Cauldon Limestone Quarry Phase 3 & 4 Extension Ecological Impact Assessment

Home , Little Baldon

July 2011

COMMISSIONED BY Lafarge Cement UK, Cauldon Works, Yelsway Lane, Cauldon, Stoke-on-Trent, ST10 3EQ

CAULDON LIMESTONE QUARRY PHASE 3 & 4 EXTENSION Ecological Impact Assessment

July 2011

Bioscan Report No. E1097B/R3

BIOSCAN (UK) Ltd The Old Parlour Little Baldon Farm Little Baldon Oxfordshire OX44 9PU

Tel: (01865) 341321 Fax: (01865) 343674 E-mail [email protected]

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION AND METHODS...... 1 2 BASELINE CONDITIONS – BACKGROUND INFORMATION...... 4 3 BASELINE CONDITIONS – FIELD SURVEY RESULTS...... 5 4 EVALUATION ...... 13 5 FUTURE UNDER THE STATUS QUO...... 16 6 IMPACTS, MITIGATION AND COMPENSATION...... 18 6 RESIDUAL IMPACTS AND CONCLUSIONS...... 24

FIGURES

Figure 1. Study Area and Designations Figure 2. Habitat Map Figure 3. Compensation Proposals Figure CA1 Badger activity (circulated separately)

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1 . Phase 3 and 4 study area plant species list ANNEX 2 . Caldon Dales SSSI Grassland Baseline Studies (Bioscan report E1097bs3) ANNEX 3. Cauldon Limestone Quarry: Mitigation and Restoration Trials – Progress Report May 2011 (Bioscan report E1097bR2)

1 INTRODUCTION AND METHODS

1.1 Background

1.1.1 This report provides an updated assessment of the ecological effects arising from the proposed Phase 3 & 4 working scheme in the light of changes made since the last formal planning submission in 2004. The likely effects of the revised scheme on ecology and biodiversity resources, and their significance, are assessed both in the absence of mitigation and after taking into account the nature and likely efficacy of proposed mitigation and compensation measures. These assessments are carried out on the basis of the revised working scheme described in Chapters 2 and 3 of this ES.

1.1.2 The baseline for this assessment is drawn from a combination of desk information (updated where appropriate from the 2004 Environmental Statement), and new field studies carried out in 2009 and 2010.

1.1.3 Desk information was obtained from English Nature (EN) and latterly Natural England (NE), as well as the Staffordshire Ecological Record, Lafarge archives and other published and internet sources. Field surveys for assessment purposes were originally carried out in August and September 2003, building on previous studies undertaken for Lafarge in 2002, and these have been updated by means of repeat Phase 1 and protected species surveys of the Phase 3 and 4 area between August and October 2009, and a repeat ‘condition assessment’ survey of the directly affected areas of the Caldon Dales SSSI at the same time.

1.1.4 In addition, information from surveys of surrounding land has been utilised where appropriate for contextual reasons and to inform compensatory measures intended to offset impacts that cannot be mitigated. In particular this includes an assessment of the habitat resource within the wider Lafarge landholding adjoining the limestone quarry, as updated in August-October 2009, and the early results emerging from translocation and habitat creation trials that have been commenced in parts of the quarry in 2010 specifically to inform future mitigation and restoration strategies.

1.1.5 The area covered by Phases 3 and 4 of the quarry extension is shown on Figure 1. It lies south-east of the existing main quarry void and represents an eastward progression of the consented and currently operational Phase 1 and 2 areas. Within the Phase 3 and 4 area is part of the Caldon Dales SSSI, of which approximately 2.1 hectares (16%) is intended to be worked under the revised working scheme. The remainder of the land is given over to plantation woodlands, coeval with earlier phases of the quarry and planted for screening reasons, and pasture fields subdivided mainly by intact or relict dry-stone walls.

1.1.6 For the purposes of impact assessment, it is assumed that the Phase 3 and 4 area would be worked from the south-west via the active Phase 1 and 2 areas, i.e. that there would be no additional land take outside the study area for access, ancillary or other off-site works. The assessment also relies on the results of work in other environmental disciplines (Chapter 6) for judging any effects on water supply or quality on wetlands or water courses remote from the site. Traffic and other potential emissions such as dust and noise are taken to be as described in Chapters 11 and 21 of the ES.

1.1.7 The future without the current proposals (i.e. the status quo), is taken to be that arising from planning consents SM/IDO/6 and SM/IDO/9 for the limestone quarry, each issued on 21 December 1998 and which are modernised IDO consents granted in 1945 and 1947. In each case, conditions

relevant to ecology are attached, in particular conditions 3 and 4 related to working within the Caldon Dales SSSI as follows:

“3. No winning and working of limestone or the depositing of mineral waste shall take place within the Caldon Dales SSSI shown edged green on the attached plan before 30 April 2011 and not before the approval of the scheme of mitigation referred to in Condition 4 below.

4. Prior to the extraction of any limestone or any other minerals within the Caldon Dales SSSI a scheme of mitigation shall be submitted for the written approval of the Mineral Planning Authority in consultation with English Nature. The scheme shall include the following matters:

(a) an up-to-date survey and evaluation of the SSSI; (b) a consideration of opportunities for excluding part or all of the SSSI from working; (c) the implementation of an appropriate management regime to ensure that the SSSI is in prime condition for any mitigatory measures, including the translocation of material, that may be agreed; (d) should part of the SSSI be affected, then there will be the need for the submission and approval of an appropriate mitigatory scheme to ensure that there is no net loss of the nature conservation resource. This will need to consider the location of suitable receptor sites, methods of translocation, the future management and monitoring requirements of the receptor site and the method by which this will be guaranteed; (e) the provision of compensatory habitats, where practicable.

5. The mitigation scheme shall be carried out in accordance with the plans and documents approved under Condition 4.”

1.1.8 Since 2007, further consideration has been given to options that could retain more of the SSSI in situ than was proposed in the 2004 submitted working scheme. This has involved the setting up of a working party involving representatives of Lafarge, Staffordshire County Council, Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. The alternatives considered, and their technical and commercial implications are described in Chapter 3. This report assesses the ecological consequences of the favoured option which will result in the quarrying of 2.1 hectares of the Caldon Dales SSSI.

1.2 Methodology

1.2.1 Desk information obtained on the ecological resource of the site comprised the following:

a) Information on the Caldon Dales SSSI supplied by English Nature (EN) and latterly Natural England (NE). b) Information on the locations and interest features of local other SSSIs and European nature conservation sites from EN/NE and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) as updated by the online resources ‘nature on the map 1’ and ‘MAGIC 2’. c) Other biological information now centralised as part of the National Biodiversity Network (NBN 3) and obtained from the Staffordshire Ecological Record.

1 www.natureonthemap.org.uk 2 www.magic.defra.gov.uk

d) Information available in Lafarge and Bioscan archives.

