Social Impact

refers to how the development proposal affect

the surrounding community

Social Impact Assessment
a process of investigating the possible effects of
a development proposal or project on one or all
of the following :
People way of life
The culture of the affected community
The nature of the affected community
Project function of the affected
community
Purposed
minimise adverse impacts and
maximise beneficial impacts of the
development;
inform the community and facilitate
participation by the community in the
planning and development assessment
process;
facilitate the consideration of
alternative development proposals;
determine the need for such a proposal;
enhance existing data to inform the
planning and development assessment
process.
Community Impact type
Accessibility (including visitability)
Existing patterns of access and mobility
Vehicular, pedestrian and bike
movement

ownership

Demographic change
Age distribution
Ethnicity
Nature of households and families
Income and employment
Growth forecasts

Community Issues
Perceptions of amenity
Cohesiveness of the community
Crime and safety levels/perceptions of
safety
Places of local significance/local
landmarks
Aspects of sense of place
Level of activity by community
organisations
Existing cultural/social patterns and
networks
Health statistics
Levels of and environmental emissions -
air, noise, water, odour

Service and/or Facility
Availability and capacity of existing
services and facilities, such as halls,
churches, libraries, community centres,
recreation facilities, education places,
health services, social support services
Ability of the community to fund the
development or expansion of new
infrastructure
Opportunities for co-locating
services/facilities
Known intentions of service/facility
providers such as State Government

Cultural heritage and Indigenous issues
Important places
Cultural characteristics, events and
practices
Cultural values
Development trends

Effects of similar types of development
in the area
Past development activity and trends

Economic trends
Employment/unemployment (current
status and trends)
Nature and location of employment
development
(current status and trends)
Nature of skills/level of education

Housing

Tenure of housing, ownership, rental,
private/public
Cost of housing (purchase and rental)
Housing to meet particular community,
such as boarding houses, emergency
housing

Groups with particular needs
Availability/capacity of services
required to support the needs of people
with particular needs, such as older
people, people with disabilities, non-
English speaking people, indigenous
people, workers, residents and visitors