Object

Representation ID: 109

Received: 11/10/2019

Respondent: Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Yes

NWT strongly support the biodiversity-led approach and we have worked closely with NCC to develop the principles, concepts and policy over several years, and have contributed substantively to the wording in the text and the site allocation briefs. We therefore support the inclusion of this policy in principle. Our concern, however, is that extra clarity is required that even excellent new habitat creation cannot replace existing high quality habitats, and would not reach a comparable quality even over several generations, and in some cases never. This is because the sources of propagules and colonising fauna for a new habitat are no longer available in many environments, so even the best new habitat creation cannot attract the diversity of fauna and flora that is present in a high value older habitat, and so this should not be used as a means to replace those existing habitats (and their associated species). In addition, it is extremely difficult to replicate the same edaphic conditions on which to establish the habitat, particularly using stored soils that have lost much of their microfauna. 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 .

In Nottinghamshire we have seen an example of exactly this, where an application has sought to claim that new habitats will replace existing high value designated habitats, so this is a real demonstrable risk, rather than a theoretical one.

Directly relevant is that para 3.49 describes the importance of the protection of habitats but then undermines this by the use 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 further means to inadvertently undermine the excellent intent of the Policy. This is covered under a separate NWT representation form.