK emissions that set the trajectory towards these medium and long-term targets. It is important that Government leads by example in tackling climate change, by reducing its own emissions. 1 http://www.marmotreview.org/AssetLibrary/pdfs/Reports/FairSocietyHealthyLivesExecSummary.pdf 5 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability 8.1.1 Improving active travel across the social gradient Transport accounts for approximately 29 per cent of the UK‟s carbon dioxide emissions and significantly contributes to some of today‟s greatest challenges to public health in England: the burden of road traffic injuries, physical inactivity, the adverse effect of traffic on social cohesiveness and the impact of outdoor air and noise pollution. The relationship between transport and health is complex and socioeconomically patterned. Transport also enables access to work, education, social networks and services that can improve people‟s opportunities. The EU also regards transport as central to improving health and its action on sustainable urban transport seeks to create healthy environments and reduce noncommunicable diseases such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and to prevent injuries from occurring. Active transport can be an important contributor to overall levels of physical and mental health but it is not an easy solution to implement. Improving active travel across the social gradient includes providing incentives to increase levels of active travel as well as initiatives to improve safety to encourage active travel. Interventions may include increasing investments to encourage more walking and cycling, reducing car speed, improving quality of and access to walking and cycling routes and improving public transport. Interventions need to both improve road safety and improve parental and peer support. 8.1.2 Improving good quality spaces available across the social gradient Green space and green infrastructure improve mental and physical health and have been shown to reduce health inequalities. Green infrastructure networks reduce urban temperatures and improve drainage, reducing the risks to health associated with heat waves and flooding. Well designed and maintained green spaces can encourage social interaction, exercise, play, and contact with nature. Well designed, car free and pleasant streets encourage feelings of well-being, chance interactions and active travel; good quality and good access to public spaces contributes to pride in the community, integration and social cohesion. Over 95 per cent of people believe it is very or fairly important to have green spaces near to where they live and this value placed on green space is consistent across the social gradient. 8.1.3 Improving the food environment in local areas across the social gradient Dietary change can also play a key role not only in mitigating climate change and adaptation strategies, but also in promoting health by reducing the consumption of saturated fat from meat and dairy sources. 8.1.4 Improving energy efficiency of housing across the social gradient The existing housing stock emits 13 per cent of our carbon dioxide and as such, there is a compelling case for improving the environmental standards of housing across all sectors. Poor housing conditions and design have substantial impacts on health inequalities. The ageing housing stock requires consistent reinvestment, particularly to reduce the carbon emissions from older homes. A household is in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10 per cent of its income on fuel to sustain satisfactory heating. In 2006, 11.5 per cent of households in England were fuel poor, 6 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability either spending more than this 10 per cent or under-consuming energy to save money; over half of these households were single persons. The risk of fuel poverty rises sharply as household income. A healthy physical environment is a prerequisite for mental capital, as it sets the background in which the home, social environment, work environment and leisure and cultural activities can take place. A healthy environment is a sustainable one – one which meets the needs of the current generation without sacrificing the needs of future generations. Human activity over thousands of years has influenced the environment of Wigan today for good and bad. We need to ensure that we leave our children’s children as positive a legacy as possible. 8.2 Evidence 8.2.1 Local Development Framework Evidence Base – Topic Papers This is a link to a number of topic papers which provide a summary of the evidence base required for the Local Development Framework. www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Strategies-Plans-and-Policies/Planning/Localplan/Background/LocalDevelopmentScheme.aspx Each topic paper has a different subject area and establishes a baseline position and identifies the key issues that need to be addressed. They have been put together using evidence from policy documents, guidance, studies etc. at national, regional and local levels and have been consulted on extensively. The list of topic papers is below:Health and recreation Community safety and neighbourhood quality Community development and involvement Education and learning Economy and employment Housing Retail and centres Accessibility (covers transport issues) Built environment and landscape Wildlife habitats and species Energy Waste Natural resources and pollution 8.2.2 Key Local Studies www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Strategies-Plans-and-Policies/Planning/Localplan/Background/KeyLocalStudies.aspx This is a link to the key studies that we have commissioned or are commissioning to help provide a robust and credible evidence base to the Local Development Framework. 