Habitats Regulations Assessment of the South Norfolk Village Cluster Housing Allocations Plan Regulation 18 HRA Report May 2021 Habitats Regulations Assessment of the South Norfolk Village Cluster Housing Allocations Plan Regulation 18 HRA Report LC- 654 Document Control Box Client South Norfolk Council Habitats Regulations Assessment Report Title Regulation 18 – HRA Report Status FINAL Filename LC-654_South Norfolk_Regulation 18_HRA Report_8_140521SC.docx Date May 2021 Author SC Reviewed ND Approved ND Photo: Female broad bodied chaser by Shutterstock Regulation 18 – HRA Report May 2021 LC-654_South Norfolk_Regulation 18_HRA Report_8_140521SC.docx Contents 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose of this report ............................................................................................................................................... 1 2 The South Norfolk Village Cluster Housing Allocations Plan ................................................................... 3 2.1 Greater Norwich Local Plan .................................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 South Norfolk Village Cluster Housing Allocations Plan ................................................................................ 3 2.3 Village Clusters ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 3 The HRA process ............................................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Previous HRA work ................................................................................................................................................... 8 4 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................... 13 4.1 HRA guidance ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 4.2 HRA methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 13 4.3 Stage 1: Screening for likely significant effects ............................................................................................... 13 4.4 What is a Likely Significant Effect? ..................................................................................................................... 15 4.5 In-combination effects ........................................................................................................................................... 16 4.6 Consideration of mitigation measures .............................................................................................................. 19 4.7 Stage 2: Appropriate Assessment and Integrity Test .................................................................................. 20 4.8 Dealing with uncertainty ...................................................................................................................................... 20 4.9 The Precautionary Principle .................................................................................................................................. 21 5 European sites ............................................................................................................................................... 22 5.1 Identification of European sites .......................................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Ecological information ........................................................................................................................................... 27 6 Impact Pathways ........................................................................................................................................... 30 6.1 Gathering information about European sites and impact pathways ...................................................... 30 6.2 Threats and pressures ........................................................................................................................................... 30 6.3 Air quality .................................................................................................................................................................... 31 6.4 Hydrology .................................................................................................................................................................. 35 6.5 Public access and disturbance ............................................................................................................................ 40 6.6 Habitat fragmentation and loss .......................................................................................................................... 43 6.7 European sites ......................................................................................................................................................... 44 7 VCHAP Screening (HRA Stage 1) ................................................................................................................ 48 7.1 Policy and allocations pre-screening ................................................................................................................ 48 7.2 Screening Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 51 8 Next Steps: Appropriate Assessment (HRA Stage 2) .............................................................................. 52 8.1 LSEs for consideration in the HRA Appropriate Assessment .................................................................... 52 8.2 Air Quality .................................................................................................................................................................. 52 8.3 Hydrology .................................................................................................................................................................. 52 8.4 Public Access and Disturbance ........................................................................................................................... 52 8.5 Habitat Loss and Fragmentation ........................................................................................................................ 53 9 Policy Considerations ................................................................................................................................... 54 9.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 54 9.2 Air Quality ................................................................................................................................................................. 54 9.3 Hydrology ................................................................................................................................................................. 54 9.4 Public Access and Disturbance .......................................................................................................................... 54 10 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 56 10.1 Need for Appropriate Assessment ..................................................................................................................... 56 10.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................................... 56 10.3 Next steps .................................................................................................................................................................. 57 Appendix A: Europoean site conservation objectives © Lepus Consulting for South Norfolk Council i Regulation 18 – HRA Report May 2021 LC-654_South Norfolk_Regulation 18_HRA Report_8_140521SC.docx Appendix B: Scoping of threats and pressures at European sites Appendix C: SSSI Condition Data Appendix D: Regulation 18 Policy and Allocations Pre-Screening Summary List of Figures Figure 3.1: Stages in the Habitats Regulations Assessment process ............................................................................................... 7 Figure 4.1: Outline of steps in stage 1; the whole screening process ............................................................................................. 14 Figure 4.2: Outline of the in-combination pre-screening assessment methodology ............................................................... 17 Figure 5.1: SACs within HRA study area ................................................................................................................................................ 24 Figure 5.2: SPAs