HEIGHTS QUARRY AND PROPOSED WESTERN EXTENSION, WEARDALE, COUNTY DURHAM INFORMATION TO INFORM HABITAT REGULATIONS APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT SCREENING FOR NORTH PENNINE MOORS SPA A Report Submitted to Aggregate Industries / Durham County Council 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-112403 August 2012 Heights Quarry and Proposed Western Extension RT-MME-112403 Information to Inform Appropriate Assessment Screening for North Pennine Moors SPA HEIGHTS QUARRY AND PROPOSED WESTERN EXTENSION, WEARDALE, COUNTY DURHAM INFORMATION TO INFORM HABITAT REGULATIONS APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT SCREENING FOR NORTH PENNINE MOORS SPA CONTROLLED COPY 01 OF 03 01 AGGREGATE INDUSTRIES 02 DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL 03 MIDDLEMARCH ENVIRONMENTAL LTD This report was compiled by Tom Docker MSc MIEEM, Dr Katy Read MCIWEM MIEEM CEnv DipSM and Tim Hextell MIEEM The contents of this report are 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 C112403 August 2012 Middlemarch Environmental Ltd Page 2 Heights Quarry and Proposed Western Extension RT-MME-112403 Information to Inform Appropriate Assessment Screening for North Pennine Moors SPA CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 4 1.1 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 SUMMARY OF PROPOSED WORKS ....................................................................................................... 5 2. DESCRIPTION OF HEIGHTS QUARRY AND SURROUNDS ........................................................... 6 2.1 EXISTING QUARRY SITE ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 PROPOSED EXTENSION AREA ............................................................................................................. 7 2.3 SURROUNDING AREA ......................................................................................................................... 8 3. DESCRIPTION OF NORTH PENNINE MOORS SPA ...................................................................... 11 3.1 SITE CITATION ................................................................................................................................. 11 3.2 CONSERVATION OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 12 4. POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON SPA QUALIFYING CRITERIA ............................................................. 13 5 DESKTOP STUDY RECORDS OF SPA QUALIFYING SPECIES ................................................... 14 5.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................. 14 5.2 GOLDEN PLOVER BREEDING RECORDS ............................................................................................. 14 5.3 HEN HARRIER BREEDING RECORDS .................................................................................................. 15 5.4 MERLIN BREEDING RECORDS ........................................................................................................... 15 5.5 PEREGRINE BREEDING RECORDS ..................................................................................................... 16 5.6 EURASIAN CURLEW BREEDING RECORDS ......................................................................................... 16 5.7 DUNLIN BREEDING RECORDS ........................................................................................................... 18 6. LIKELY IMPACTS OF PROPOSED EXTENSION ON SPA QUALIFYING SPECIES ..................... 19 6.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................. 19 6.2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION REGARDING DISTURBANCE TO BREEDING BIRDS .................................... 19 6.3 LIKELY IMPACTS ON GOLDEN PLOVER ............................................................................................... 21 6.4 LIKELY IMPACTS ON HEN HARRIER .................................................................................................... 23 6.5 LIKELY IMPACTS ON MERLIN ............................................................................................................. 24 6.6 LIKELY IMPACTS ON PEREGRINE ....................................................................................................... 26 6.7 LIKELY IMPACTS ON EURASIAN CURLEW ............................................................................................ 28 6.8 LIKELY IMPACTS ON DUNLIN .............................................................................................................. 30 7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................. 32 7.1 SUMMARY OF LIKELY IMPACTS ON QUALIFYING SPECIES .................................................................... 32 7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 33 REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 34 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 36 APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 37 APPENDIX 2 .............................................................................................................................................. 39 Middlemarch Environmental Ltd Page 3 Heights Quarry and Proposed Western Extension RT-MME-112403 Information to Inform Appropriate Assessment Screening for North Pennine Moors SPA 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND In July 2012 Aggregate Industries commissioned Middlemarch Environmental Ltd to undertake an assessment of the potential effects of a proposed extension to Heights Quarry on six bird species listed as designation criteria for the North Pennine Moors Special Protection Area (SPA). The need for this assessment was outlined in consultation with Nadia Wetherell (Sustainability Strategy Officer, Durham County Council). Durham County Council is currently compiling the County Durham Plan, which will set out strategic policies highlighting where new development is proposed to be located and will plan for change in the county over a 20 year period from adoption. As part of this plan an allocation for Heights Quarry is proposed which will allow the quarry to continue operation and to extend into a new area located to the west of the current working area. The Heights Quarry site (described in Section 1.2 and shown on Middlemarch Environmental Ltd Drawing C111403-01 in Appendix 1) is located in excess of 2 km to the southwest of two European statutorily designated nature conservation sites, the North Pennine Moors SPA and the North Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation (SAC). A communication between Nadia Wetherell and Geoff Storey (Aggregate Industries) confirms that in order to include this allocation within the forthcoming county plan, the local authority must be satisfied that the continued use of the site and proposed extension would not significantly affect the integrity of any Natura 2000 sites. Natura 2000 sites are those sites designated under the Habitats Directive to ensure the protection of European important habitats, and include Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA), Offshore Marine Sites (OMS) and Ramsar sites. The North Pennine Moors SPA is designated under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010. The following definition is taken from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) website (www.jncc.gov.uk/Protectedsites/): Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are strictly protected sites classified in accordance with Article 4 of the EC Directive on the conservation of wild birds (79/409/EEC), also known as the Birds Directive, which came into force in April 1979. They are classified for rare and vulnerable birds, listed in Annex I to the Birds Directive, and for regularly occurring migratory species. In the UK, the first SPAs were identified and classified in the early to mid 1980s. Classification has since progressed and a regularly updated UK SPA Summary Table provides an overview of both the number of classified SPAs and those approved by Government that are currently in the process of being classified (these are known as potential SPAs, or pSPAs). Durham County Council should only include the Heights Quarry allocation in the County Durham Plan after having ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of any Natura 2000 sites. Where Middlemarch Environmental Ltd Page 4 Heights Quarry and Proposed Western Extension RT-MME-112403 Information to Inform Appropriate Assessment Screening for North Pennine Moors SPA potential adverse