Natura Impact Report [Post-Consultation] Northern and Western Region RSES – NIR Post Consultation TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 2 1.1 SCOPE OF THE NIR .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 LAYOUT OF THE NIR ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT FOR APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT ......................................................................... 3 2 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 5 2.1 GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON AA ........................................................................................................ 5 2.2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND CASE LAW ................................................................................................. 6 2.3 PURPOSE OF THE AA PROCESS ......................................................................................................... 7 2.4 STAGES OF APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT .............................................................................................. 7 2.5 INFORMATION SOURCES CONSULTED ................................................................................................. 9 2.6 IMPACT PREDICTION........................................................................................................................ 9 2.7 CONSULTATION ............................................................................................................................ 10 3 NORTHERN AND WESTERN RSES ..................................................................................... 23 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 23 3.2 THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN REGION OVERVIEW ........................................................................... 23 3.3 STRATEGIC VISION FOR THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN REGION............................................................ 24 3.4 KEY ASPECTS OF THE DRAFT NW RSES............................................................................................. 25 4 OVERVIEW OF THE RECEIVING ENVIRONMENT ................................................................ 28 4.1 IDENTIFICATION OF EUROPEAN SITES ............................................................................................... 28 4.2 CONSERVATION OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................... 33 4.3 CONSERVATION STATUS OF EU PROTECTED HABITATS AND SPECIES ...................................................... 33 4.4 ARTICLE 10 OF THE HABITATS DIRECTIVE AND EX-SITU IMPACTS .......................................................... 35 4.5 EXISTING THREATS AND PRESSURES TO EU PROTECTED HABITATS AND SPECIES ...................................... 36 5 STAGE I SCREENING FOR AA ........................................................................................... 39 5.1 POTENTIAL FOR LIKELY SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ..................................................................................... 39 5.2 SCREENING FOR APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT CONCLUSION................................................................... 39 6 STAGE 2 APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT OF THE DRAFT RSES ............................................... 40 6.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 40 6.2 ASPECTS OF THE PLAN TO BE ASSESSED ............................................................................................ 40 6.3 APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................... 41 6.4 IMPACT PREDICTION...................................................................................................................... 41 7 ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS OF DRAFT RSES ....................................................................... 49 7.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 49 MDR1402Rp0013F02 i Northern and Western Region RSES – NIR Post Consultation 7.2 STRATEGIC ANALYSIS (CHAPTER 2 OF THE DRAFT RSES) ...................................................................... 53 7.3 PEOPLE AND PLACE (CHAPTER 3 OF THE DRAFT RSES) ........................................................................ 55 7.4 ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT – VIBRANT REGION (CHAPTER 4 OF THE DRAFT RSES) .............................. 92 7.5 ENVIRONMENT - NATURAL REGION (CHAPTER 5 OF THE DRAFT RSES) .................................................. 94 7.6 CONNECTIVITY – CONNECTED REGION (CHAPTER 6 OF THE DRAFT RSES) .............................................. 95 7.7 QUALITY OF LIFE – INCLUSIVE REGION (CHAPTER 7 OF THE DRAFT RSES) ............................................... 98 7.8 INFRASTRUCTURE – ENABLING OUR REGION (CHAPTER 8 OF THE DRAFT RSES) ...................................... 99 7.9 ALL ISLAND COHESION (CHAPTER 9 OF THE DRAFT RSES) .................................................................. 100 7.10 IMPLEMENTATION (CHAPTER 10 OF THE DRAFT RSES) ...................................................................... 101 7.11 ITERATIVE CHANGES MADE TO DRAFT RSES BY NWRA PRIOR TO PUBLIC CONSULTATION ..................... 102 7.12 ASSESSMENT OF IN COMBINATION EFFECTS WITH OTHER PLANS OR PROJECTS ..................................... 104 8 AMENDMENTS TO THE DRAFT RSES .............................................................................. 125 8.1 PROPOSED MATERIAL AMENDMENTS TO DRAFT RSES ...................................................................... 125 8.2 MINOR MODIFICATIONS .............................................................................................................. 125 9 MITIGATION MEASURES/ RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 126 9.1 OVERALL MITIGATION STRATEGY ......................................................................................... 126 10 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 150 11 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 152 APPENDICES Appendix A Summary of Statutory Consultation Responses (Prior to Draft RSES) Appendix B Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) Northern & Western Region Appendix C Special Protection Areas (SPAs) Northern & Western Region Appendix D Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) Northern Ireland Appendix E Special Protection Areas (SPAs) Northern Ireland Appendix F Screening for Appropriate Assessment Appendix G EU Condition Assessment Appendix H Threats and Pressures Considered Relevant to the RSES Appendix I Assessment of Material Amendments and Other Modifications MDR1402Rp0013F02 ii Northern and Western Region RSES – NIR Post Consultation LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3-1 – Regional Assemblies, and the Northern and Western Region.......................................... 23 Figure 3-2 – Strategic Vision of the Northern and Western Region ..................................................... 25 Figure 4-1 – AA within the Planning Hierarchy of the RSES .................................................................. 30 Figure 4-2 – European Sites within the Zone of Influence of the draft RSES ........................................ 31 Figure 4-3 – European Sites and Hydrological Connectivity in the Northern and Western Region ..... 32 Figure 7-1 - European Sites and Ecological Resources in the Northern & Western Region ................. 54 Figure 9-1 – Hierarchy of Preferred Mitigation Options ..................................................................... 126 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 – Summary of Relevant NIR Comments from DCHG in Relation to the Draft RSES .............. 12 Table 2.2 – Summary of Relevant NIR Comments from Other Stakeholders in Relation to the Draft RSES ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 Table 2.3 – Summary of Relevant NIR Comments from DCHG Arising from Proposed Material Amendments ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Table 2.4 – Summary of Relevant NIR Comments from Other Stakeholders Arising from Proposed Material Amendments .......................................................................................................................... 20 Table 4.1 – European Sites within the Zone of Influence of the RSES .................................................. 30 Table 6.1 – Elements of the draft RSES assessed in the NIR ................................................................. 40 Table 6.2 – Potential Ecological Effects Associated with the Policy Objectives Outlined in the NWRA .............................................................................................................................................................. 44 Table 7.1 – Protective Regional Policy Objectives Relevant to European Sites and / or Natura