BRANCOTE SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS STAFFORDSHIRE OTTER SURVEY A Report to NMC Nomenca Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. Triumph House Birmingham Road Allesley Coventry CV5 9AZ Tel: 01676 525880 Fax: 01676 521400 E-Mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.middlemarch-environmental.com Report Number: RT-MME-113606-01 March 2013 Brancote Sewage Treatment Works, Staffordshire: RT-MME-113606-01 Otter Survey BRANCOTE SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS STAFFORDSHIRE OTTER SURVEY CONTROLLED COPY 01 OF 02 01 NMC NOMENCA 02 MIDDLEMARCH ENVIRONMENTAL LTD This study was conducted and compiled by Colin Bundy BSc (Hons), MIEEM and Paula Bateson BSc (Hons), Grad IEEM This report is the responsibility of Middlemarch Environmental Ltd, It should be noted that whilst every effort is made to meet the client’s brief no site investigation can ensure complete assessment or prediction of the natural environment Contract Number C113606 March 2013 Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. Page 2 Brancote Sewage Treatment Works, Staffordshire: RT-MME-113606-01 Otter Survey CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 PROJECT INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 SITE INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 OTTER ECOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................. 4 2. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 DESK STUDY ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 FIELD SURVEY ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.1 Habitat Assessment .............................................................................................................................. 6 2.2.2 Presence / Likely Absence Survey .......................................................................................................... 6 3. RESULTS ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 DESK STUDY RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 7 3.2 FIELD SURVEY ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 3.2.1 Survey Constraints ................................................................................................................................ 7 3.2.2 Habitat Survey....................................................................................................................................... 8 3.2.3 Presence / Likely Absence Survey .......................................................................................................... 8 4. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 10 4.1 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 10 4.1.1 Habitats............................................................................................................................................... 10 4.1.2 Otters .................................................................................................................................................. 10 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 11 REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 12 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................................................................... 14 APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................................................................................................... 17 APPENDIX 3 ............................................................................................................................................................... 19 APPENDIX 4 ............................................................................................................................................................... 21 Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. Page 3 Brancote Sewage Treatment Works, Staffordshire: RT-MME-113606-01 Otter Survey 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROJECT INTRODUCTION In February 2013, NMC Nomenca commissioned Middlemarch Environmental Ltd to undertake a survey for otter Lutra lutra along a section of the River Sow adjacent to Brancote Sewage Treatment Works in Staffordshire. This was following the completion of an Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey undertaken by Middlemarch Environmental Ltd in February 2013, which recorded habitat considered suitable for otters within and close to an area of the proposed works. The findings and conclusions of the Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey can be found in Middlemarch Environmental Ltd report number RT-MME-113284. Works will include the construction of a new area of plant for phosphate removal and the installation of a new chemical dosing area with an associated works compound. In addition, an area of excavation is proposed to provide flood compensation for the phosphate removal infrastructure. To fulfil the above brief to assess the presence or absence of otters within the survey area, an Otter Survey was undertaken on 14th March 2013. In conjunction with this otter survey, Middlemarch Environmental Ltd was also instructed by NMC Nomenca to undertake a reptile survey at Brancote STW (Report reference RT-MME-113606-02). 1.2 SITE INTRODUCTION Brancote Sewage Treatment Works is located to the east of the town of Stafford, south of Tixhall Road. The proposed excavation works associated with the flood compensation project will impact upon the south-east corner of the STW site. The section of the River Sow included within this survey is located immediately south of this area, between National Grid Reference SJ 95396 22320 and SJ 95888 21934. The survey also included areas of suitable terrestrial habitat within and around the area of proposed works, and the network of wet ditches between the sewage treatment works and the River Sow. The section of the River Sow that this survey focuses on flows in an easterly direction, and is bordered by agricultural fields. The agricultural flood plain is bound by Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to the south and Brancote STW to the north. In the wider area, a railway line and residential areas of Stafford are located beyond the canal to the south whilst the landscape to the north of Brancote STW is dominated by arable fields. 1.3 OTTER ECOLOGY Since individual otters can have a home range extending over 10 km, populations depend on the conditions within the catchment. Otters have been recorded as exploiting virtually all types of water and waterway in the UK. Although populations in England and Wales are confined to mainly fresh water, otters have been recorded on still waters (canals, lakes, ponds and reservoirs) as well as rivers and streams. Otters will also utilise habitats adjacent to the rivers / lakes and will travel overland between waterbodies (Chanin, 2003). Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. Page 4 Brancote Sewage Treatment Works, Staffordshire: RT-MME-113606-01 Otter Survey Within a home range an otter may use many resting sites or ‘lay ups’. These include above-ground shelters such as stands of scrub or areas of rank grass, and underground cavities such as under tree roots and dry drainage pipes. Some resting places are used as breeding sites and are termed ‘holts’. A summary of legislation relevant to otters is included in Appendix 1. Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. Page 5 Brancote Sewage Treatment Works, Staffordshire: RT-MME-113606-01 Otter Survey 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 DESK STUDY As part of the Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey a desk study was undertaken to determine records of otter within a 1 km radius of the site. This involved contacting appropriate statutory and non-statutory organisations which hold ecological data relating to the survey area. Middlemarch Environmental Ltd then assimilated and reviewed the desk study data provided by these organisations. The consultees for the Desk Study were: • National Biodiversity Network Gateway website; and • Staffordshire Biological Records Centre. The data collected from these consultees is discussed in Chapter 3, section 3.1. 2.2 FIELD SURVEY The River Sow was surveyed between National Grid Reference SJ 95396 22320 and SJ 95888 21934.