Mansfield District Council Local Plan Publication Draft Habitat Regulations Assessment Screening Report September 2018 In partnership with www.mansfield.gov.uk Habitat Regulations Assessment Screening Report (pre-submission) 2018 Mansfield District Council Oak leaves in autumn, Sherwood Forest Photographer: Peter Wakely © Natural England Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Aims of the Report ...................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Background ................................................................................................................. 5 1.3. HRA and the Mansfield District Council Local Plan ..................................................... 7 2. European Site to be considered ..................................................................................... 8 2.2. Location and Setting ................................................................................................... 8 2.3. Characteristics, Conservation Objectives and Site Vulnerability ................................. 8 3. Possible Potential Sherwood Special Protection Area (ppSPA) ............................... 12 3.1. Location and Setting ................................................................................................. 12 3.2. Characteristics, Conservation Objectives and Site Vulnerability ............................... 12 3.3. Regulation 10 of the Habitats Regulations (2017) ..................................................... 14 4. Method and Approach ................................................................................................... 15 4.1. Background ............................................................................................................... 15 4.2. Identifying Sites for Assessment and Specific Vulnerabilities ................................... 16 4.3. Key Issues that Could Affect Site Integrity ................................................................ 17 4.4. Consultation .............................................................................................................. 17 4.5. Screening Stage ........................................................................................................ 18 4.6. Limitations and Uncertainties .................................................................................... 22 5. Determination of Likely Significant Effects ................................................................. 23 5.2. Air Quality.................................................................................................................. 23 5.3. Pressures from Recreation and Tourism ................................................................... 33 5.4. Water Abstraction ...................................................................................................... 47 5.5. Urbanisation .............................................................................................................. 49 5.6. Fragmentation of nightjar and woodlark habitat ........................................................ 58 6. Overall Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 62 6.2. Birklands & Bilhaugh SAC ......................................................................................... 62 6.3. Sherwood ppSPA ...................................................................................................... 63 6.4. Future-proofing for Sherwood ................................................................................... 64 Appendix A: Supporting Maps ............................................................................................ 65 Appendix B. Screening Table Including Ultimate Conclusion Following Amendments to Policy ......................................................................................................... 69 Appendix C: Issues of relevance for maintaining site integrity ....................................... 93 Appendix D: Visitor Survey/Consultation Summary ......................................................... 96 Appendix E: References Used (but not cited in document text) ...................................... 99 Appendix F: Advice Note to Local Planning Authorities ................................................ 100 2 Habitat Regulations Assessment Screening Report (pre-submission) 2018 Mansfield District Council List of Tables Table 1-1 Summary of the HRA Process ............................................................................. 7 Table 2-1 Birklands and Bilhaugh SAC Site Characteristics ............................................. 9 Table 2-2 Birklands & Bilhaugh SAC Site Vulnerabilities and Conservation Objectives 10 Table 3-1 Sherwood ppSPA probable interest features and conservation objectives 13 Table 4-1 Initial Screening Categorisation ......................................................................... 20 Table 5-1 Existing industrial sites within 10km of Birklands & Bilhaugh SAC .............. 28 Table 5-2 Sections of existing road that lie within 200m of Sherwood ppSPA ............ 30 Table 5-3 High-level summary of the key parts of the 2010 Mansfield Citizen’s Panel Survey relevant to Sherwood Forest ....................................................................................... 34 Table 5-4 Permitted housing sites within 400m of the ppSPA in Mansfield district ..... 51 Table 5-5 Employment Sites Allocated in the Mansfield Local Plan and located within 400m of the ppSPA .................................................................................................................... 56 List of Figures Figure 4-1 Process involved in HRA screening (assessing Likely Significant Effects) 16 3 Habitat Regulations Assessment Screening Report (pre-submission) 2018 Mansfield District Council 1. Introduction 1.1. Aims of the Report 1.1.1. Mansfield District Council is in the process of preparing its Local Plan and other related development plan documents. As part of this work, consideration must be given to whether any of these plans may result in a likely significant effect on sites of European importance for nature conservation, otherwise known as the Natura 2000 network. 1.1.2. Potential impacts are identified and assessed through a process informally called a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA), triggered by Articles 6 (3) and 6 (4) of the European Community Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is implemented in England and Wales through the Regulations 105 -109 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. 1.1.3. This document addresses the Screening or Likely Significant Effects stage of HRA. In the event that likely significant effects are identified, or if effects are unknown, a subsequent study (Appropriate Assessment) is undertaken in order to assess these in further detail. In this case that has not proven necessary. The screening process includes the following: • Identify European site(s) that might be affected, and key site characteristics, vulnerabilities and conservation objectives • Identify issues that might affect site integrity • Confirm the methodology used • Screen local plan preferred policies for any potential significant effects (alone and in-combination) on identified European sites • Present recommendations and conclusions • Provide a basis for further HRA related work 1.1.4. There is a single European designated site near to Mansfield district which falls within the legal coverage of HRA. This is Birklands & Bilhaugh SAC, located within the adjacent district of Newark & Sherwood. Since the last update of the HRA the 'Sweetman' European Court of Justice ruling1 has clarified that 'mitigation' (i.e. measures that are specifically introduced to avoid or reduce a significant effect that would otherwise arise on a European site from a particular plan or project) should not be taken into account when forming a view on likely significant effects. Mitigation should instead only be taken into account at the 'appropriate assessment' stage. 1.1.5. However, PINS Note to Inspectors 05/2018 confirms that ‘embedded’ measures can be taken into account at the likely significant effect stage. Embedded measures are not explicitly defined in law but are interpreted to mean interventions and initiatives that are due to occur anyway and are not triggered by a specific requirement to protect a given European site; the benefit to any European site is therefore coincidental. 1.1.6. This is relevant to the HRA of the Mansfield Local Plan as the assessment relating to recreational activity on Birklands & Bilhaugh SAC takes account of two measures that are either unrelated to the Mansfield Local Plan, or would be undertaken in any event and are not intended specifically to mitigation for any effect on the SAC. These are: • The relocation of the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre in Newark & Sherwood District - A new visitor centre is now being built at Sherwood Country Park and National Nature 1 People Over Wind and Sweetman v Coillte Teoranta (C-323/17), 12th April 2018. 4 Habitat Regulations Assessment Screening Report (pre-submission) 2018 Mansfield District Council Reserve (NNR) near the cricket ground in Edwinstowe, designed and delivered by a consortium including the RSPB. The aim for completion is August/September