Environment

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Southampton has a rich historic, built and natural environment. There are over 450 listed buildings in the city including those classified as Grade I buildings of exceptional interest such as the Bargate and Town Walls. Over 21% of the city is green space and the largest open space, The Common, has 17 million visitors each year. The city has eight sites with statutory nature conservation designations including internationally important habitats.

In 2019 Southampton City Council declared a climate emergency. Development in Southampton must protect the natural, built and historic environment. It must also address climate change, reducing carbon emissions and avoiding the need to retrofit measures to recent development, and planning for a changing climate (see also policies in chapter 8). To ensure that development in Southampton responds to its environments.

Links to all other parts of the plan can be found on the right of this page.

Southampton has a rich historic, built and natural environment. There are over 450 listed buildings in the city including those classified as Grade I buildings of exceptional interest such as the Bargate and Town Walls. Over 21% of the city is green space and the largest open space, The Common, has 17 million visitors each year. The city has eight sites with statutory nature conservation designations including internationally important habitats.

In 2019 Southampton City Council declared a climate emergency. Development in Southampton must protect the natural, built and historic environment. It must also address climate change, reducing carbon emissions and avoiding the need to retrofit measures to recent development, and planning for a changing climate (see also policies in chapter 8). To ensure that development in Southampton responds to its environments.

Links to all other parts of the plan can be found on the right of this page.

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    Policy EN1 provides the overall approach to the sustainable design of new development. It sets out standards and criteria to be met. Chapter 8 also includes policies on energy and net zero carbon buildings, waste and the circular economy and electric vehicle infrastructure.    

    Southampton’s District Energy Scheme is one of the oldest and largest city centre schemes and first began delivering heat through a district heating network in 1986. Since then, the scheme has grown with new energy centres and customers and delivers a source of heating, cooling and power. It is an important part of Southampton’s infrastructure and there is an expectation that connection should be made to the district energy network where there is an existing network.  

    Connection to the district energy network may significantly increase the attractiveness of the development to potential occupiers through reduced space and maintenance needs and be the most effective way of addressing the C02 reduction requirements. Cooling is likely to become an increasing issue in the future with global temperature rises, and the district energy network includes a provision for cooling. EQUANS (previously known as ENGIE) operate the Southampton District Energy Scheme. For city centre developments, contact should be made with EQUANSor their successor if applicable, to ascertain where connection to the district energy network is viable. 

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    The protection and enhancement of the natural environment is a key theme in the Green City Plan 2030. It is fundamental to delivering a better environment and should be considered at the outset of any development proposals. 

    Southampton has a variety of habitats including coast, mudflats, rivers, streams, ponds, meadows, heathland, scrub, hedgerows, woodland and parkland. Some of these habitats are designated as sites of national and international importance. There are also other internationally and nationally protected sites close to the city such as the New Forest National Park, Southampton Water and the Solent. The policy protects designated sites and delivers net gains for biodiversity.  


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    Southampton’s designated sites and areas of open space are part of a network of green spaces which include private gardens. Thesrange from larger areas such as Southampton Common containing a variety of habitats; the city’s greenways which provide green corridors for wildlife; to smaller local green spaces. They are linked together by informal areas such as verges along transport corridors, street trees and habitats including wildflower meadows. This green infrastructure forms an ecological and recreational Green Grid for the city.  

    These spaces deliver ‘multi-functional’ benefits for the city’s diverse population including enhancing the quality of place and design, landscape, amenity, supporting attractive routes for active travel, health and wellbeing, disease control, biodiversity and nature conservation, air quality and flood risk management, urban cooling and creating space for allotments and community food growing (also reducing ‘food miles’). These benefits are also sometimes described as ecosystems services. Furthermore, many of these spaces are in areas of known or potential archaeological interest. 

    The Green Grid comprises existing green spaces and corridors and strategic links with opportunities to create a greener environment to link homes with green spaces. Together these will deliver benefits for wildlife, improve access and create a healthier, more pleasant place to live.   

