This EIA is being carried out on:

☐New policy / strategy

☐New service

☐Review of policy / strategy

☐Review of service

☐Commissioning

☒Other project (please give details)Supplementary Planning Document for Open Space

The Open Space Planning Document (SPD) adds further details to the Local Plan which was adopted on 6^th December 2017 and for which EIA was undertaken. SPDs do not introduce new policy, but provide further detail and guidance to enable the delivery of adopted policies.

The purpose of the Open Space SPD is to set out the Council’s approach towards the provision of public open space in new residential development. It supplements Policy GE1 of the adopted Local Plan, which states that: “new development proposals should make provision for green infrastructure to ensure that such development is integrated into the landscape and contributes to improvements in connectivity and public access, biodiversity, landscape conservation, design, archaeology and recreation”.

The additional guidance provided within the SPD aims to provide clear information for applicants about policy requirements: which developments will trigger a requirement for open space provision, how much open space should be provided, what kind of open space is needed, and clear expectations in terms of design and delivery.

The Local Plan was formulated using detailed evidence including the Green Infrastructure Study and Green Space Strategy. The Local Plan was independently examined by a Planning Inspector to ensure that its policies were robust and formulated using appropriate evidence before it could be found sound and capable of adoption. Further detail on the Local Plan and the evidence base can be found here https://www.coventry.gov.uk/localplan

Health inequalities (HI) are unjust differences in health and wellbeing between different groups of people which arise because of the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age. These conditions influence our opportunities for good health, and result in stark differences in how long we live and how many years we live in good health.  

Many issues can have an impact: income, unemployment, work conditions, education and skills, our living situation, individual characteristics and experiences, such as age, gender, disability and ethnicity

A wide range of services can make a difference to reducing health inequalities. Whether you work with children and young people, design roads or infrastructure, support people into employment or deal with welfare benefits – policy decisions and strategies can help to reduce health inequalities

Please answer the questions below to help identify if the area of work will have any impact on health inequalities, positive or negative. 

• Explore existing data sources on the distribution of health across different population groups (examples of where to find data to be included in support materials)
• Consider protected characteristics and different dimensions of HI such as socio-economic status or geographical deprivation

Response:

The Open Space SPD supplements the policies of the adopted Local Plan which was subject to Health Impact Assessment. The Health and Wellbeing chapter of the plan, which includes Policy HW1, requires Health Impact Assessments for particular types and scale of development where there could be significant impacts. See https://www.coventry.gov.uk/localplan This was supplemented by a Health Impact Assessment SPD which provided further detail and guidance including that in relation to open space. See https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/28900/health_impact_assessment_spd

Consider and answer below:

• Think about whether outcomes vary across groups and who benefits the most and least, for example, the outcome for a woman on a low income may be different to the outcome for a woman a high income
• Consider what the unintended consequences of your work might be

Response:

A. Potential outcomes including impact based on socio-economic status or geographical deprivation.

The Health Impact Assessment SPD referred to above includes the following:

b. Potential outcomes impact on specific socially excluded or vulnerable groups eg. people experiencing homelessness, prison leavers, young people leaving care, members of the armed forces community.

Ensuring access to a range of suitable open spaces in relation to new developments will  meet a range of needs and circumstances: this is a key aim of the Local Plan housing and green infrastructure policies and the SPD provides the further detail to ensure that those policies can be delivered.

This was considered through the Local Plan (the ‘parent document’), this document provides the detail to ensure the Local Plan policies can be delivered effectively

As the appropriate Head of Service for this area, I confirm that the potential equality impact is as follows:

☒ No impact has been identified for one or more protected groups            

☐ Positive impact has been identified for one or more protected groups     

☐ Negative impact has been identified for one or more protected groups   

☐ Both positive and negative impact has been identified for one or more protected groups