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$C:\Users\Pam\Documents\My Documents Pam\Surveys\ASDA$ WASTE MANAGEMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY SERVICE ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF HAYLE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB, MARSH LANE, CORNWALL Report to Asda Stores Ltd. August 2009 CONTENTS 1 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY ................................................... 1 2 BRIEF ........................................................................................2 2.1 Background .....................................................................................2 2.2 Site Details ...................................................................................2 2.3 Objectives ......................................................................................3 3 METHOD ........................................................................................4 3.1 Phase 1 Survey .................................................................................4 3.2 Botanical Survey ................................................................................4 3.3 Hedgerow Evaluation ........................................................................4 4 BASELINE CONDITIONS ...........................................................................4 4.1 Data Search ............................................................. 5 4.2 Habitats & Vegetation ...............................................................5 4.2.1 Amenity Grassland ...................................................................7 4.2.2 Species-poor hedge with trees ...........................................7 4.2.3 Semi-improved grassland .......................................................8 4.2.4 Ephemeral/short perennial .....................................................8 4.2.5 Tall ruderal ..................................................8 4.2.6 Buildings ............................................................................9 4.3 Species Description & Evaluation ...................................................9 4.3.1 Flora ................................................................................9 4.3.2 Birds ..............................................................................10 4.3.3 Mammals ..........................................................................10 4.3.4 Bats ..................................................................................10 4.3.5 Herptiles ....... ...................................................................11 4.3.6 Invertebrates ...............................................................11 5 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS ..............................................................13 5.1 Site Context .....................................................................13 5.2 Current Status of the Site.......................................................................13 5.3 Operational Processes ...............................................................13 5.4 Impacts & Their Significance ...............................................................14 6 MITIGATION ..........................................................................15 6.1 Mitigation .........................................................................................15 6.2 Enhancement ..........................................................................17 6.3 Planning Context ...........................................................................17 7 CONCLUSIONS ..........................................................................17 8 REFERENCES ..........................................................................19 APPENDIX 1: Site Location APPENDIX 2: Planning & Legislative Context APPENDIX 3: Site Layout & Aerial view APPENDIX 4: Selected Designated sites and BAP Habitats within 1km radius of site centre APPENDIX 5: Table 1: Notable Species Recorded within 1km radius of site centre showing Conservation Status and Protection Table 2: Relative Abundance of Plant Species at Hayle Rugby Football Club ground, Marsh Lane 1 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY • An Ecological Assessment was prepared for the 3.85 ha Hayle Rugby Football Club ground in July 2009 as part of a planning submission to develop the site as a retail outlet for Asda Stores Ltd.. • Baseline conditions for the site were determined by desk study, Phase 1 field survey and subsequent botanical survey of the site. Habitats encountered are described and the status of species and habitats recorded from the site is evaluated using accepted criteria. • The site is bounded by: the A30 trunk road to the west; Cornish hedges to the east and south; and retail units to the north. The site is located in an area of commercial/industrial units on the fringes of Hayle, with agricultural land immediately to the south. • The site is primarily amenity grassland with Cornish hedges around approximately half of the periphery, as well as weed communities associated with bare ground and debris. The flora is unremarkable and of low diversity. • There are three buildings within the site boundary: the clubhouse, a single storey storage building and a small single storey toilet block. Swallows are nesting currently within the storage building and House Martins were feeding young under the steel portal of the club house at the time of the survey. No bat survey of the site was undertaken. Both the clubhouse and the storage building are accessible to bats and may therefore be used. • The site is at least 500m from the boundaries of three Sites of Special Scientific Interest. A County Wildlife Site and three Roadside Verge Inventory sites are within the locality. • The field survey of July 2009 found no evidence of protected species or notable habitats within the planning boundary, although bats in site buildings were not considered. • The site contains non-native Butterbur and Butterfly Bush. Neither is abundant and both can be controlled easily, thus there is no significant concern with respect to nature conservation interest. • The impact of the proposed development on the ecological resource of the site is determined. Provided that bats are not present at the site and with the mitigation proposed herein the residual impact of development is envisaged to be ‘slight adverse’. 1 2BRIEF 2.1 Background Leppitt Associates was commissioned by Asda Stores Ltd. to prepare an Ecological Assessment in part fulfilment of a planning application to develop the Hayle Rugby Club ground at Marsh Lane, Hayle, Cornwall, and appropriate for inclusion in an Environmental Statement if required. This report has been prepared exclusively for Asda Stores Ltd and their professional consultees in relation to the current proposed development of the site; it may not be relied upon or reproduced by any third party without the prior written agreement of Leppitt Associates. Proposals for the site include the construction of a food retail store, of approximately 30,000 square feet, and a car park to include 381 car park spaces. Approximately 1.8 acres of land will be left for potential future development (Jubb Consulting Engineers Ltd. 2009). 2.2 Site Details The site occupies an area of approximately 3.85 ha and is located on the north eastern side of Hayle. It is currently occupied by Hayle Rugby Football Club and consists of two rugby pitches, a club house, changing facilities and a car park. The National Grid Reference for the site centre is 157610, 38130. A location plan for the site is reproduced in Appendix 1 (Jubb Consulting Engineers Ltd. 2009). The A30 duel carriageway borders the site to the west, from which it is separated by coniferous hedging, mature coniferous trees and a fence. Beyond the A30, to the west, lies residential housing. Access to the site is from Marsh Lane to the north via a secondary roundabout a short distance from the main A30 roundabout. The secondary roundabout serves the retail park and industrial business park to the north and east of the site. There is agricultural land to the south of the site and semi-natural vegetation on the other side of Marsh Lane to the northeast. The club house is located at the northeast end of the site adjacent to the access road. Several outbuildings are located to the south of the main building. Leppitt Associates/Asda Stores Ltd./Marsh Lane, Hayle/EA/08.2009 2 2.3 Objectives Leppitt Associates were requested by Asda Stores Ltd. to provide an Ecological Assessment the objectives of which are to: • Assess the existing nature conservation value of the site; • Identify all protected or scheduled species that may be affected by the proposed development; • Identify and outline potential ecological impacts of the proposed development; • If appropriate, outline suitable mitigation and compensation in response to the findings of the above with due consideration to the requirements of Planning Policy Statement 9 (PPS9) (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2005) and Section 40 of The Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act (HM Government 2006). In fulfilment of this a field survey was undertaken to ascertain the nature of the habitats present within and immediately adjacent to the site using standard Phase 1 field survey technique (Joint Nature Conservation Committee 2003), as recommended by the Institute of Environmental Assessment (1995) and currently under review. In addition, a desk-top survey of existing biological records was requested from the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS, to 2008) Erecords Computer Database for the 1km radius around the site. These records have been utilised for this assessment and are deemed fit for purpose. The final report has been prepared

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