1.2.2 Field surveys comprised:

a) Phase 1 habitat survey of the extension area in August 2003, including an assessment of the likelihood of protected or otherwise notable species being present and an inventory of the flora of the site. b) Phase 2 (quadrat and formal condition assessment studies) surveys of all SSSI land and any other vegetation identified as having a significant semi-natural character within a study area encompassing the Phase 3 and 4 area. This included Bioscan studies in 2003 as well as studies carried out in July 2002 for the strategic appraisal of the Caldon Dales SSSI. c) Repeat Phase 1 survey of the Phase 3 and 4 area between August and October 2009, including a protected species appraisal and updated badger survey. d) Repeat condition assessment studies of SSSI land falling within the Phase 3 and 4 areas. e) Phase 1 habitat survey of the wider Lafarge landholding north and east of the quarry for the purposes of assessing the frequency of occurrence and distribution of semi-natural habitats within and outside designated areas, and the scope for linking up fragmented areas as part of a future compensation package.

3 www.searchnbn.net

2 BASELINE CONDITIONS - BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2.1 Areas designated for their ecological interest within and adjoining the study area, are indicated on Figure 1.

2.2 The study area contains part of the Caldon Dales SSSI, designated for its calcareous grasslands and associated fauna. Approximately 2.1 hectares of this statutory site is intended to be worked. A further SSSI designated for similar reasons (Rue Hill) lies nearby to the south-west, but this is unaffected by the Phase 3 and 4 scheme proposals.

2.3 The Phase 3 and 4 area also encompasses a small area of land designated as part of a Site of Biological Importance (SBI) 4, although this area is not intended to be worked under the scheme proposals. Additional SBI designations cover additional land to the north and east of the Phase 3 and 4 area (see Figure 1). Together, the SSSI and SBI designations form a disjunct network of surviving remnants of calcareous grassland which appear to have escaped wholesale agricultural ‘improvement’ in the 20 th Century by virtue of being on steeper slopes or difficult terrain associated with small-scale historical workings.

2.4 Further afield the most relevant feature is the start of a large complex of SSSIs defining the key habitats of the Peak District. These approach to within approximately 2km of the northern edge of the site. A great proportion of these SSSIs are further designated as the Peak District Dales Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Three European site interests count among the primary reasons for selection of this site. Two are Annex I (Habitats Directive) habitats “ Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies: on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) ” – i.e. calcareous grasslands, and “Tilo-Acerion (lime-maple) forests of slopes, screes and ravines ”. The third primary reason for selection is an Annex II species present in the rivers: the native white-clawed (or Atlantic stream) crayfish Austopotamobius pallipes . The SAC also supports a variety of other habitats and species of importance in a mosaic with these major components including fens, open vegetation of rock and scree, heathland and metal-tolerant grasslands, with brook lamprey and bullhead in the watercourses.

2.5 The Caldon Dales SSSI lies at the edge of the “Peak District limestone” area supporting such habitats. Together with the nearby Rue Hill SSSI, it is in effect an outlier from the main, and most valuable surviving areas. These two areas clearly merit SSSI designation but were not selected for inclusion in the European nature conservation site.

2.6 Protected species reported from the locality since 2004 include peregrine (noted from the main quarry) and barn owl, with the increasingly scarce UKBAP butterfly dingy skipper having also been reported from the quarry where it is likely to use early succession vegetation on calcareous substrates. More common UKBAP species recorded in and around the quarry in recent years include brown hare and hedgehog.

4 SBI no 04/98/52: ‘Dale farm (north of)’. Designated for calcareous grassland, with the Staffordshire rare plants crested hair grass and grass of Parnassus.

3 BASELINE CONDITIONS – FIELD SURVEY RESULTS

3.1 Habitats and vegetation

3.1.1 Figure 2 shows the habitats in the study area, with a full list of the plant species recorded during surveys since 2002 attached at Annex 1. An integrated analysis of species-rich vegetation, both within the Phase 3 and 4 area and in the wider locality, is set out in Annex 2.

3.1.2 Within the Phase 3 and 4 study area itself are the following habitats:

• Unimproved and semi-improved species-rich grassland, divided (below) according to its position in the spectrum between calcareous and neutral grassland. • Species-poor semi-improved grassland • Improved grassland • Closed sward regenerating grassland • Species poor hedgerows and other field boundaries • Scattered scrub and trees • Plantations, mainly broadleaved

3.1.3 Each of these is discussed further below with an account of the dominant or more notable plant species associated with each:

Unimproved and semi-improved species-rich grasslands

3.1.4 This habitat type includes the majority of grasslands within the Caldon Dales SSSI and a small number of other patches discovered in the course of field surveys that appeared to be part of the same continuum of species composition. A detailed analysis of the representations of this habitat found both within the extension area, and in the wider Lafarge landholding, is given in Annex 2 but the salient features and any necessary updates are described here, with specific reference to the representations found within the Phase 3 & 4 proposed extension area.

3.1.5 In common with the dominant grassland types in the Peak District to the north, the Cauldon grasslands lie over a limestone substrate and in general terms are closest in species composition to the calcareous grassland types defined within the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) 5. They are however towards the cool and damp range of the spectrum of climates that can support such grasslands and are very different from the more “central” types of the “Festuco-Brometalia ” that are found in continental Europe and extend into lowland England.

3.1.6 Typically, the higher effective rainfall causes deeper soils to be more leached with “pure” calcareous communities restricted to the shallowest and / or most skeletal soils, being those most influenced by the underlying bedrock. Consequently, the plant assemblage in the semi-natural grasslands of the locality includes species that are as much or even more indicative of semi-natural neutral (mesotrophic) grasslands as those typically restricted to calcareous grasslands.

5 Rodwell J (1992 ed) British Plant Communities volume 3: Grasslands and Montane Communities. Cambridge University Press.

3.1.7 Graph 1 below shows that even in the most species-rich grasslands at Cauldon there are indeed few pure calcareous indicators (C only), with the patches usually being dominated by species that are indicators of both vegetation types (M&C) or mesotrophic indicators only (M only). Further, it is often difficult to tell if a relatively impoverished grassland (e.g. patch H) is so because of natural reasons or because a small amount of agricultural improvement has been applied in the past. Graph 1: Indicator plants in grassland patches (see Figure 1 of Annex 2 for ‘patch’ locations)

3.1.8 In Graph 1, patches A, B, D, F and I (and a small part of patch H) fall within the Phase 3 and 4 area.

40 35 30 25 C only 20 M&C 15 M only 10 Species per patch 5 0 ABDEHIPQiQCFGJKLMNO Patch

Of these patches, A, B, D and I are intended to be worked – the small fragment of Patch H that is affected is species-poor grassland at the dale bottom. The remainder of the patches in Graph 1 are other local areas of species-rich grassland identified in the strategic appraisal set out in Annex 2.

3.1.9 The core vegetation community in the richer grasslands at Cauldon is NVC community CG2: sheep’s fescue – meadow oat grassland, with a strong bias towards CG2B, the devil’s bit scabious – ox-eye daisy subcommunity. “Constant” species are those that occur in more than 60% of quadrats, i.e. with a constancy value of IV (up to 80%) and V (more than 80%). Of 9 species with constancy V across all 85 Cauldon quadrats, six are CG2 community constants and the other three are CG2B preferentials (Annex 2). The nine further species of constancy IV at Cauldon include two more CG2 community constants and three others associated with or constant in CG2B. The remainder are all at least associated with CG2 in at least one subcommunity.

