RE: Planning7 Nov 2019 23:44
Part 1. Having looked at the Natural England comments they cover the following:
1. The consultation documents provided by your authority do not include information to demonstrate that the requirements of Regulations 63 and 64 of the Habitats Regulations have been considered by your authority, i.e. the consultation does not include a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).
Regulation 63 is Assessment of implications for European sites and European offshore marine sites and 64 Considerations of overriding public interest.
The comment goes on to state Your authority should therefore determine whether the proposal is likely to have a significant effect on the sites, proceeding to the Appropriate Assessment stage where significant effects cannot be ruled out.
The comments also refer to a ruling regarding how mitigation is assessed and at what stage,i.e. screening or assessment. Natural England advises that any “embedded” mitigation relating to protected sites under the Habitat Regulations 2017 Regulation 63 (1) should no longer be considered at the screening stage, but taken forward and considered at the appropriate assessment stage to inform a decision as to whether no adverse effect on site integrity can be ascertained.
The additional information requested relates to potential impacts to the Mersey Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar. The Mersey Estuary SPA/Ramsar is located approximately 900m from the proposed development. Given the location of the development to the designated sites we advise existing bird data (i.e. WeBS data) and survey information is included in the HRA for the development site and adjacent fields to determine suitability for, and level of use by SPA birds. There should be sufficient information provided including a clear method statement and time frame for the proposed
development to ensure that the works can be considered appropriately within the HRA. It should be
noted that some of the potential impacts that may arise from the proposal during both the construction and operational phase may have a detrimental impact on the SPA bird features, therefore the HRA should consider potential impacts associated with all phases of the development. We advise that the potential for offsite impacts needs to be considered in assessing what, if any, potential impacts the proposal may have on designated features.
The biodiversity report includes details of birds and mitigation but requires more detail to cover the areas detailed above, including all phases. It is worthy of note that the report seems comprehensive and is 36 pages long.
Sign In
Follow the stocks
