Mr John Leydon ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE DUKERIES HOUSE SITE OFF CLAYLANDS AVENUE, WORKSOP FINAL OCTOBER 2013 ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd, 1 Otago House, Allenby Business Village, Crofton Road, Lincoln, LN3 4NL Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site, Claylands Avenue, Worksop VES1.Chesterfield Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc DOCUMENT CONTROL TITLE: Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site off Claylands Avenue, Worksop VERSION: Final DATE: October 2013 AUTHOR: Jackie Nicholson, Grant Berky CHECKED BY: Vanessa Tindale APPROVED BY: Vanessa Tindale ISSUED TO: Mr James Cook Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc King Street Garston Liverpool L198EG This report has been prepared by ESL with all reasonable skill, care and diligence, within the terms of the contract with the Client. The report is confidential to the Client. ESL accepts no responsibility of whatever nature to third parties to whom this report may be made known. No part of this document may be reproduced without the prior written approval of ESL. ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd, 1 Otago House, Allenby Business Village, Crofton Road, Lincoln, LN3 4NL Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site, Claylands Avenue, Worksop VES1.Chesterfield Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc CONTENTS Page SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 DESK STUDY 1 3 METHODS 2 3.1 Habitats, Plant Communities and Plant Species 2 3.2 Amphibians and Reptiles 3 3.3 Bats 3 3.4 Birds 3 4 RESULTS 4 4.1 General Description 4 4.2 Habitats, Plant Communities and Plant Species 4 4.3 Amphibians and Reptiles 5 4.4 Bats 6 4.5 Birds 7 4.6 Other Protected Species 7 5 RECOMMENDATIONS 7 6 REFERENCES 7 FIGURES 1 Site Location Map 2 Habitat Map APPENDICES 1 Species Recorded at the Dukeries House Site on 9 October 2013 2 Data Search Results ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd, 1 Otago House, Allenby Business Village, Crofton Road, Lincoln, LN3 4NL Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site, Claylands Avenue, Worksop VES1.Chesterfield Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc SUMMARY ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd has been commissioned by Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc to undertake an ecological survey of a vacant industrial building and associated land to inform a planning application for redevelopment of the site. A desk study of records of protected sites and species was undertaken followed by a survey of the site by two experienced ecologists on 9 October 2013 and all buildings and habitats were assessed for their potential to support protected species. All habitats and plant communities recorded on the site are common and widespread in a local and national context and no BAP Priority Habitats are present. There are no ponds within a 500m radius of the site and therefore the site can be considered to be of low importance to amphibians, in particular great crested newt, and no further surveys are necessary. There are small areas of habitat on that site that are seemingly suitable for reptiles but until fairly recently, these areas were managed as amenity/ornamental verges to the property. In addition, their limited size and lack of connectivity to other suitable habitat reduces their suitability even further. As such the site can be considered to be of low importance to this group of species and no further surveys are necessary. No evidence of past or present use by bats was recorded in the ‘Dukeries House’ building or portable cabins and the likelihood of bat use is considered to be low. Although the optimal time for bat surveys is mid-May to late-August, it was felt that the level of access gained to the potential niches of the building was such that this constraint has been reduced to an acceptable level whereby a realistic assessment can still be made. The building has limited potential for future use by bats however this survey should be repeated if planning permission has not been granted by 1 June 2014. There is no potential for use by bird species afforded special protection, eg, barn owl Tyto alba but both the scrub habitats on the site and Dukeries House have potential for nesting birds during the breeding season. All demolition of buildings and vegetation clearance should be carried out during the non-breeding season (ie, between September and February). ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd, 1 Otago House, Allenby Business Village, Crofton Road, Lincoln, LN3 4NL Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site, Claylands Avenue, Worksop VES1.Chesterfield Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE DUKERIES HOUSE SITE OFF CLAYLANDS AVENUE, WORKSOP 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd has been commissioned by Veolia Environmental Services (UK) to undertake an ecological survey of a vacant industrial building and associated land to inform a planning application for redevelopment of the site. 1.2 This document describes the survey undertaken and provides the results, together with an assessment of the biodiversity value of the site. A risk assessment was undertaken on arrival at the site in order to evaluate any specific risks and implement safe-working procedures. 