3.1.10 A combination of slope, soil depth and aspect appears to dictate the extent to which this core composition varies to more mesotrophic conditions, mainly towards resembling community MG5 (knapweed - crested dog’s-tail grassland). In general, deeper soils on shallower slopes and aspects with a north-facing element tend to produce more mesotrophic grasslands. In addition, even small amounts of agricultural improvement appear to cause calcareous indicators to be lost preferentially, as well as causing more general impoverishment (e.g. patch P).

3.1.11 In addition to the results of the NVC surveys, in 2003 each patch was subjected to a standard EN “condition assessment”, in which the vegetation is assessed using a set of standard criteria based on the plant community involved. This exercise was repeated for SSSI patches A, B, D and I and the

non-SSSI Patch P in 2009. The results are used in both the “Evaluation” and “Mitigation” sections below but are summarised here.

3.1.12 A few problems were anticipated with the standard condition assessment, mainly because of the unusual nature of the species composition expected naturally for CG2 compared to the Cauldon grasslands and because each patch is “expected” to be entirely CG2 grassland. The first of these problems was addressed in 2003 by the separate inclusion of ‘supplementary indicators’ to enable an independent assessment of conservation value, and in 2009 condition assessments for MG5 were also run in tandem with those for CG2. The second of these issues is discussed below under evaluation. The main problem is that mosaics of scrub and grassland may be of intrinsic value that is greater than a homogeneous grassland sward wholly unbroken by woody plants.

3.1.13 The strategic assessment is given in full in Annex 2, with an update for the SSSI grasslands within the Phase 3 & 4 area, together with Patch P, contained within the mitigation and restoration trials report attached at Annex 3. The main factors affecting grassland condition in the proposed Phase 3 and 4 working area are as follows.

a) In 2003, only patches D and Q had sufficient CG2 positive indicators to pass the assessment. It was noted however that all the “failing” patches within this part of the SSSI (A, B, E, H and I) had good numbers of supplementary indicators that are strongly associated with unimproved grassland (but not CG2) and characteristic of the Cauldon SSSIs. b) SSSI Patches A, E and H all had too much ragwort as a negative indicator. Patch H also had too much creeping thistle. c) Patches A, B and H had too much bare ground. d) In 2009, all the surveyed patches within the SSSI (A, B, D and I) failed using the assessment protocols for CG2. In patches A, B and I the consistent dual problems were extent of bare ground and lack of CG2 indicator species. For patch D the sole point of failure was in respect of the frequency of ragwort. Notably, patches A, B and I were all found to pass the indicator species test for the MG5 grassland community, although all still failed on bare ground for this community.

3.1.14 Putting aside issues related to the ‘goodness of fit’ to community CG2 of the NVC, the key factor affecting grassland condition in the SSSI areas of the proposed Phase 3 and 4 extension appears to remain overgrazing and sward break-up by cattle, which has created bare patches and allowed ragwort and / or thistle to invade. Since 2003 some effort has been made to address these issues, with a programme of active ragwort control implemented annually by quarry staff or contractors, and discussions with the tenant about a move from cattle to sheep-grazing.

3.1.15 Notwithstanding these management issues, the basic grassland matrix in the affected part of the Caldon Dales SSSI remains of SSSI standard and in generally good condition, with a substantial mixture of species characteristic of CG2 and / or of the Cauldon and related Peak District grasslands as a whole. All of SSSI patches A, B, D, E, H and I were described by Natural England in 2008 as in ‘unfavourable recovering’ condition.

3.1.16 Outside the SSSI, the only grasslands within the Phase 3 and 4 area that exhibit a similar complement of mesotrophic and calcareous grassland indicators are in un-stripped parts of Patch P, where they are associated with former workings and were therefore omitted from the translocation trials in 2010, as well as in the SBI Patch F, and in other very localised fragments at

the south-eastern margin of the study area associated with former borrow pits, sunken trackways and field-edges. Certain species associated with these latter areas appear to be absent elsewhere within the Phase 3 and 4 study area – they include greater burnet saxifrage ( Pimpinella major ) and common hemp nettle ( Galeopsis tetrahit ).

Species-poor semi-improved grasslands and improved grassland

3.1.17 These categories cover the great majority of remaining fields within the Phase 3 and 4 study area. Most of these fields are semi-improved, i.e. they appeared to have been improved in the past but to varying extents are now accumulating other species than the likely sown mixture. They have not yet reached a stage where indicators of unimproved conditions have colonised to any extent.

3.1.18 The typical composition of such areas includes ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ) as a common species, but often sub-ordinate to crested dog’s-tail ( Cynosurus cristatus ) and with other species including cocksfoot ( Dactylis glomerata ), Yorkshire fog ( Holcus lanatus ), bent grasses ( Agrostis capillaris and A. stolonifera ) and timothy ( Phleum pratense ). While herbs can be frequent, they are overwhelmingly restricted to the often-sown white clover ( Trifolium pratense ) with others that invade sown swards rapidly such as creeping buttercup ( Ranunculus repens ), mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium fontanum ), docks (mainly Rumex obtusifolius ), sometimes sorrel ( R.acetosa ) and dandelion ( Taraxacum agg.).

3.1.19 In many of these pastures the effect of intensive management followed by relative neglect is shown by the domination of herbs indicative of high nutrient availability such as nettle ( Urtica dioica ), goosegrass ( Galium aparine ) and thistles ( Cirsium arvense and C.vulgare ) beside the field boundaries. In some fields a very prominent invader along with thistles is ragwort ( Senecio jacobaea ). Where such ruderals are prominent throughout the vegetation, the habitat is shown as “SI/R” on Figure 2. Since 2003 attempts have been made to control these species at various times by topping, but where fields have been taken out of active grazing in advance of being quarried, these species have tended to regain abundance.

3.1.20 A very few fields remain more dominated by ryegrass and other sown species: these are shown as improved grassland and are likely to have been more recently seeded and / or more closely maintained.

Closed sward regenerating grassland

3.1.21 At the top of the existing quarry, some areas have reverted to grassland on bunds and even on the more horizontal areas of bare limestone or very skeletal soil. In the former case, there has typically been the development of a closed unmanaged sward of coarse grass and tall ruderal, in which false oat grass ( Arrhenatherum elatius ) is often prominent. Phase 1 habitat survey methodology would regard this as “semi-improved”, but this fails to recognise the recolonisation from natural processes of what was essentially bare ground, not an improved grassland or an unimproved sward that has been partly affected.

3.1.22 This grassland is of interest because some of the species typical of unimproved grassland have started to colonise, with species such as harebell ( Campanula rotundifolia ), cowslip ( Primula veris ) and, especially amongst longer grass along tracksides, greater burnet ( Sanguisorba officinalis ) being amongst the more conspicuous.

Species poor hedgerows and other field boundaries

3.1.23 The traditional and characteristic field boundary type within the study area is dry stone walling, usually without a hedge. Neglect has compromised the function of many of these features such as they are typically supplemented with a post and wire fence and often considerably broken down. Mature trees and shrubs, typically of sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus ) and hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna ) but with occasional ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) may grow in conjunction with these features, but these are generally only scattered specimens.

3.1.24 None of these field boundaries are sufficiently rich in woody species to qualify as ecologically ‘Important’ under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. None meet the qualifying criteria for the UK BAP habitat ‘hedgerows’.

