LDP-KPD-HRA2 HABITATS REGULATIONS ASSESSMENT Flintshire Local Development Plan Screening Report OCTOBER 2020 CONTACTS ALEX ELLIS Arcadis. Arcadis Cymru House, St. Mellons Business Park, Fortran Road, Cardiff, CF3 0EY Arcadis Consulting (UK) Limited is a private limited company registered in England & Wales (registered number 02212959). Registered Office at Arcadis House, 34 York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK. Part of the Arcadis Group of Companies along with other entities in the UK. Copyright © 2015 Arcadis. All rights reserved. arcadis.com Error! No text of specified style in document. Screening Report Liz Turley Author Joseph Evans Checker David Hourd Approver Report No 10010431-ARC-XX-XX-RP-TC-0005-01 Date OCTOBER 2020 VERSION CONTROL Version Date Author Changes September 01 LT First issue 2019 25 September 02 LT Final issue 2019 27 October 03 AE Amended to incorporate changes to the LDP 2020 This report dated 27 October 2020 has been prepared for Flintshire County Council (the “Client”) in accordance with the terms and conditions of appointment dated 07 June 2017(the “Appointment”) between the Client and Arcadis Consulting (UK) Limited (“Arcadis”) for the purposes specified in the Appointment. For avoidance of doubt, no other person(s) may use or rely upon this report or its contents, and Arcadis accepts no responsibility for any such use or reliance thereon by any other third party. CONTENTS VERSION CONTROL ............................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose .................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 The Plan ................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Local Plan Policies and Sites .............................................................................................................. 1 2 THE HABITAT REGULATIONS ASSESSMENT PROCESS .................................... 8 2.1 Legislation and Guidance .................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Background to Habitats Regulations Assessment ........................................................................... 8 2.3 Stages in HRA ....................................................................................................................................... 9 2.4 In combination Effects ......................................................................................................................... 9 2.5 Definition of Significant Effects ........................................................................................................ 10 2.6 Approach to the HRA Report ............................................................................................................. 11 3 IDENTIFYING THE EUROPEAN SITES.................................................................. 12 3.1 Approach to Identifying Sites ............................................................................................................ 12 3.2 European Sites identified ................................................................................................................... 12 4 INITIAL SCREENING .............................................................................................. 14 4.1 Screening Approach ........................................................................................................................... 14 4.2 European sites .................................................................................................................................... 14 4.3 Initial screening of policies and allocations within the LDP .......................................................... 22 5 DETAILED SCREENING ......................................................................................... 28 5.2 Potential impacts ................................................................................................................................ 29 5.3 Detailed Screening of the LDP Policies ............................................................................................ 43 6 IN COMBINATION EFFECTS (SITES WITHIN THE LDP) ...................................... 61 6.2 Policies and sites within the LDP ..................................................................................................... 61 6.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 62 7 IN COMBINATION EFFECTS (WITH OTHER PLANS OR PROJECTS) ................ 62 7.1 Other Plans and Projects ................................................................................................................... 62 7.2 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 64 8 OVERALL CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 64 9 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 65 ..................................................................................................................... 66 European Sites ................................................................................................................................................ 66 ..................................................................................................................... 71 Figures ............................................................................................................................................................. 71 ..................................................................................................................... 72 Information from NE - Buffer distances in relation to European sites ...................................................... 72 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose 1.1.1 This Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) Report has been prepared by Arcadis Consulting UK (Ltd) on behalf of Flintshire County Council as part of their review of the Local Plan. This Report comprises Stage 1 (the initial screening and detailed screening) of the HRA process. Further details of the HRA stages are provided in Section 2. 1.2 The Plan 1.2.1 Flintshire County Council is currently preparing its Local Development Plan (LDP) covering the timeframe 2015 to 2030. Once adopted, the LDP will replace the existing Flintshire Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and will become the framework against which decisions on planning applications are taken. 1.3 Local Plan Policies and Sites 1.3.1 There are 84 policies contained within the LDP. These are set out within Table 1. There are also 40 allocation sites (including residential, employment, mixed-use, retail and energy developments). The allocations are shown on the Policies maps which accompanies the LDP. The three main strategic objectives of the LDP comprise: Enhancing Community Life. Delivering Growth and Prosperity. Safeguarding the Environment. 1.3.2 The policies are set out within Table 2. Table 1: Policies within the LDP Overarching Policy Policies Allocation site associated with policy Areas Strategic Policies Policy STR1: Strategic Growth N/A Policy STR2: The Location of Development Ref: STR3A: Northern Gateway Mixed Use Development Site Creating Sustainable Policy STR3: Strategic Sites Ref: STR3B: Warren Hall Mixed Use Places and Development Site Communities Policy STR4: Principles of Sustainable Development, Design and Placemaking N/A Policy STR5: Transport and Accessibility Policy STR6: Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Policy STR7: Economic Development, Enterprise, and Employment Supporting a Prosperous Policy STR8: Employment Land Provision N/A Economy Policy STR9: Retail Centres and Development Policy STR10: Tourism, Culture, and Leisure Meeting Housing Policy STR11: Provision of Sustainable Housing N/A Needs Sites 1 Overarching Policy Policies Allocation site associated with policy Areas Policy STR12: Provision for Gypsies and Travellers Policy STR13: Natural and Built Environment, Green Networks and Infrastructure Valuing the Policy STR14: Climate Change and Environmental N/A Environment Protection Policy STR15: Waste Management Policy STR16: Strategic Planning for Minerals Development Management Policies (Topic, Criteria and Area Based Policies) Policy PC1: The Relationship of Development to Settlement Boundaries Policy PC2: General Requirements for Development Policy PC3: Design Policy PC4: Sustainability and Resilience of New Development N/A Policy PC5: Transport and Accessibility Policy PC6: Active Travel Creating Sustainable Policy PC7: Passenger Transport Places and Communities Policy PC8: Airport Safeguarding Zone Policy PC9: Protection of Disused Railway Lines Policy PC10: New Transport Schemes Policy PC11: Mostyn Docks Mostyn Docks Ref: PC12.1: Community Centre, Woodlane Policy PC12: Community Facilities Ref: PC12.2: Greenfield Cemetery Ref: PC12.3: Treuddyn Cemetery Ref: STR3A: Northern Gateway Mixed Use Development Site Ref: STR3B: Warren Hall Mixed Use Development Site Ref: PE1.1: Chester Aerospace Park Ref: Ref: PE1.2: Manor Lane/Hawarden Park Extension