Local Wildlife Site Review 2012
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BRENTWOOD BOROUGH LOCAL WILDLIFE SITE REVIEW 2012 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EECOS, December 2012 Brentwood Borough Local Wildlife Sites Review 2012 BRENTWOOD BOROUGH LOCAL WILDLIFE SITE REVIEW 2012 FINAL December 2012 Prepared by Essex Ecology Services Ltd. EECOS Abbotts Hall Farm, Great Wigborough, Colchester, Essex, CO5 7RZ 01621 862986, [email protected] Company Registered No. 2853947 VAT Registered No. 945 7459 77 Brentwood Borough Council Town Hall Client Ingrave Road Brentwood Essex CM15 8AY Client Representative Kate Gordon, Principal Planner Author Adrian Knowles BSc FRES MIEEM, Senior Ecologist Approved By Neil Harvey BSc MIEEM, Manager of EECOS Report Status Final Date of Issue 4th December 2012 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EECOS, December 2012 Brentwood Borough Local Wildlife Sites Review 2012 IMPORTANT NOTES Nomenclature The terms "Site of Importance for Nature Conservation" (SINC) and “County Wildlife Site” (CoWS) used in previous reports are here replaced by the currently generally accepted term of “Local Wildlife Site” (LoWS). Where a building, other property or location is used in the name of a LoWS it is not being implied that the ownership of that LoWS is associated with the property named. It is merely a descriptive use for ease of locating a piece of land that might have no universally recognised name or other obvious geographical location. In the report, when a location is referred to as a Site (with a capital S) this is an abbreviation that means it is a Local Wildlife Site. Scope The new National Planning Policy Framework places a responsibility on all local planning authorities to protect and enhance their flora, fauna and wildlife habitats (“biodiversity”) and also geological features and soils (“geodiversity”). This report only considers the former. Our appreciation of geodiversity and the requirements to conserve it are at a more elementary stage in Essex, with ongoing research into a series of LoGS (Local Geological/geomorphological Sites). Rationale It is hoped that this identification of Local Wildlife Sites is not seen as a hindrance to the livelihood of those landowners affected, or an attempt to blindly influence the management of such sites. It is an attempt to describe the wildlife resource we have in the county as a whole, which has been preserved thus far as a result of the management by landowners. The Essex Wildlife Trust and the Local and Unitary Authorities of Essex hope to be able to help landowners retain and enhance this biodiversity for the future. In recent years, the existence of a Local Wildlife Site on a farm has been seen as an advantage when applying for grant-aid from agri-environment schemes, with such grants favouring areas with a proven nature conservation interest. Public Access Identification as a Local Wildlife Site within this report does not confer any right of public access to the site, above and beyond any Public Rights of Way that may exist. The vast majority of the Sites are in private ownership and this should be respected at all times. Those few sites that are described as being appropriate for environmental education already have some level of public access. Land Ownership It has always been the intention of the Essex Wildlife Trust to contact all landowners of LoWS, advising them of this identification and promoting nature conservation management of the site. To that end, the Essex Wildlife Trust has appointed a Local Wildlife Sites Officer to administer this suite of sites across the county. While this lengthy undertaking is in progress it is requested that the Essex Wildlife Trust is contacted prior to any formal approach regarding any Site identified within this report. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EECOS, December 2012 Brentwood Borough Local Wildlife Sites Review 2012 Boundaries Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure accurate mapping of the site boundaries, the accompanying maps should be considered as being illustrative only. This is especially true for any SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), which are included within LoWS site boundary maps to help interpret the context of LoWS in the wider countryside. Definitive SSSI boundaries are maintained by Natural England. The Essex Wildlife Trust should be consulted over the precise boundary of all Local Wildlife Sites, should any dispute occur or precise determination be required. Planning The information within this report should not be used as a bypass to the normal planning consultation process. It is inevitable that, with the passage of time, some Local Wildlife Sites will be lost or damaged to the extent that they are no longer considered as such. Similarly, new Sites may be identified and periodically added to the list for each Local Authority. For these reasons, the Essex Wildlife Trust still wishes to be consulted on all planning proposals affecting areas of open countryside, regardless of whether or not they apparently affect a Site detailed within this report. This report will allow a greater understanding of the wildlife resources of the district/borough and will make the consultation process much faster and more cost-effective. The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that there should be a presumption in favour of sustainable development, with the caveat that all sites of significant nature conservation value should be afforded appropriate protection within the planning system. This might lead to an assumption that all land outside of LoWS designation is fit to be developed, with no nature conservation issues. This is most definitely not the case. Legally protected bat roosts, Great Crested Newt breeding ponds with associated terrestrial habitat and Badger setts are not routinely identified within the LoWS register for any Local Authority, yet they remain important material considerations that could be affected by planning proposals. Failure to consider these, and other similar, wildlife issues could result in an offence being committed by a developer if the ecological issues relating to a site are not properly explored prior to the submission of a planning application and it is recommended that no planning consent is granted without an appropriate ecological assessment accompanying the planning submission. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EECOS, December 2012 Brentwood Borough Local Wildlife Sites Review 2012 INDEX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 General Introduction 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Objectives of Review 2 1.4 Review Process and Methodology 3 1.5 Limitations of Survey 5 2. RESULTS 2.1 Identification of Local Wildlife Sites 6 2.2 Changes to Old SINC Network 7 2.3 Additions 10 2.4 Summary of Additions/Deletions 11 2.5 Other Sites 12 3. DISCUSSION 3.1 Local Wildlife Site Network 13 3.2 Living Landscapes 15 3.3 England BAP Priority Habitats 17 3.4 County Context 21 3.5 The Future for Planning and Nature Conservation in Brentwood 23 Appendix 1 Summary Table of Local Wildlife Sites Appendix 2 Register of Brentwood Borough Local Wildlife Sites Appendix 3 Register of Potential Local Wildlife Sites Appendix 4 Summary of LoWS Management Issues Annex 1 Local Wildlife Sites Selection Criteria (separate document) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EECOS, December 2012 Brentwood Borough Local Wildlife Sites Review 2012 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. In 1992, the Essex Wildlife Trust identified a suite of “Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation” (SINCs) across Brentwood Borough, comprising areas of ancient woodland, flower-rich grasslands, heath and other areas of substantive nature conservation importance. 2. In 1994, a boundary change transferred a small number of similar sites previously identified by the London Borough of Havering into Brentwood Borough, without considering whether or not they met the site selection criteria in use at that time. 3. Since then, there have been significant changes to the structure and breadth of the Selection Criteria used to identify such sites, now known in Essex as Local Wildlife Sites (LoWS). 4. These changes have incorporated into the selection process the national and local Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) initiatives (not included in the 1992 review, since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro that started the BAP process was only held that year). Other changes include the exclusion of nationally significant wildlife sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest, SSSI) from the LoWS register, in line with national guidance from Defra. 5. This current review has seen a net increase of just seven sites (from 140 in 1992 to 147 now), but this statistic does not take account of the considerable number of changes that are hereby brought about. 6. Sixteen of the old sites have been dropped from the LoWS register on the grounds that they no longer meet the more demanding selection criteria. Thirty-four completely new sites have been identified, along with numerous more subtle boundary changes that have seen parcels of land added to, or deleted from, existing sites. In some instances, two or more old sites have now been merged into one, larger site. 7. The three SSSIs within the borough (Curtismill Green, Thorndon Park and The Coppice, Kelvedon Hatch)