3.1.25 The ground flora associated with these boundary features is almost uniformly poor outside the SSSI grasslands, apparently enriched by agricultural improvement of the fields. Sparse occurrences of weak indicators of unimproved grassland such as bird’s-foot trefoil, lesser stitchwort Stellaria graminea and knapweed were all that varied this picture.

3.1.26 Within the SSSI itself, the state of boundaries is more diverse, with the unimproved grassland composition of the adjacent fields also present up to and among the stone walls. Further the walls offer some protection from grazing, so the adjacent flora grows taller and has more architectural diversity likely to provide havens for specialist invertebrates.

Scattered scrub and trees

3.1.27 Scattered scrub occurs along field boundaries as outlined above but in some areas in patches within grassland, such as around former workings in Patch P and in the east of the study area. It is mainly dominated by the same species as the hedgerows, but locally with additional species including elder ( Sambucus nigra ), blackthorn ( Prunus spinosa ), ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) and sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus ). Oak ( Quercus robur ) is only occasional. Most of the trees are relatively small and lack structures that can harbour bat roosts or the other specialist fauna and fungus flora of “veteran” trees. A few however are older and / or contain splits, crevices or rot holes that favour these organisms. Such trees have been marked on Figure 2 as “tree with bat roost potential”.

Plantations, mainly broadleaved

3.1.28 Within the central part of the proposed Phase 3 and 4 extension area there is a series of shelter belt plantations, understood to have been planted under planning conditions in 1975 as screening belts for the quarry and works. They are dominated by broadleaved species, with some larch admixture and include beech ( Fagus sylvatica ), which otherwise does not appear to occur naturally within the study areas. None of the plantation trees has reached a structural stage where they have any potential for harbouring bat roosts, but a restricted number of older ash and sycamore trees of older origin have been subsumed within these plantation areas, and certain of these could support bats. The locations of these are identified on Figure 2.

3.1.29 The belts appear to have been planted over grassland that was already improved for agriculture, for the ground flora is uniformly poor, being either bare or dominated by various mixtures of common shade-tolerant species such as ivy ( Hedera helix ), male fern ( Dryopteris filix-mas ) cow parsley ( Anthriscus sylvestris ), ground ivy ( Glechoma hederacea ), rough meadow grass ( Poa trivialis ), wood avens ( Geum urbanum ) and nettle.

3.2 Species

Flora

3.2.1 The list of vascular plants at Annex 1, amended from 2004 to be specific to the Phase 3 and 4 study area, and to include new records obtained in the intervening period, includes records for 158 species of vascular plant. None of these plant species is specially protected, nationally scarce or rare, or highlighted in the BAP for the Peak District, which contains the geological and ecological core for which the limestone study area is an outlier, or have species action plans in the Staffordshire BAP.

3.2.2 However, several of the species recorded in the Phase 3 and 4 study area are listed as “less common” in Staffordshire, i.e. with records from fewer than 100 tetrads (2x2km National Grid squares). Seven of these; (meadow oat grass ( Avenula pratensis ), meadow thistle ( Cirsium dissectum ), rockrose ( Helianthemum nummularium ), lesser hawkbit ( Leontodon saxatilis ), grass of Parnassus ( Parnassia palustris ), greater butterfly orchid ( Platanthera chlorantha), common milkwort ( Polygala vulgaris ), and small scabious ( Scabiosa columbaria ) have been recorded from parts of the Caldon Dales SSSI that would be removed under the revised Phase 3 and 4 working scheme. These species are also present in SSSI vegetation elsewhere within the Caldon Dales SSSI, as well as in the nearby Rue Hill SSSI, along with other locally uncommon or scarce species such as frog orchid ( Coeloglossum viride ) and felwort ( Gentianella amarella ). A very few of these species, as indicated under “Habitats” above have started to colonise other habitats such as quarry edges, and a proportion are further represented in SBI designated land within the wider Lafarge landholding.

Bats

3.2.3 A restricted number of mature trees affected by the proposals display features such as cavities that have the potential to be exploited by bats as roosting sites. Their locations are shown on Figure 2. From what is known about the bat assemblage in the locality, including from desk studies and previous detailed bat surveys of trees in the Phase 1 and 2 working areas, and taking in to account the site’s altitude and geographic location, the risk of large bat roosts, or roosts of rare species, being present at the time these trees are required to be removed, is assessed as negligible. In this context, and given that any detailed survey work at this point in time will become obsolete well in advance of trees being affected by working, the need for detailed surveys to inform this revised ecological impact assessment was scoped out in correspondence with Staffordshire County Council and Natural England.

Badgers

3.2.4 Badgers remain subject to illegal persecution in many areas of the UK. In order to avoid this risk, this report omits information that would allow the locations of setts to be identified. Full information (in the form of separately issued confidential figure CA1) is available for provision to

the planning authority and Natural England, with instructions to make it available to additional enquirers where these are proven to be legitimate.

3.2.5 Information at the level required to assess the environmental effects of the proposed Phase 3 and 4 working scheme is as follows.

3.2.6 Badgers are present in the Phase 3 and 4 study area and in the surrounding countryside.

3.2.7 Depending on the pattern of badger activity at the time of working, some sett exclusion and the provision of an artificial sett or setts under license from Natural England is likely to be required during the working of Phases 3 and 4. The affected setts mostly have ‘outlier’ status or are currently disused however, and therefore there is ample scope for adequate mitigation to be secured and the grant of a licence would be anticipated to be straightforward.

Birds

3.2.8 The following bird species were noted to use the study area during the 2009 fieldwork:

Species Common name Conservation Notes status# Carduelis cannabina Linnet SPI/UKBAP/Red List Erithacus rubecula Robin Carduelis carduelis Goldfinch Amber List Accipiter nisus Sparrowhawk May nest in plantations Fringilla coelebs Chaffinch Abundant Picus viridis Green woodpecker Amber List Carduelis spinus Siskin Parus major Great tit Corvus frugilegus Rook Corvus monedula Jackdaw Corvus corax Raven Over site only Falco peregrinus Peregrine Sch.1 Over site only Buteo buteo Buzzard One nesting pair Alectoris rufa Red-legged partridge Periparus ater Coal tit Troglodytes Wren troglodytes Turdus merula Blackbird Falco tinnunculus Kestrel Amber List # Sch.1 = fully protected under Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended); SPI = Species of Principal Importance further to s.40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006; = UKBAP = species subject to a national Biodiversity Action Plan; Red/Amber List = Species of Conservation Concern after Eaton ( et al ) 2009.

3.2.9 As well as confirmation of nesting by buzzard and suspicion of nesting by sparrowhawk, many of the passerine species listed above are likely to nest in suitable habitats within the study area. Clearance of vegetation will therefore need to be timed to avoid or minimise the scope for active nests to be destroyed, in accordance with prevailing legislation.

Invertebrates

3.2.10 No specialist studies of invertebrates have been carried out. However the invertebrate interest is likely to be closely associated with the habitat interest, i.e. with species of note closely associated with the species rich grasslands and the occasional mature trees.