1.3 English names of higher plants are used throughout the text and full species lists with English and scientific names are given in Appendix 1. Plant names for higher plants are as given by Stace (2010) and photographs of the site are used throughout the text. 2 DESK STUDY Sources consulted 2.1 The Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGIC) website was consulted to obtain information pertaining to any internationally protected sites and for citations of any Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or National Nature Reserves (NNR) within 5km of the site. The Nottinghamshire Biological and Geological Records Centre (NBGRC) was asked to provide details of any non-statutory Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) within 2km of the area and for records of any statutorily protected or UK and local Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority species within a 2km radius of the area. The habitats and species listed in the UK BAP are set out in Section 41 (S41) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006 as those considered to be of Principal Importance for the conservation of biodiversity in England. 2.2 A search was made of OS and aerial imagery for the presence of any ponds within a 500m radius of the site. Results 2.3 There are no sites of international importance within a 10km radius of the site. Lindrick Golf Course SSSI is located 2km to the north west and is designated for its calcareous grassland habitat. Woodsetts Pond Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is 930m north of the site and comprises a fishing lake surrounded by woodland and scrub habitats at the site of a former quarry. It is ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd, 1 Otago House, 1 Allenby Business Village, Crofton Road, Lincoln, LN3 4NL Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site, Claylands Avenue, Worksop VES1.Chesterfield Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc very unlikely that development of the site would have an adverse effect on any of these designated sites. 2.4 NBGRC provided details of 19 Local Wildlife Sites within a 2km radius of the site (see Appendix 2), all of which are predominantly designated for their botanical interest. The closest of these to the site are: • Shireoaks Colliery LWS. A former colliery site with botanical interest. • Tranker Wood LWS. Deciduous woodland. • Jack Riding LWS. A relict area of woodland with notable species. • Fox Covert, Shireoaks LWS. An important habitat mosaic. Locations for all of these sites are given in Appendix 2. 2.5 NBGRC also provided the following information regarding significant species within 2km of the site: • No records of a statutorily protected species within or adjacent to the site. • One record of great crested newt Triturus cristatus 1.4km south of the site from Lady Lee Quarry LWS in 1989. • A number of post 2000 records of slow-worm, grass snake and common lizard from Tranker Wood 0.5km south of the site and from Vesuvius Works on Sandy Lane 1.9km to the south west. • Two records of bat roosts within 2km of the site were provided; a 2002 record of brown long-eared roost 1.3km to the east and a 2003 record of a roost of an unidentified species of bat 650m from the site on the west side of the A57. • Common toad, common frog and smooth newt are all well recorded in the local area, mainly within the Local Wildlife Sites. A spreadsheet of all the records provided is given in Appendix 2. 2.6 There are no ponds visible on OS or satellite imagery within a 500m radius of the site. 3 METHODS 3.1 HABITATS, PLANT COMMUNITIES AND PLANT SPECIES 3.1.1 A survey of the site was undertaken by two experienced ecologists on 9 October 2013. All habitats and plant communities in the survey area were mapped and characterised by identifying the dominant and typical species and notes were also made on the adjacent land, ESL (Ecological Services) Ltd, 1 Otago House, 2 Allenby Business Village, Crofton Road, Lincoln, LN3 4NL Ecological Survey of the Dukeries House Site, Claylands Avenue, Worksop VES1.Chesterfield Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc where access allowed. A location map is provided as Figure 1 and a habitat map is given as Figure 2. 3.2 AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES 3.2.1 A search was made on and directly adjacent to the site for any ponds or other waterbodies not identified during the desk study. 3.2.2 The site assessed for its potential to support reptiles. Suitable habitat comprises structurally varied vegetation which supports good numbers of invertebrates and provides both open areas for basking, particularly on south-facing slopes, and denser patches which provide shelter from predators (Beebee and Griffiths, 2000).