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Local Transport Plans,

Strategic Environmental Assessment

and Health

Presented by Dr Salim Vohra

4th UK Transport Practitioners Meeting ideas into reality, Manchester, July 2006

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Introduction

Transport and health

Early findings of a review of the health component of

SEAs on LTP2 for sixteen local authorities in England.

Objectives of the review and methodology

What we found

Challenges for health in SEA policy and practice

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Transport and health

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Objectives

Examine what the SEA Directive and UK guidance says

about assessing health

Number of SEA environmental reports available on the

web

What definition of health was used in these SEAs

Analysis of the environmental, health, social and economic

keywords used in sixteen English LTP2 environmental

reports

Analysis of the health objectives used in these SEAs

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Methodology

Examination of SEA technical summary, main report andappendices

Close reading of SEA Directive and UK guidance

Keyword analysis to develop keyword counts for eachenvironmental report and for the sixteen reports as awhole

Analysis of health objectives within and betweenenvironmental reports

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Local Authorities studied

Cornwall

Cumbria

Durham

Somerset

East Riding East Sussex SA-SEA

Essex

Gloucestershire

Greater Manchester SEA-HIA

Greater Nottingham

Hampshire

Merseyside SEA-HIA

North Yorkshire

Shropshire

Suffolk SA-SEA West Midlands

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SEA Directive

(f) the likely significant effects on the environment,

including on issues such as biodiversity, population,

human health, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climatic factors,

material assets, cultural heritage including architectural

and archaeological heritage, landscape and

the interrelationship between the above factors;

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A Practical Guide to the SEA Directive

The SEA Directive requires consideration of the likely

significant effects of a plan or programme on human health.

Responsible Authorities may find it helpful to draw on the

methods ofHealth Impact Assessment when considering

how a plan or programme might affect peoples health, and

how positive effects could be enhanced and negative effects

reduced.

Information on HIA and health matters is included in

Frequently Asked Questions,

and Appendix 4, Figure 10 includes sources of baseline

information on health.

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Examples of possible population and human healthobjectives and indicators:

create conditions to improve health and reduce health

inequalities

promote healthy living

protect and enhance human health

reduce and prevent crime, reduce fear of crime

decrease noise and vibration

increase opportunities for indoor recreation and exercise

The FAQ also advises Responsible Authorities to

contact local Directors of Public Health for advice

A Practical Guide to the SEA Directive

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Transport Analysis Guidance Unit 2.11

Consumer Users

Business users and providers Material assets

Public Accounts

Economy

Access to the transport systemPopulation

Community severance

Accessibility

SecurityHuman health, population

AccidentsSafety

Human health, populationPhysical fitness

WaterWater Environment

Biodiversity, fauna, flora, soilBiodiversity

Cultural heritage incl. architectural and

archaeological heritageHeritage

TownscapeLandscape

Landscape

Climatic factorsGreenhouse gases

Air, human health, populationLocal air quality

Human health, population, inter-relationshipsNoise

Environment

SEA topic

(SEA Directive Annex 1f)NATA sub-objectiveNATA objective

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LTP2 SEA reports available on web

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percentage of LTP/ LIP/ LTS done by

each authority

Percentage of LTP's w ith SEA's Percentage of SEA containing Health

Percenta

ge

English Counties

London Broughs

Scotish Counties

Welsh Counties

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Definition of health used

No explicit definition of health is used in theDirective, in the two UK guidance documents orthe sixteen environmental reports examined

No explicit definition of environment or anyother key terms

Some use a narrow definition of health as

evidenced by the health objectives used whichfocus on lifestyle factors while other use abroader definition with a focus on improvingaccess and health and reducing inequalities

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Keyword Analysis

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

envir

onment

access

air(

wh

ole

word)

health

sustain

able

safety

nois

e

bio

div

ersit

y

economic

accid

ent

social

severance

qualit

yo

flife

dis

able

d

economy

security

deprivati

on

deprived

inequaliti

es

soc

ial

exclu

sio

n

AveragenumberofwordsperLTPenvironmentalreport

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Keyword Analysis

Environment Access

Air

Health

Sustainable Safety

Noise

Biodiversity

Economic

Accident

1. Social2. Severance

3. Quality of life

4. Disabled

5. Economy

6. Security

7. Deprivation

8. Deprived

9. Inequalities

10. Social exclusion

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SEA health objectives analysis

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

community severance (social and physical)

healthier lifestyles/cycling/walking

noise - human

reduce waste (eg to landfill)/recycle

noise

greenspaces (town and countryside) enjoyment

improve health and reduce disparities/inequalities

accessibility jobs/ shops/amenities/education/culture for all

diversity/distinctiveness/character/ quality of landscapes

transport/road safety/accidents

flood risk

designated and protected sites/landscapes

crime/anti social behaviour (and safety/fear)

mineral resource/efficient materials use

biodiversity

soil quality/quantity

climate change/greenhouse gas emissions/CO2

air quality/emissions/pollution/standards/objective

water quality/quantity

historic/architectural/archaeological/heritage

Number of environmental reports with the objective (out of a total of 16)

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SEA health objectives analysis

reducing crime, fear of crime and/or anti-social behaviour (8th),

transport and road safety (11th),

accessibility to amenities, services and opportunities (13th),

improving health and reduce inequalities (14th),

enjoyment of green spaces and/or countryside (15th),

noise impacts on humans (18th),

healthier lifestyles, cycling and walking (19th)

community severance - physical and social (20th)

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Overall findings

Human health has been considered in the SEAs of LTP2s

in England and UK as a whole

Environmental reports examined show that improving

health and reducing inequalities are key themes

particularly through: reducing crime and improving safety

improving access to transport networks

enhancing physical activity

improvement and enjoyment of the natural environment

Shows that many local authorities and SEA practitioners

have taken on board the legislative and guidance push

that human health should be considered in SEA

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Health in SEA: study challenges

Is there a difference between physical severance andsocial severance?

How does severance relate to social exclusion?

Is social exclusion the same as deprivation?

Health in SEA:

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Health in SEA:

policy and practice challenges

Legislation and guidance does influence practicesignificantly

However this influence is not uniform

There are important differences in how objectives have

been set and the way in which health has been

considered among the sixteen SEAs examined to date

Some integrated HIA and SEAs have been undertaken,however there are no clear differences between those

SEA that integrate an HIAs and those that dont