3.2.11 Available evidence confirms this. The local and habitat specialist butterfly dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaia ) has previously been reported from the nearby Rue Hill SSSI area, and dingy skipper ( Erynnis tages ) has been recorded from the adjoining quarry. However no evidence of either species within the Phase 3 and 4 area has been found at any point during Bioscan’s detailed surveys, which have covered both the spring period when larvae are relatively easy to detect and the flight periods. It is likely that the part of the Caldon Dales SSSI falling within the study area is currently too heavily grazed for dark green fritillary, and that early succession communities at quarry margins and worked out areas on adjoining land are selected preferentially by dingy skipper.

3.2.12 There is potential habitat for the nationally scarce northern brown argus ( Aricia artaxerxes ), but this species (specialist on rock-rose) is now considered extinct south of the northern Peak District. Another nationally scarce species, the cistus forester moth ( Adscita geryon ) is however known from south facing slopes of the Caldon Dales SSSI. Up to 2004 the Wall butterfly ( Lasiommata megara ) was noted as common in the study area as in the Peak district to the north: this formerly very common grassland species has declined considerably in southern inland Britain.

3.2.13 Three nationally rare ground beetles are also known from the nearby Rue Hill SSSI. These records are likely to represent a rich grassland flora. Boundary walls with a good lichen flora can also be important for invertebrates.

Other

3.2.14 Brown hare ( Lepus europaeus ) was noted to be using the Phase 3 and 4 study area during the field surveys. This is consistent with background records which include frequent records of the species from much of the surrounding area.

4 EVALUATION

4.1 Evaluation methodology

4.1.1 While some level of subjectivity is unavoidable when apportioning value to ecological features and resources, certain parameters and points of reference can be used to help ensure consistency. Those used in this assessment are explained below.

4.1.2 Sites already possessing statutory or non-statutory nature conservation designations will have been subjected to some form of evaluation process in the past, and their importance defined at a geographical scale (e.g. international, national, local). For these, evaluation will generally reaffirm their qualifying attributes, or in some cases may identify where designation may no longer be appropriate.

4.1.3 Factors such as extent, naturalness, rarity, fragility and diversity are all relevant to the determination of ecological value, and for the evaluation of sites and habitat features outside designated sites, these and other criteria as described by Ratcliffe 6, may be applied. Ratcliffe’s criteria are integral to the procedure for selecting both Sites of Special Scientific Interest and many non-statutory designation systems in the UK, and therefore remain an accepted standard for site evaluation.

4.1.4 In applying these criteria, attention may be drawn to the relative scarcity or abundance of features within the survey area and in the wider geographical context. Some criteria are however absolute and not relative to scale. Ancient woodland, for example, is fragile irrespective of whether it is being considered in an international or local context. Similarly, the value of an otherwise poor habitat may be elevated if it is central to the survival of a rare species.

4.1.5 Where evaluation is important for the purposes of informing decisions related to land-use planning and development control, the above approach needs to be supplemented by consideration of whether individual species are subject to legal protection 7, or whether habitats or species are present which have been identified as ‘priorities’ for biodiversity conservation in the UK 8. Planning authorities have a statutory duty 9 to further biodiversity objectives and the presence of such resources may be material to the determination of development control decisions 10 .

4.1.6 Further indications of conservation status for individual species are provided by reference to the Red Data Book system, 11 the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain, 12 or for birds by reference to the Birds of Conservation Concern 3- 2009 13 . This divides birds into three lists; Red List (birds of high conservation concern), Amber List (birds of moderate conservation concern) and Green List (not of conservation concern).

6 Ratcliffe (1977) ‘A Nature Conservation Review’. 7 Principal legislation being the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and the Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 which implement the EC Habitats Directive. Some animals are protected under separate legislation (e.g. the Protection of Badgers Act 1992). 8 Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan (1994), Command 2428 and subsequent Habitat and Species Action Plans. 9 Further to section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. 10 Planning Policy Statement 9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation ODPM August 2005 (as supplemented by Circular 06/2005) 11 Following the British Red Data books published by the JNCC/RSNC and the Nationally Notable (Nationally Scarce) categorisations recognised by the JNCC 12 Cheffings, C. & Farrell, L. (Editors) (2006) The Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain 13 Eaton, M.A., Brown, A.F., Noble, D.G., Musgrove, A.J., Hearn, R., Aebischer, N.J., Gibbons, D.W., Evans, A. and Gregory, R.D. (2009) Birds of Conservation Concern 3: the population status of birds in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. British Birds 102 , pp296–341.

4.1.7 Scales of comparison varying from the international to the context of the local area may be used to define the measure of importance attached to individual features. The definition of geographic terms can vary, but in this evaluation the geographic frame of reference contained within the IEEM guidelines 14 is used.

4.2 Evaluation of SSSI grasslands

4.2.1 The Caldon Dales SSSI is of acknowledged national value as part of the national statutory network. This value primarily relates to the grassland vegetation communities, but the natural mosaic of habitats with small areas of sheltering scrub, traditional stone wall field boundaries and scattered trees confers additional value for fauna.

4.2.2 Those parts of the SSSI that fall within the study area, and which would be directly removed by the proposed Phase 3 and 4 working scheme, are either in favourable condition or readily recoverable by small adjustments in management. They support a good range of characteristic species including locally scarce plants and a full complement of the species typical of the range of types on different aspects.

4.3 Other species-rich grassland

4.3.1 Field studies in 2003 and 2009 revealed patches of species-rich semi-natural grassland additional to those within the SSSI.

4.3.2 The only non-SSSI patches of species-rich grassland falling within the Phase 3 and 4 study area are small and fragmented, and occur in association with areas of former workings, related disturbance and/or steeper slopes at the eastern edge. However the collective value of these areas is high on the local scale, and indeed one such area (Patch F) falls within a designated Site of Biological Interest. These habitat fragments are also likely to qualify as representations of the Habitat of Principal Importance ‘Lowland calcareous Grassland’ and therefore carry attendant obligations levied by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.

4.3.3 A more extensive area of undesignated species-rich grassland at the interface of the Phase 1-2 and Phase 3-4 areas has recently (in 2010) been removed by consented quarry operations. This area, known as Patch P, was a field unit contiguous with the SSSI but with fewer indicator species than the grasslands within the SSSI, and a particularly poor representation of calcareous grassland indicators, suggesting partial agricultural improvement and therefore lower ‘naturalness’ as well as lower diversity. For this reason, and because Patch P fell within the consented and approved Phase 1 and 2 working area, the habitats here formed the agreed basis of the translocation trials described below and reported on in Annex 3.

4.4 Other features with substantive value

4.4.1 Apart from calcareous grasslands within and outside the SSSI, no other habitats with a formally elevated conservation status are present.

14 Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (2006) Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment in the United Kingdom (version 7 July 2006).

4.4.2 The only European protected species likely to be present are bats that could use the limited number of mature trees for roosting. The numbers potentially affected are likely to be small and restricted to species that are more widespread in a national sense, i.e. at most of local value as a fauna but with due recognition of the European protected status of the animals and their roosts.

4.4.3 Badgers are nationally and locally relatively common and their presence in the Phase 3 & 4 study area is at most of minor local nature conservation value. However their fully protected status, albeit imparted mainly for animal welfare reasons, requires to be taken into account.

