Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Peak District (East) Project Appendix 7H Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report October 2018 Rev04 Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report Quality information Prepared by Checked by Verified by Approved by Richard Wilson Clare Mcilwraith Clare Mcilwraith Lorraine King Approved Supplier Principal Ecologist Principal Ecologist Regional Director Revision History Revision Revision date Details Prepared by Reviewed by Approved by CM JR 1 December 2016 Final Draft RWE Ecology Principal Ecologist Associate 2 January 2017 Updated following CM CM client comments RWE Ecology Principal Ecologist Principal Ecologist 3 September 2018 Minor revisions re RWE Ecology CM LK desk study Principal Ecologist Regional Director 4 October 2018 Minor amendments LS LK LK Distribution List # Hard Copies PDF Required Association / Company Name AECOM i Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report Prepared for: National Grid Prepared by: AECOM Limited 5th Floor, 2 City Walk Leeds LS11 9AR United Kingdom T: +44 (0)113 391 6800 aecom.com © AECOM Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) for sole use of National Grid (the “Client”) in accordance with generally accepted consultancy principles, the budget for fees and the terms of reference agreed between AECOM and the Client. Any information provided by third parties and referred to herein has not been checked or verified by AECOM, unless otherwise expressly stated in the document. The conclusions and recommendations contained in this Report take into account information provided by the Client about the Proposed Project and upon the assumption that all relevant information has been provided by those parties from whom it has been requested and that such information is accurate. Information obtained by AECOM has not been independently verified by AECOM, unless otherwise stated in the Report. The methods adopted and the sources of information used by AECOM in providing its services are outlined in this Report. The work described in this Report was undertaken in June-August 2016 and June-August 2018, and is based on the conditions encountered and the information available during those periods. The scope of this Report and the services are accordingly factual and therefore be subject to minor limitations as detailed in Section 1.3, Appendix A. Where assessments of works or costs identified in this Report are made, such assessments are based upon the information available at the time and where appropriate are subject to further investigations or information which may become available. AECOM disclaim any undertaking or obligation to advise any person of any change in any matter affecting the Report, which may come or be brought to the attention of AECOM after the date of the Report. Certain statements made in the Report that are not historical facts may constitute estimates, projections or other forward-looking statements and even though they are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date of the Report, such forward-looking statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results predicted. AECOM specifically does not guarantee or warrant any estimate or projections contained in this Report. Where field investigations are carried out, these have been restricted to a level of detail required to meet the stated objectives of the services. The results of any measurements taken may vary spatially or with time and further confirmatory measurements should be made after any significant delay in issuing this Report. AECOM ii Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Glow Worm Survey Update 2 Appendix A: Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report - Prepared by Richard Wilson Ecology 3 AECOM iii Visual Impact Provision (VIP) – Peak District (East) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report 1 Introduction 1.1 The Proposed Project AECOM was instructed by National Grid to conduct a terrestrial invertebrate survey (including a glow-worm survey) at Dunford Bridge, South Yorkshire (centred approximately on Ordnance Survey grid reference 416540 402440). The survey was undertaken as part of the Phase 2 protected species surveys for the Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Project, Peak District (East) Project, (hereafter referred to as the ‘Proposed Project’). The Proposed Project is described in detail in Chapter 2 of the Environmental Assessment Report. The survey focused on land within and immediately adjacent to Wogden Foot Local Wildlife Site (LWS). A dusk glow-worm survey was also undertaken along habitats located along the Trans Pennine Trail between Dunford Bridge car park and Wogden Foot LWS. The survey and subsequent reporting was undertaken by Richard Wilson Ecology, an AECOM approved supplier. The report prepared by Richard Wilson Ecology is provided as Appendix A. The purpose of this report is to provide baseline technical information only. Accordingly, the report outlines the methods and results of the work undertaken, and provides an evaluation of the relevant habitat, species or assemblage as defined by the objectives (Section 1.3). It does not seek to include recommendations, mitigation or impact assessment. These elements will be addressed in Chapter 7 of the Environmental Assessment Report. 