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    The city’s open space covers many types of provision which includes parks several of which have attained Green Flag Award status, sports pitches, playing fields, school grounds, children’s outdoor play spaces, allotments, cemeteries and churchyards, woodland and natural areas, amenity spaces, and civic spaces along with blue open spaces such as lakes, ponds and rivers. Together, these open spaces also constitute part of Southamptons Green Grid (see Policy EN3: Green Infrastructure and the Green Grid).   

     

    Southampton’s open spaces are key to its quality of life, making the city an attractive place to live, work and visit and providing important health benefits such as improving mental wellbeing and providing opportunities for physical activity. The city’s open spaces will become ever more important as the population of the city continues to increase and development of other land is required to support this. The Plan takes a strong approach to protecting and enhancing existing open spaces along with providing new open spaces (see Policy EN5: New Open Space and Green Infrastructure Provision) in order to maximise these multi-functional benefits. 

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    New development will steadily increase the net population of the city.  It is important that new development creates new public open space, enhances the capacity and quality of existing open space, and contributes to the greening of the city, to cater for these additional needs. This will reduce pressures on existing open spaces, contribute to good design and place making, and deliver the multi-functional benefits of open space for residents, workers and visitors. 

     

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    Southampton is a major maritime city located in an area that has been inhabited since the earliest prehistoric times through to the present day. The city contains a wealth of heritage assets of national and local significance. They include buried archaeological remains, standing structures and buildings, historic areas and landscapes, and hedgerows. Of particular note are the medieval remains within the Old Town such as the Bargate and town walls.  Also of interest are the historic villages around which the suburbs of the modern city developed, and the surviving layout of historic streets and roads across the city. 

    The importance of heritage assets and how they positively contribute to the nation`s past is recognised in legislation in the Planning (Listed Building & Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.  

    Section 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework (July 2021) also affords great weight to the protection of the historic environment and states that individual assets of the historic environment which display a degree of significance because of their heritage interest merit consideration in planning decisions.   

    It goes on to say that when considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset’s conservation, the more important the asset, the greater that weight should be. It also notes that heritage assets are irreplaceable, and any harm or loss should require clear and convincing justification.  

    The council is therefore committed to preserving and enhancing the city’s heritage assets and their settings, and historic landscapes and street patterns, recognising that the historic environment makes a significant contribution to a sense of place, helping to make Southampton a desirable place to live, visit and work. A commitment to the historic environment of the city represents investment in a sustainable future.  

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    A heritage asset has archaeological interest if it holds, or potentially holds, evidence of past human activity worthy of expert investigation at some point, as defined in the NPPF glossary.  Heritage assets of archaeological interest, or archaeological remains, include both designated and non-designated heritage assets, and buried and above ground heritage assets.   

     The city contains a wealth of archaeological remains reflecting important changes in the development of the locality, the region and the nation. These range in date from the earliest prehistoric times to the 20th century. They include the remains of the Roman town at Bitterne Manor, the Middle Saxon and Late Saxon towns, and the medieval town, all of which are nationally significant. As well as below ground remains, they include historic structures, whether or not they are scheduled or listed, for instance industrial buildings. Sites and artefacts are located not only on dry land but also underwater and in the intertidal zone. All are a finite and non-renewable resource requiring careful management. This complex picture is constantly being amended and elaborated as a result of archaeological investigation. For instance, extensive evidence of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlement has been found in recent decades, including in the city centre.   

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    Water supply in the south east of England is a major issue.  The area is one of the driest in the U.K. and has the highest (and an increasing) level of demand for water.  Therefore, it is important to use water resources wisely. 

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    Southampton is a low-lying coastal city and is therefore susceptible to flood risk from tidal inundation, surface water, rising groundwater levels and possible wastewater infrastructure overflow during extreme weather events.  In addition, there is a risk of fluvial flooding from the rivers TestItchen and a range of smaller brooks and watercourses, including culverted watercourses. 