4.4.4 No specially protected bird species appear to make regular use of the study area. In the wider locality, peregrine nests in the existing quarry on an annual basis, but at a location remote from the Phase 3 and 4 area, and barn owl has also been recorded. Buzzard has been confirmed as nesting within the study area and a range of other common bird species would be expected to breed. Clearance of vegetation will therefore need to be timed to avoid or minimise the scope for active nests to be destroyed, in accordance with prevailing legislation.

4.4.5 The presence of brown hare also needs to be taken into account, principally because of its status as a Species of Principal Importance under the provisions of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Similar status is conferred to other species such as linnet that, like brown hare, remain essentially common both locally and in the wider sense, but for which there is evidence of national population decline.

4.4.6 Other features within the study areas with any natural character remaining are restricted to small and linear features with a small number of indicator species of semi-natural conditions. Such areas are restricted to the regenerating grasslands, including areas still in an ephemeral state, on the limestone quarry boundary. These areas are judged to have minor local value, but they demonstrate that rapid development of vegetation with conservation value can occur on the limestone substrates exposed by quarrying, suggesting that creation of at least the calcareous communities of conservation importance is readily achievable in principle.

4.4.7 However the majority of the study area is species-poor agricultural grassland and planted shelter belts. These are habitats without substantive value at anything above the immediate local scale and represent habitats that are commonplace in the local countryside following the 20 th century intensification of agricultural use.

5 FUTURE UNDER THE STATUS QUO

SSSI land

5.1 Although the full suite of recommended management changes have yet to be effected within the Caldon Dales SSSI, the site is assessed to be in ‘favourable’ or ‘unfavourable recovering’ condition by Natural England, and further progression towards favourable status across the entirety of the site is anticipated, whatever the future scenario of development or its absence. If management issues arise of sufficient import to threaten or reverse this progression, Natural England have statutory powers available to them to secure any necessary changes through the Wildlife and Countryside Act, as modified by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

5.2 Existing planning consents for mineral extraction affect not only the parts of the Caldon Dales SSSI affected by the proposed Phase 3 and 4 working scheme, but also other parts of the Caldon Dales SSSI and (through a different minerals operator) the nearby Rue Hill SSSI.

5.3 The consents require, in effect, best practice translocation of affected SSSI portions after securing optimum habitat condition, including any changes in management that might be needed. In effect, the existing consents have been granted on the basis that the quarry extension is sufficiently important to trigger the “last resort” requirement for translocation. This remains the case notwithstanding that Staffordshire County Council have requested that alternative options to quarrying the SSSI area should continue to be explored.

5.4 According to previous case studies, the most that can be expected of grassland translocation is to preserve most if not all the plant species involved, although the plant community composition may inevitably incur changes that may be undesirable, and take a long time to reverse. The effect on the remaining parts of the ecosystem (i.e. fauna, fungi and other organisms) is largely unknown although many of the species can persist. Inevitably, the ecogeographic and historical context of a site is lost after translocation.

5.5 The success of translocation is dependent on a very wide set of factors, including the specific site conditions, the nature of the receptor site, the robustness of the donor community, the methodology of the translocation and the robustness of the target community. To ensure that the optimum solution for the SSSI grasslands within the Phase 3 and 4 proposed working area is adopted, a trial of translocation techniques was commenced in 2010 (Annex 3). Given the broad range of techniques being trialled, and the period available for monitoring their success, it is expected that this will allow a technique most appropriate to the specific site conditions to be identified and adopted in order to optimise the success of the operation. This justifies (for the purposes of impact assessment) the projection of a result at the more optimistic end of the spectrum of success.

5.6 The net effect is assessed to be moderate damage to an asset of national importance, quantitatively amounting to the loss of 16% of its current extent. The extent to which this loss can and will be recovered at a new location through translocation cannot be predicted with any certainty, however with the available techniques now being trialled onsite, at a field-scale and using a comparable resource, the chances of success are very much improved. Consequently, most of the species involved and some community attributes can be confidently expected to be successfully re-established.

Other features

5.7 Until and unless extraction commences, the remainder of the study area would be expected to remain under the same agricultural agreements as now and therefore continue in whatever farming regime is favoured in the local area dependent on the economic and other circumstances as time passes.

5.8 Regardless of planning consent, existing operations require works to avoid harm to protected species. This requires that advanced surveys be carried out of any mature trees with bat potential to establish any derogation licensing requirement prior to their being removed, and that prior to working close to, or closing down, any setts occupied by badgers, a license from Natural England is obtained. Licenses for works affecting these protected species are not issued unless Natural England is satisfied that any impacts on the animals are unavoidable, and that they will not be significant or can be satisfactorily mitigated.

5.9 No other features of substantive value would be affected by existing consents save for regenerating areas on the quarry edge, which by the nature of future extraction would be expected to replace themselves naturally by similar processes.

6 IMPACTS, MITIGATION AND COMPENSATION

6.1 Impacts before mitigation

6.1.1 The condition assessments and other data in Annexes 2 and 3 show no evidence that might indicate that there has already been an impact to portions of the Caldon Dales SSSI (or indeed the Rue Hill SSSI) adjacent or near to current quarry operations.

6.1.2 Chapter 6 of the ES demonstrates hydrogeological connections between some of the study area and parts of the Peak District SAC, in particular distant parts of the Hamps and Manifold SSSI that are within the SAC. However as described in Chapter 6, working depth in the Phase 3 and 4 area would not penetrate the typical summer water table. Although working would be carried below the winter water table, no dewatering would take place to counter the flow of water into the workings. Further, any resulting draw down from the winter level aquifer into the void would be highly localised. Thus there are anticipated to be no significant effects on flow rates or patterns towards the designated areas.

6.1.3 Parts of the Hamps and Manifold Valleys SSSI outside the European site approaches close to the Lafarge landholding, but in a location unaffected by the Phase 3 and 4 proposals and sufficiently distant from them to avoid the risk of indirect impacts.

6.1.4 As described in Chapter 6, working would not result in any change in silt content, chemical or other factors critical to water quality in the aquifer supplying the above designated areas. No significant effects via water quality would therefore occur.

6.1.5 The greatest impact from the working scheme would therefore be the removal of approximately 16% of the Caldon Dales SSSI. Without any mitigation or compensation, this would be a high magnitude impact on a resource of national value, and therefore unquestionably significant. With an equivalent programme to that required under the status quo (i.e. by extant planning conditions), this would be reduced to a moderate impact, however further mitigation and compensation is being offered, as discussed below.

6.1.6 Should any trees affected by the proposals prove to contain bat roosts, then mitigation to avoid harm to bats and ensure their favourable conservation status would be required under license from Natural England to avoid the scope for any significant effects. The numbers of individuals and likely species involved suggest that favourable conservation status could readily be achieved by well-tested mitigation methods, and that the grant of any necessary derogation licence would be likely. Thus no significant effects are predicted, but further measures are proposed to ensure a strategic approach is taken to this constraint, this minimising the scope for negative effects.

6.1.7 With regard to badgers, implementation of the current proposals would, if baseline conditions remain as currently, require a small amount of additional work to ensure legal compliance and (through the process of licensing from Natural England) successful avoidance of significant effects. Again, this is detailed under ‘mitigation’ below.