7 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability 8.2.3 Climate Change and Health Evidence Base Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) th Climate Change 2007 – 4 Assessment Report Includes: Physical Science Basis Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability ( Chapter 8 is specifically on human health) Mitigation of Climate Change Synthesis Report (summary of all documentation) Royal Society Climate Change: A Summary of the Science (2010) North West North West Climate Change Action Plan (note that this will end with the NWDA) Wigan Council Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan – consultation, includes risk assessment for borough. Climate Change Risk Assessment – adaptation resource pack (Wigan = capital assets) 8 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability 8.3 Analysis Exhaustive exploration of the Evidence Base and detailed in-depth analysis of some key areas have been undertaken as part of the Local Development Framework (LDF) process. This has included reviewing existing evidence of need by reviewing plans, programmes, strategies, policies and legislation at the international, national, regional, sub regional (for example Greater Manchester), local and neighbourhood levels, commissioning localised studies, survey and monitoring information. A sustainability appraisal has also been completed in order to appraise the social, environmental and economic effects of strategies and policies in all LDF documents from the outset of the preparation process. This is a link to the Sustainability Appraisal for the LDF Core Strategy: The landscape of parks, canals, wetlands and woodland that form Greenheart provide many opportunities for recreation and active living. Most open space within Greenheart is publicly owned and accessible for the vast majority of the borough's population. Many of the communities surrounding Greenheart sites suffer from poor health, promoting Greenheart and other open spaces will provide opportunity for activities that will help improve both physical and mental wellbeing. The development and improvement of strategic off road routes within and around Greenheart; such as canal towpaths and former railway lines, together with the extensive Rights of Way network, further enhances opportunities for activities such as walking and cycling. Our Natural Health Service: The role of the natural environment in maintaining healthy lives (Natural England. 2009) https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england 8.4 Issues Key local issues have been identified in work on developing: The Wigan Local Development Framework Core Strategy – This is a link to the proposed Core strategy http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Strategies-Plans-and-Policies/Planning/Localplan/Background/Key-Local-Studies/CoreStrategySustainabilityAppraisal.aspx The Climate Change Strategy for Wigan Borough - This is a link to the proposed Strategy and Action Plan http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Strategies-Plans-and-Policies/Climate-change-andsustainability.aspx The Wigan Transport Strategy - This is a link to the transport issues paper - Connecting People to Opportunities http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/Strategies-Plans-and-Policies/Transportstrategy.aspx Sustainability can build mental capital 9 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability Makes the best use of existing resources and infrastructure, i.e. it makes our resources go further, minimising the effects of the economic downturn It prevents contributing further to climate change, and builds our resilience to help us to adapt to the inevitable changes It reduces the need to travel, especially commuting by car, thereby reducing stress It encourages active modes of transport (e.g. walking and cycling), so good for building physical health Supports local people to use their local (outdoor) space, thereby making residents, especially vulnerable people, the disabled and young children feel secure By supporting the local economy (shopping local, buying locally grown or produced food products, reducing need for imported goods) we create or protect local employment Poor environmental quality produces negative effects on mental capital in various ways Our current patterns of energy and resource use are unsustainable. We are contributing significantly towards climate change Relatively poor transport infrastructure leads to over-reliance on the private car, traffic congestion and dependence on the car Makes older people less likely to be out and about in their local neighbourhoods, therefore risking isolation Children are less likely to be allowed out to play, thereby depriving them of the stimulation needed for healthy development 8.5 Recommendations The two main relevant policies in the Core Strategy are CP 1 - Health and well-being and CP 2 - Open space, sport and recreation but aspects of others will apply. 9.5.1 Spatial Planning 1. Require Health Impact Assessments for all major developments 2. Promote healthy activity by o retaining and improving parks and open spaces o retaining, improving and increasing provision of sports pitches and facilities o community use of school sports facilities o providing adequate and accessible play space for children 3. Promote locally grown food through increased allotments provision 8.5.2 Climate Change 1. All agencies to assess and respond to the health impacts of climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures. 2. Healthcare providers to advance their Environmental Management Systems to better assess options for reducing energy and other resource use. 10 Wigan Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 Environment and Sustainability 3. Make best use of existing buildings when considering needs to relocate health and other public services (as opposed to new build). 8.5.3 Transport 1. In the current financial climate, Wigan Council and Greater Manchester to maximise funding opportunities and seek match funding wherever possible, to deliver transport aspirations. 2. Promote behavioural change through “Active Travel”, to encourage more drivers to leave the car at home and use active modes of travel to increase levels of physical activity and reduce carbon emissions 3. Promote a targeted approach to road safety education, training and publicity, by supporting communities to use active travel modes for local journeys. 4. Work in partnerships to develop a transport strategy to cater for all transport needs across the borough. 5. Adopt a new road user hierarchy within Transport Planning: 1. disabled people as pedestrians, or wheelchair users 2. able-bodied pedestrians 3. cyclists 4. public transport users 5. motorists Assess all works to ensure this hierarchy is being used. 6. Consider adopting a 20 mph speed limit on all residential streets, or targeted streets with heavy child or pedestrian traffic 11