1.2 Defining the Study and Survey Areas Within Appendix A the following terminology is used: · Ecological Study Area – the area which was subject to the collection of background information (desk based study) to supplement the findings of the field surveys, comprising the Survey Area plus a 2km radius. · Invertebrate Survey Area – described in Section 1.2 of Appendix A; this is the area which was identified as being of most potential interest to invertebrates during the Preliminary Environmental Appraisal (PEA) and was subject to the detailed terrestrial invertebrate survey (hereafter termed as the ‘Survey Area’). Other areas outside this Survey Area were scoped out from the more detailed terrestrial invertebrate surveys. 1.3 Survey Aim and Objectives The aim and objectives of the survey work and the subsequent report presented herein were to: Aim: · Collect baseline data on the terrestrial invertebrate assemblage located within the Survey Area. These baseline data will be used to determine the value of the Survey Area for terrestrial invertebrates in order to inform the Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) for the Proposed Project. Objectives: · Undertake a desk study exercise to collate relevant information pertaining to the distribution of protected or notable terrestrial invertebrates within the Ecological Study Area; · Conduct surveys to identify the species and assemblages present within Survey Area focusing on the area of most interest; Wogden Foot LWS to determine the value of the habitats for this species group; · Better understand the variation and botanical composition of the grassland communities present and their relative distribution; and · Determine an overall evaluation of the Survey Area for terrestrial invertebrate species and assemblages in order to take into consideration within the Proposed Project design and to take forward for assessment within the EcIA. AECOM 1 Visual Impact Provision (VIP) – Peak District (East) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report 2 Glow Worm Survey Update In addition to the glow-worm survey conducted by Richard Wilson Ecology in 2016 (as detailed in Appendix A), further updated surveys were conducted in 2018 following consultation with ecological stakeholders. The updated survey visits were conducted in June and July 2018 and comprised a walkover visual search following a transect encompassing the grassland and marginal scrub habitats within Wodgen Foot LWS at dusk for a period of approximately 2 hours. Furthermore the Trans Pennine Trail was walked between Wogden Foot LWS and Dunford Bridge and the grassland verges searched for any signs of displaying glow-worm; the glow-worm Survey Area is shown on Figure 7H.1 in Appendix A. No evidence of glow-worm was observed during the 2018 update surveys. Based upon the results of the 2016 and 2018 surveys combined it is concluded that glow-worm are likely to be absent from the area surveyed. As such the terrestrial invertebrate assemblage as detailed in Appendix A will be taken forward to the EcIA but glow- worm specifically can be scoped out from further assessment. AECOM 2 Visual Impact Provision (VIP) – Peak District (East) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report Appendix A: Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey Report - Prepared by Richard Wilson Ecology AECOM 3 Richard Wilson Ecology Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Peak District (East) Project Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey, Wogden Foot Local Wildlife Site, nr. Dunford Bridge, South Yorkshire Richard Wilson Ecology (on behalf of National Grid) August 2018 Notice This document and its contents have been prepared and are intended solely for AECOM Ltd’s information and use in relation to the proposed Visual Impact Provision (VIP), Peak District (East) Project. Richard Wilson Ecology assumes no responsibility to any other party in respect of or arising out of or in connection with this document and/ or its contents. Document History JOB NUMBER: RWE00164 DOCUMENT REF: RW-CM-001-RWE0164-INV Amended by Final Version Revision Purpose Description Date Checked by Client Richard Wilson Issued Ecology 0.1 Draft for Client 10 October 2016 CM 1.0 Final Issue 31 October 2016 CM 31 October 2016 2.0 Final Issue 7 December 2016 7 December 2016 3.0 Updated Issue 31 August 2018 CM 31 August 2018 Terrestrial Invertebrate Survey, Wogden Foot LWS, South Yorkshire Table of Contents Chapter pages Executive Summary 1 1. Introduction 2 1.1 Background 2 1.2 Survey Area 2 1.3 Limitations 3 2. Legislation 4 2.1 Relevant Legislation 4 3. Methodology 5 3.1 Desk Study 5 3.2 Field Survey 5 3.3 Evaluation Methodologies 5 3.4 Personnel 6 4. Results and Interpretation 7 4.1 Desk Study 7 4.2 Field Survey 8 4.3 Invertebrate Assemblage Analysis 9 4.4 Evaluation 10 5. References 12 Tables Table 1: Weather conditions for survey visits.