Greengage were commissioned to conduct the Socio-economic and Climate Change risk assessments for the proposed development and write the Socio-economic and Climate change Chapters as part of the wider Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for submission to planning. Greengage also prepared a standalone Health Impact Assessment.
The proposed development is an 8,400 home mixed use masterplan in Swale which included extensive new employment space. The proposed development included the provision of primary schools, 1 secondary school, 2 new medical centres and new community spaces with nursery provision co-located with the primary schools.
The scale of the scheme and the proposed mixed-tenure meant many socio-economic considerations for the local community & wider area. Greengage conducted a thorough national and local policy review, and established the baseline conditions of the area through a detailed desktop study. Potential impacts to these conditions were assessed, giving consideration to local deprivation, employment generation & the local economy, provision of healthcare & education facilities, demand for housing and access to open space.
The Health Impact Assessment provided an overview of all the health impacts of the proposed development including affordable housing provision, extensive green open space, play space and sports facilities, new community spaces, allotments, new walking and cycling routes and an e-bike hire scheme. The Health Impact Assessment also set out high level recommendations for how the designs could improve health and wellbeing further based on best practice guidance.
As part of the Climate Change risk assessment, Greengage collected data on the climate change conditions projected for the proposed development over its lifetime under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario including increasing average temperatures, higher extreme temperatures and variations in rainfall. This baseline data was then used to identify key climate change risks to the proposed development including flooding and impacts on human health due to building overheating.