    Several areas of the city are already at higher risk from tidal flooding, with areas adjacent to the coastline falling into flood zones 2 or 3, most notably along the western banks of the River Itchen (the Itchen Riverside Quarter), where the Council and Environment Agency are working in partnership to prepare the River Itchen Flood Alleviation scheme.  Elsewhere tidal risk is currently generally low.  However, as a result of climate change, flood risks will increase.  Rising sea levels over the next 50 to 100 years will increase the areas affected by tidal flood risk, and the depths of flooding in areas already affected.  Significant parts of the central areas and the city centre will be at increased risk if no action is taken.  Wetter winters and generally drier summers (with intense incidents of rainfall) will increase the risk of surface water flooding as water is unable to soak into dry ground or the capacity of watercourses or sewers is exceeded.  However, the Council has a statutory Local Flood Risk Management Strategy which provides a strategic and integrated approach to managing all sources of flooding.  The Council is the lead local flood authority for the area and will ensure that all new development manages flood risk appropriately. 

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    As an urban city, many areas of Southampton carry a risk of flooding from surface water. This arises from the large areas of impermeable surfaces which increase the rate of runoff, and a historic reliance on traditional underground drainage systems. Climate change will result in wetter winters, drier summers and increased storm intensity, leading to an increased risk of surface water flooding.  In addition, diffuse pollution from untreated urban run-off can undermine water quality.  The run-off from hard surfaces must receive treatment before being discharged from the site.  New development will incorporate sustainable drainage systems to address these issues. 

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    Poor air quality remains the greatest environmental risk to public health in the UK, impacting those with breathing and heart conditions the most. Poor air quality is associated with causing and exacerbating a wide range of disease including lung cancer. The equivalent of 340,000 years of life are lost each year due to human-made air pollution indoors and outdoors in the UK. In Southampton, 6.3% of deaths can be attributed to particulate matter pollution alone.  

    Particulate Matter (PM) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) are the pollutants of largest concern. PM is mostly emitted from the burning of wood and other solid fuels in the home and industry while road transport is the main source of NO2 and also contributes to PM.  

    Taking action to improve air quality will reduce the burden pollution has on the health of our residents and help tackle inequalitiesDevelopments which prioritise clean air have the opportunity to have a large positive impact on our air and the health of our residents, including new occupants.

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    Noise pollution can be defined as unwanted sound (whether that is music, industrial machinery or road traffic) and is, to some extent an expected and unavoidable part of everyday life, particularly in dense urban areas such as Southampton. However, it can also be a source of stress and irritation and can sometimes have a detrimental impact on people’s health and quality of life. 

     

    Similarly, light pollution can be defined as unwanted or excessive lighting and is, to some extent an unavoidable aspect of city living. Certain light pollution such as that created by street lighting is essential for people’s health and safety at night. Nevertheless, light pollution can sometimes create a significant disturbance to the lives of both people and wildlife, particularly in residential areas.  

     

    Industrial and commercial uses are amongst the most likely to cause significant light and noise pollution however the construction of other forms of development can also create unacceptable disturbances.  

     

    The policy intentions below aim to address and mitigate these harmful impacts. 

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    The Council has proposed policies to ensure that development is safe. These policies guide development involving hazardous substances and on sites with contaminated land or unstable land. They also guide development close to sites and pipelines with hazardous substances and which may impact on Southampton International Airport. No alternative options are identified for these policies.  

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    Due to the city’s industrial history, there are potential issues of land contamination from the way sites have been used in the past. It is the developer’s responsibility to assess these risks and policy EN14 sets out the requirements for sites where there is the potential for contaminated land.  

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    Where there is evidence that a site may be unstable, appropriate measures are required to ensure the safety of development. Policy EN15 contains criteria to demonstrate that suitable measures can be delivered to ensure this.

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Page last updated: 04 Jan 2023, 09:20 AM