Will the scheme affect a site with a statutory wildlife designation?

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Will the scheme affect a site with a statutory wildlife designation?

You will need to find out if the scheme affects a site with a statutory wildlife designation.

The easiest way to do this is to first check whether the site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI).

How do I find out whether the site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)?

Please contact the County Ecologist

01392 382257
01392 382135
nature@devon.gov.uk

How do I find out whether the site has another statutory wildlife designation?

If the site is a SSSI, you will also need to check if it has any of the following statutory designations:

• Ramsar Site
• Special Protection Area (SPA)
• Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or Candidate Special Area of Conservation
• National Nature Reserve (NNR)

You can check for these statutory designations by looking at the website of Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGIC)

For instructions on how to use the MAGIC website.

What should I do if the scheme will affect a site with a statutory wildlife designation?

You will need to ensure that the relevant statutory requirements are met. Please read the information on the 'Yes Section'.

Yes

If the scheme is on a site which has a statutory wildlife designation, then you must ensure that the relevant statutory requirements are met. Here is a summary of the relevant requirements.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)

Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, local authorities now have a general duty to take reasonable steps, consistent with the proper exercise of their functions, to further the conservation and enhancement of the features for which a SSSI has been notified. Not only does the County Council have to avoid harm to SSSIs, but also ensure that there is appropriate management of SSSI land which it owns and/or manages.

Local authorities must seek formal 'assent' from English Nature before carrying out any work which may affect a SSSI. This requirement applies to operations within a SSSI and to operations outside a SSSI which may affect the features of interest. Local authorities must also consult English Nature before allowing anyone else to carry out an operation that may damage a SSSI. English Nature must respond within 28 days.

English Nature may give approval (with or without conditions) or refuse approval. If the local authority wants to carry out the operations without English Nature's approval or without keeping to its recommended conditions, it must not go ahead unless it has given notice to English Nature that it intends to do so, explaining how English Nature's advice has been taken into account.

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs)

Proposals for plans and projects affecting SACs or SPAs must be subject to the most rigorous examination. The Habitats Regulations 1994 specifies that plans or projects not directly connected with or necessary to the management of a SPA or SAC and which, individually or in combination with other plans and projects, is likely to adversely affect the integrity of the site will not be permitted unless:
1. there is no alternative solution, and
2. there are imperative reasons of overriding public interest*.

Where a SAC or SPA hosts a priority habitat or species, the plan or project would only proceed if required for reasons of human health or safety or for other beneficial nature conservation reasons.

*Imperative reasons of overriding public interest include, for example:
· a vital contribution to strategic economic development or regeneration
· where failure to proceed would have unacceptable social and/or economic consequences
· a need to address a serious risk to human health and public safety.
Projects of national importance are most likely to be judged as giving rise to imperative reasons of overriding public interest, although important regional projects may also be.

Ramsar Site

Protection given to Ramsar Sites is equivalent to that for SACs and SPAs.

National Nature Reserves

All National Nature Reserves are also designated as SSSIs, therefore the protection given is the same.

Further Information

SSSIs

Details of the features of wildlife importance of individual SSSIs can be obtained from English Nature's website

English Nature. 1992. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs): England's special wildlife and geological sites.

SACs

The requirements for SACs are explained in PPG9:
Department of the Environment. 1994. Planning Policy Guidance 9: Nature Conservation. London: HMSO.

Further information about SACs can be obtained on the DEFRA website