Habitats Regulations Assessment
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South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034 Final Publication Version 2nd Habitats Regulations Assessment Prepared by LUC in association Air Quality Assessments Ltd December 2018 Project Title: Habitats Regulations Assessment for South Oxfordshire Local Plan Client: South Oxfordshire District Council Version Date Version Details Prepared by Checked by Approved by 1.0 04/12/18 Draft for client comment Sarah Smith Jeremy Owen Jeremy Owen Natalie Collins Rebecca Turner David Green 2.0 20/12/18 Final for publication Sarah Smith David Green Jeremy Owen David Green Jeremy Owen South Oxfordshire HRA Update Stage 2 Appropriate Assessment Last saved: 20/12/2018 09:18 South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034 Final Publication Version 2nd Habitats Regulations Assessment Prepared by LUC in association Air Quality Assessments Ltd December 2018 Planning & EIA LUC LONDON Offices also in: Land Use Consultants Ltd Registered in England Design 43 Chalton Street Bristol Registered number: 2549296 Landscape Planning London Edinburgh Registered Office: Landscape Management NW1 1JD Glasgow 43 Chalton Street Ecology T +44 (0)20 7383 5784 Lancaster London NW1 1JD GIS & Visualisation [email protected] Manchester FS 566056 EMS 566057 LUC uses 100% recycled paper Executive Summary Introduction This document presents the methodology and findings of the Habitats Regulations Assessment of the South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034 Final Publication Version 2nd (due to be published in January 2019), which is being produced by South Oxfordshire District Council. Once adopted, the Local Plan will set out policies and guidance for development in the District over the next 15 years to 2034. Development plans, such as the South Oxfordshire Local Plan, are subject to a process called Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA). The purpose of HRA is to identify any potential adverse effects of a plan on ‘European sites’. European sites comprise those wildlife sites designated for their biodiversity value at European or international level. This includes: Special Protection Areas (SPAs): classified under the Birds Directive1 for the protection of wild birds and their habitats. Special Areas of Conservation (SACs): designated under the Habitats Directive2 and target particular habitats and/or species identified as being of European importance. Ramsar sites: support internationally important wetland habitats and are listed under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention, 1971). Sites that have started the formal process of becoming designated as one of the above are also considered in an HRA. There are three main stages of HRA, which are as follows: Stage 1: Screening – determining whether the plan could lead to likely significant effects on a European site. Stage 2: Appropriate Assessments – if a likely significant effect is identified in Stage 1, it needs to be determined whether these will lead to an adverse effect on the integrity of the site(s) affected. Stage 3: If adverse effects on integrity are identified in Stage 2, alternative options for the plan must be considered. If there are no possible alternatives that could avoid the adverse effects, the plan will only be acceptable if it can be demonstrated that there are ‘Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest’ for the plan to progress. This report documents Stages 1 and 2, as it was not considered necessary to progress to Stage 3. Methodology This HRA drew on previous iterations of the HRA, which were carried out at earlier stages of the plan- making process. It documents the assessment of the South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034 Final Publication Version 2nd (due to be published in January 2019), taking into account relevant recent case law (see Chapter 1 of the main report). The HRA focused on the European sites that lie within 17km of the South Oxfordshire District boundary. This distance is based on the average travel to work distance for South Oxfordshire and includes the following sites: Aston Rowant SAC. Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain SAC. Burnham Beeches SAC. Little Wittenham SAC. Chilterns Beechwoods SAC. Oxford Meadows SAC. Cothill Fen SAC. River Lambourn SAC. 1 Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds 2 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034: Final Publication Version 2nd 1 December 2018 HRA Hackpen Hills SAC. Thames Basin Heaths SPA. Hartslock Wood SAC Windsor Forest and Great Park SAC. The HRA also considered the potential for ‘in-combination’ effects of the South Oxfordshire Local Plan with the effects of other plans and projects, in particular development proposed in neighbouring authorities’ local plans. Stage 1: Screening The screening stage of the HRA has taken the approach of screening each Local Plan policy and site allocation individually. This concluded that the some policies could have significant effects on Aston Rowant SAC and/or Little Wittenham SAC, as shown in Table 1 below. Table 1: Outcomes of the HRA Screening stage European site potentially Type of effect Policies with potential to lead to these effects affected Aston Rowant SAC Air pollution STRAT2: South Oxfordshire Housing and Employment Requirements. EMP1: The Amount and Distribution of New B-Class Employment Land. EMP12: Tourism. TRANS1a: Supporting Strategic Transport Investment across the Oxford to Cambridge Arc. TRANS1b: Supporting Strategic Transport Investment. TC1: Retail and Services Growth. Little Wittenham SAC Recreation STRAT2: South Oxfordshire Housing and Employment Requirements. STRAT7: Land at Chalgrove Airfield. STRAT9: Land Adjacent to Culham Science Centre. STRAT10: Land at Berinsfield. H2: New Housing in Didcot. H3: Housing in the Towns of Henley-on-Thames, Thame and Wallingford. H4: Housing in Larger Villages. Stage 2: Appropriate Assessment The Appropriate Assessment considered the effects identified in Table 1 above in more detail. Air pollution Air quality modelling was undertaken to determine whether adverse effects on Aston Rowant SAC would arise as a result of the Local Plan. This was informed by traffic modelling work undertaken by Atkins on behalf of South Oxfordshire District Council. The air quality modelling concluded that both nitrogen oxides and nitrogen deposition would increase at some of the specifc receptor locations at the SAC periphery. These increases would be more than 1% of the long-term environmental standard, which has been used as the threshold above which effects have the potential to be significant. However, the Appropriate Assessment concluded that these effects would not be expected to result in any material changes to the qualifying features of the SAC. This is for a number of reasons, including the fact that South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034: Final Publication Version 2nd 2 December 2018 HRA figures used are likely to be highly precautionary; the 1% threshold would be exceeded for less than 0.1% of the SAC as a whole, much of the M40 lies within a cutting and the existing habitats within proximity to the road are resilient to the effects of nutrient deposition. Recreation The increase in visitors at Little Wittenham SAC as a result of the Local Plan would be within that predicted and planned for by the Earth Trust, which manages the site. However, the Local Plan, in- combination with other plans is expected to exceed the number of visitors planned for by the Earth Trust. However, adverse effects on integrity are unlikely to occur due to a number of factors. These include the limited sensitivity of the site’s qualifying feature, being its great crested newt population, and suitable existing and planned future management of Little Wittenham SAC. In addition, Policies ENV5 (Green Infrastructure in new developments) and CF5 (Open Space, Sport and Recreation in new residential development) should help to divert visits to Little Wittenham SAC. In-combination effects The Appropriate Assessment took into account potential effects of the Local Plan in-combination with other plans and projects. It was concluded that no adverse effects on the integrity of European sites were likely to arise as a result of in-combination effects. Conclusion This HRA has concluded that the South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034 Final Publication Version 2nd is not likely to lead to adverse effects on the integrity of any European sites, either alone or in-combination with other plans and projects. South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034: Final Publication Version 2nd 3 December 2018 HRA Contents 1 Introduction 3 Background to the preparation of the new Local Plan 3 The requirement to undertake Habitats Regulations Assessment of Development Plans 4 Stages of Habitats Regulations Assessment 5 Recent Case Law Changes 6 Previous HRA work 7 Structure of the HRA report 9 2 The Local Plan 11 Summary of the Local Plan 11 Elements of the Local Plan assessed in this HRA 15 Potential impacts of the Local Plan on European sites 18 3 HRA Screening Methodology 20 European sites which may be affected by the Local Plan 20 Assessment of ‘likely significant effects’ of the Local Plan 22 Interpretation of ‘likely significant effect’ 22 Mitigation at the screening stage 23 4 HRA Screening Assessment 24 Identification of other plans and projects which may have ‘in-combination’ effects 33 HRA Screening summary 34 5 Appropriate Assessment 39 Appropriate Assessment approach 39 In-combination