6.1.8 The ready availability and abundance of suitable habitat in the wider locality obviates the need for special mitigation in respect of other fauna of elevated conservation importance noted from the Phase 3 and 4 study area. Whilst there will be a denudation in habitat availability for species such

as brown hare, any displacement effects are likely to be readily absorbed locally with no significant consequences at population level. Bird species such as linnet may even experience an increase in the availability of foraging resources associated with ‘weedy’ areas at quarry margins and other disturbed areas. The net result for this group of species is therefore likely to be neutral.

6.1.9 No other features or resources of substantive value would be affected, and no additional mitigation would be needed to the above.

6.1.10 In contrast, there are opportunities for significant ecological benefits to be secured through the restoration of final quarry faces. Survey work carried out in 2008 on worked out, restored and recently stripped areas within the existing quarry, as well as observations of the quarry edge as reported above, show that such areas can be readily colonised by at least some of the characteristic species of the CG2 grassland type, as well as more mesotrophic communities, and there is abundant evidence from local and other quarries of habitats of high nature conservation value developing. These include not only flora and fauna associated with grasslands, but (where cliffs can be retained), important bird species such as peregrine falcon using the area to nest, often (as at Cauldon) whilst quarries are still active.

6.1.11 Whilst a ‘passive’ approach to quarry restoration would therefore be likely of itself to deliver habitats of substantive value, one outcome of the working party discussions is that additional compensation measures over and above a standard restoration approach are being offered. The intention of these is to ensure the opportunities presented by the final engineered slopes are maximised, as well as to ensure the re-use of existing ecologically useful material to accelerate recolonisation by species of interest, and to improve both the condition and interconnectivity of currently disjunct fragments of species-rich grasslands surviving within the wider Lafarge landholding, where this is or can be made compatible with operational and commercial objectives in respect of current and future consents and reserves. An outline of these additional compensation measures is given below.

6.2 Additional mitigation

Additional mitigation for impacts on the Caldon Dales SSSI

6.2.1 Following the deliberations of the working party and related further hydrological and geological studies, Lafarge now propose to work a reduced extent of the SSSI in a single phase (Phase 4). This represents a change from the working scheme proposed in 2004, and results in the predominantly north-facing slopes of patches A, B and I, and the south facing patch D being affected only in the last phase of working, likely to be not less than 10 years into the future. Further redesign of the proposals since 2004 has also enabled a further area of the SSSI to be preserved in situ (i.e. more of patch H will now be preserved, with the only affected area of this patch being a small fragment of flatter land at the base of the dry valley which supports species-poor grassland).

6.2.2 By the time that translocation of SSSI grasslands is required, final ‘roll over’ slopes for receiving translocated materials will have been prepared from blasting and contouring quarry benches of a similar, mainly NW facing, aspect at the south-eastern edge of the worked out void. The ‘finishing’ of these slopes will involve crushing and grading of blasted rock, possibly with additional blinding by finer grade material such as locally sourced limestone ‘scalpings’. Due to phasing, it is likely that roll-over slopes on lower elevation benches will be selected to receive translocated materials from the SSSI; in the event this is likely to result in a closer match of altitude to the donor site than is

provided by the upper rollover slopes originally identified for this use and since appropriated for the translocation trials (Annex 3). Decisions on final preparation of the roll over slopes in advance of translocation will be influenced by the results of the ongoing mitigation and restoration trials.

6.2.3 The most appropriate and cost-effective technique for translocating the SSSI grassland resource will also be selected from the various methods currently being trialled. These include whole turf translocation and turf ‘littering’, with and without associated top-soil and sub-soil translocation at a range of depths, and with and without supplementary applications of ‘green hay’ and seed harvested from local species-rich grasslands (Annex 3). The success of these various trials will be assessed by means of annual vegetation monitoring at least up to the point where quarry operations need to move into the SSSI area and final decisions must be made as to the translocation technique to be adopted.

6.2.4 The essentially south-facing Patch D within the SSSI presents a problem in terms of the availability of a receptor site with a matched aspect. One option for this area might be to make use of existing valley slopes in Lafarge ownership that are now occupied by improved or semi-improved pasture. As noted in Annex 1, and also Figure 3, a variety of such areas are ostensibly available, however decisions on whether to appropriate such areas for this use will need to take into account the desire to avoid further fragmentation of the SSSI resource, as well as practicalities such as access for mechanical plant to carry out the operation. There may also be problems in reducing the fertility of receptor areas that have been subject to agricultural treatments, perhaps necessitating the use of intrusive techniques such as soil stripping or soil-inversion. Even then the (usually thin) subsoil and parent material in these areas might have been affected by nutrients and other agricultural chemicals.

6.2.5 The final form and methods of translocation of the grassland resource cannot therefore be defined prescriptively at this stage, nor would it be appropriate to do so. However a broad range of techniques are being trialled for use, and it has been established that appropriate receptor sites will be available, leaving the fine detail to be decided in the light of monitoring results from the translocation trials initiated in 2010 and in consultation with Natural England and others.

6.2.6 One of the major choices that will need to be made is between attempting to translocate whole turf and moving soil and vegetation without attempting to preserve the turf intact (often known as “littering”). Long-term results from the only grassland translocation where a comparison can be made of the two methods suggest that there is surprisingly little difference in the long-term results 15 . Indeed in that case, littering produced a grassland of higher nature conservation value over the monitoring timeframe, although this may have been because of differences in the substrata at the receptor sites.

6.2.7 In any event there are parts of the donor grasslands at Caldon Dales SSSI where turf is effectively absent: grassland is effectively growing in crevices in rock or in soil too thin to be lifted as a “turf”. In other parts of the slopes, the soil depth is sufficient for turf to be lifted by machine. “Littering” is therefore likely to be the predominant method of transfer for the most overtly calcareous elements of the SSSI grassland resource (e.g. most of Patch D) with transplantation of whole turf also employed in the more mesotrophic grasslands on deeper, leached soils (e.g. much of patches

15 Jefferson RG, Gibson CWD, Leach SJ, Pulteney CM, Wolton R & Robertson HJ (1999). Grassland habitat translocation: the case of Brocks Farm, Devon. English Nature Research Report No. 304 , Peterborough.

A, B and I) if it is shown to be more effective over the trial period. If both methods are shown to be equally effective, factors such as cost and practicality can dictate which method is preferred.

6.2.8 The sequence of translocation operations is therefore likely to be as follows, taking into account the whole process from initial preparation to monitoring and management of the receptor site(s). All items would be finalised in consultation with Natural England and approved method statements and management plans produced.

