Object

Representation ID: 107

Received: 11/10/2019

Respondent: Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Yes

Para 3.49-3.55
NWT strongly support the intent of this policy and the supporting text. Our concern, however, is that (as mentioned in our representation form for SP2), the wording of paragraph 3.49 needs strengthening by the removal of “as far as possible”, which we do not consider to be a robust approach and can be used as a loophole for allowing unsustainable development and a therefore a means to inadvertently undermine the excellent intent of the Policy. Similarly we consider that, for the avoidance of doubt, there should be mention of the need to protect irreplaceable habitats also in this paragraph.


Without a specific statement to this effect, the policy is open to misinterpretation and therefore may not be sound. There is also a risk that by inadvertently appearing to support habitat creation over protection of existing BAP/Sn 41 habitats, this policy may be in breach of the NERC Biodiversity Duty .

The supporting text for the policy also omits mention of the possible impacts of air pollution on habitats. “Air” is listed as a topic in the Policy itself but does not appear to have supporting text. Mineral extraction has the potential to cause emissions that may be damaging to habitats (and their associated species) so this requires specific mention, in order to ensure that the policy can achieve its intent and therefore be considered sound.