1 Implement management changes and weed control over the whole SSSI where appropriate and needed to restore affected patches to favourable condition as described in Annexes 2 and 3. 2 Devise monitoring protocol on a BACI (before-after-control-impact) design likely to involve the use of nested 1m quadrats or mini-quadrats randomly placed within a stratified design. For monitoring purposes, each plot to be translocated will be paired with a retained patch on a similar aspect. Monitoring will start a minimum of three years before the first translocation is required. 3 Landform receptor slopes according to usual site practice, using finer material to ‘blind’ slopes if the translocation trials suggest this is either required or sufficiently beneficial, and taking care to avoid any ‘contamination’ of prepared slopes with high nutrient soils (e.g. via downwash from agriculturally improved land above). 4 During suitable ground and weather conditions within the planting season of September to April, transfer material from the SSSI to be translocated in a single operation without double handling. Depending on the outcome of the translocation trials, this may involve whole turf translocation and translocation of the soil profile, or ‘littering’. In all cases, the spatial integrity of monitoring stratification blocks will be preserved and permanently marked on the ground so that the same plot (but not the same quadrats) can be monitored before and after translocation. 5 It is likely that translocated littered areas will require light tracking with low-ground- pressure machinery to prevent erosion and slippage but no additional compaction should be allowed. 6 It is likely that long term management will require low-intensity grazing, but it will not be appropriate to start this until a satisfactory closed turf has developed. 7 Initial management is likely to require specific control measures for ragwort and thistle. Any other topping before grazing management will be required if monitoring reveals a risk of tall coarse grasses taking over the initial sward, but should otherwise be avoided in order to give desired species the chance to flower and set seed in the initial years. 8 Monitoring should be carried out annually and continued until significant change in the vegetation has ceased. On experience with other sites, this is likely to be a minimum of 10-15 years after translocation, although it may be possible to decrease the frequency of monitoring as and if change begins to slow down. 9 Short reports should be produced at the end of each year of monitoring, with a major analysis and review after each translocation event and at five year intervals subsequent to this.

Mitigation for bats and badgers

6.2.9 Based on the sequence in which mature trees with potential to support bats (as identified on Figure 2) will be affected by working, a programme of further surveys will be implemented to inspect each tree for bat roosts at a sufficient point in time prior to removal to allow licences to be

obtained and appropriate mitigation and compensation implemented (e.g. in the summer before the year of scheduled removal). Surveys will include climbing inspections and/or emergence surveys as appropriate. Should any bat roosts be found in trees, then the provision of replacement roosts in appropriate places would be required as part of mitigation required under a derogation licence. There are ample suitable locations for replacement roost provision around shelter belts and other tree groups on nearby Lafarge land unaffected by quarrying.

6.2.10 Mitigation for any badger setts will depend on the status of a particular sett at the time when an artificial sett ought to be provided, i.e. at least a year before the area would be affected by quarrying. Outliers with minor use may be able to be excluded without replacement – otherwise artificial sett(s) would be needed in appropriate locations, which again are abundant nearby on Lafarge land unaffected by quarrying.

6.3 Compensation

6.3.1 To avoid any net loss of biodiversity resulting from anything less than a 100% successful translocation (an unrealistic expectation, at least in any meaningful timescale), the translocation of the SSSI grasslands will form only one part of a wider strategy aiming to fully compensate and ultimately outweigh any significant negative impacts arising from the Phase 3 and 4 proposed working scheme. The other elements of this strategy include the following:

• Improved management of Sites of Biological Interest within the wider Lafarge landholding to maximise their biodiversity interest;

• Ecology-led restoration of roll-over slopes, drawing on the results of restoration trials that include a suite of techniques from a laissez faire approach allowing natural colonisation of bare substrates, to more involved techniques of soiling and seeding;

• Securing appropriate management of restored and retained areas to promote and maintain developing ecological interest and value;

• Aiming to improve habitat connectivity, through habitat creation and restoration, between designated sites (i.e. between currently fragmented SBI areas, between SBI and SSSI areas and between the Caldon Dales and Rue Hill SSSIs).

6.3.2 Figure 3 shows areas within the wider Lafarge landholding that have been identified for management to secure and expand their grassland interest. The areas include existing SBI land, as well as areas of species-rich grassland that are bereft of any designation, and improved and semi- improved grasslands outside these areas that may be suitable for intrusive works (such as soil- stripping, or soil-inversion and overseeding) to attempt to recreate conditions favourable for the development of new species-rich grasslands to extend and interconnect the current resource. A habitat restoration, creation and management plan would be produced for these areas, as identified on Figure 3, under a proposed planning condition. Areas adjoining Rue Hill SSSI that are the subject of extant obligations to improve their biodiversity interest, in connection with consented Phases 1 and 2, are not shown on this plan as those obligations are extant and not part of the Phase 3 and 4 proposals, however the opportunity, subject to future working proposals, to tie in to these areas through the restoration of worked out areas is indicated.

6.3.3 In addition to measures to mitigate, compensate and secure an overall enhancement of the grassland resource, new woodlands and scrub will require planting for landscape reasons (see Chapter 5). To ensure these have the potential to secure additional ecological benefits, planted species will be chosen from native species appropriate to the local area as set out in the site species lists for woody plants and woodland types in local SSSI woodlands.

7 RESIDUAL IMPACTS AND CONCLUSIONS

7.1 Residual impacts after mitigation and compensation

7.1.1 Under the terms of the existing planning consent, impacts on the Caldon Dales SSSI will be reduced to a moderate level at the national scale by good practice translocation. This ‘moderate’ assessment represents the loss of historical and eco-geographical context, which is inevitable and permanent, and the changes in community structure, which with good management are likely to reduce over a period of decades and be undetectable after approximately a century, i.e. they are long-term but not permanent. To some extent this impact will be compensated for by the strategic scientific value of a good experimental design. This should produce highly valuable information for translocation and for other cases where grassland restoration is required. This level and nature of impact is identical to that under the status quo. However the revised working scheme now being promoted includes a further amelioration of this impact magnitude through a minor decrease in SSSI landtake and improved prospects for a successful translocation. The latter relates to the decision by Lafarge to implement a trial of translocation and restoration techniques in 2010, using the Patch P grasslands and southern roll-over slopes of the Phase 1 and 2 areas, to enable the optimum solution for the SSSI resource to be identified in good time to inform final decisions about the operational protocol.

7.1.2 Adoption of a rolling survey programme to inform licensed mitigation are assessed in the context of current and projected conditions as adequate to ensure no significant residual impacts on bats will be incurred and to secure the favourable conservation status of species involved, if any. Given the extended timescale over which quarry working will take place, this assessment is necessarily made on the basis of previous survey information and an informed appraisal of the negligible likelihood of significant bat interest being present either now or at some future time.

7.1.3 Impacts on badgers will be limited to the temporary disturbance inevitably associated with a move to artificial setts, should this prove necessary, which will be minimal because of the ability to plan well in advance and leave the animals plenty of time to become accustomed to new structures. Although some foraging habitat will be removed by quarrying, there remains ample such habitat in the Lafarge landholding, not all of it used by the animals at the present, i.e. the area does not appear to be at complete capacity.

7.2 Conclusions

7.2.1 The major identified impact from the Phase 3 and 4 proposed working scheme remains the loss of some 16% of the Caldon Dales SSSI. After mitigation, in the form of translocation, this loss is still assessed as falling within the compass of an impact of ‘moderate’ magnitude, measurable at national level, although this masks that it has been ameliorated from the 2004 proposed working scheme by factors such as minor reductions in landtake and improved surety in the success of translocation. However, additional landscape-scale compensatory measures are now proposed, including improved management of other species-rich grasslands within the Lafarge landholding and moves towards improving their connectivity, both with each other and with the local SSSI resources. These offer the scope for this assessment to be revised downwards still further, even perhaps to the extent that full compensation, or even a net benefit, is conceivable, at least in the long to extended term.