Item5Appendix3bGeneralComment20190363DET

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Agenda Item 5 Appendix 3b 21/02/2020

AGENDA ITEM 5

APPENDIX 3B

2019/0363/DET

COM­MENTS — GENERAL

From:Claire BSmith Sent: Thu, 19 Dec 2019 12:32:05 +0000 To:Planning Subject:2019/0363/DET Attachments:2017 – 0198-DET Erec­tion of 32 apartments.pdf Dear Stephanie

2019/0363/DET Erec­tion of three blocks of flats (27 units) with asso­ci­ated park­ing and access at Devel­op­ment Site on Former Filling Sta­tion, Grampi­an Road, Aviemore

I can con­firm that RSPB Scotland’s com­ments in rela­tion to a pre­vi­ous pro­pos­al at this site (2017/0198/DET) also apply to this new applic­a­tion. These relate to the risk of increased dis­turb­ance of caper­cail­lie with­in pro­tec­ted areas (SPAs) through recre­ation­al usage of the sur­round­ing wood­lands. I attach our response here for reference.

Please do not hes­it­ate to get in touch if you require any fur­ther information.

Kind regards, Claire

Claire Smith Seni­or Con­ser­va­tion Officer – South Highland

My usu­al work days are Mon — Thurs

RSPB North Scot­land Office, Beech­wood Park, Etive House, Inverness, IV2 3BW

rspb​.org​.uk Let’s give nature a home in Scotland

giv­ing nature rspb a home Scot­land RSPB Scot­land is part of the RSPB, the UK’s largest nature con­ser­va­tion char­ity, inspir­ing every­one to give nature a home. Togeth­er with our part­ners, we pro­tect threatened birds and wild­life so our towns, coast and coun­tryside will teem with life once again. We play a lead­ing role in Bird­Life Inter­na­tion­al, a world­wide part­ner­ship of nature con­ser­va­tion organisations.

The Roy­al Soci­ety for the Pro­tec­tion of Birds (RSPB) is a registered char­ity: Eng­land and Wales no. 207076, Scot­land no. SC037654

This email and any attach­ments may con­tain mater­i­al that is con­fid­en­tial, sub­ject to copy­right and inten­ded for the address­ee only. If you are not the named recip­i­ent you must not use, dis­close, repro­duce, copy or dis­trib­ute the con­tents of this com­mu­nic­a­tion. If you have received this in error, please con­tact the sender and then delete this email from your sys­tem. The Roy­al Soci­ety for the Pro­tec­tion of Birds (RSPB) is a registered char­ity in Eng­land and Wales no. 207076 and in Scot­land no. SC037654.

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giv­ing nature rspb a home RSPB Scot­land Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

14 The Square

Grant­own on Spey

Scot­land

PH26 3HG

By Email: planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

Date: 20-06-2017

Dear Sir or Madam

2017/0198/DET Erec­tion of 32 apart­ments arranged in 4 four storey blocks with asso­ci­ated park­ing, com­munity heat­ing and power unit includ­ing new access onto Grampi­an Road at Devel­op­ment Site On Former Filling Sta­tion, Grampi­an Road, Aviemore, Highland

RSPB Scot­land has con­sidered the above applic­a­tion and sup­port­ing doc­u­ments but takes no view at present on the mer­its, or oth­er­wise, of the pro­pos­als. How­ever, we wish to high­light that the pro­posed devel­op­ment is with­in walk­ing, cyc­ling and con­veni­ent driv­ing dis­tance of sev­er­al woods that sup­port caper­cail­lie. The pro­posed devel­op­ment could there­fore lead to increased recre­ation­al usage of the sur­round­ing area with poten­tial for increased dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie. The devel­op­ment of 32 pro­posed apart­ments could res­ult in around 18,900 vis­its to the out­doors each year by the res­id­ents of the development¹.

Caper­cail­lie is a qual­i­fy­ing interest of the Cairngorms, Aber­nethy Forest, Anagach Woods, Craigmore Wood and Kin­veachy Forest SPAs. Caper­cail­lie in Badenoch & Strath­spey func­tion as a meta­pop­u­la­tion, so any effect on caper­cail­lie here could poten­tially affect the pop­u­la­tion in the five SPAs. It is there­fore neces­sary to con­sider recre­ation­al impact upon the loc­al pop­u­la­tions of caper­cail­lie in the assess­ment of this application.

RSPB Scot­land is very con­cerned about the cumu­lat­ive impacts of hous­ing devel­op­ments in Spey­side, of all scales, on sens­it­ive spe­cies and the effects these may have on their pop­u­la­tions. We recog­nise the need for new afford­able hous­ing devel­op­ments in sus­tain­able loc­a­tions with­in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park and that an indi­vidu­al well-placed devel­op­ment may have lim­ited envir­on­ment­al impact. How­ever the cumu­lat­ive impact of sev­er­al devel­op­ments could be significant.

¹ This estim­ate is based on data from the Scot­tish Recre­ation Sur­vey (2012); Scotland’s People and Nature Sur­vey (2013) and Scot­tish Neigh­bour­hood Statistics.

North Scot­land Tel 01463 715000 Office Etive House Beech­wood Park Inverness IV2 3BW

rspb​.org​.uk

Pat­ron: Her Majesty the Queen Chair­man of Coun­cil: Pro­fess­or Steve Ormerod, FIEEM Pres­id­ent: Mir­anda Krestovnikoff Chair­man, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Pro­fess­or Colin Gal­braith Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Stu­art Hous­den OBE Region­al Dir­ect­or: George Camp­bell The RSPB is a registered char­ity in Eng­land and Wales 207076, in Scot­land SCO37654

giv­ing nature rspb a home RSPB Scot­land We con­sider that it is neces­sary that Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA) as com­pet­ent author­ity car­ries out a Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al to determ­ine the implic­a­tions of the devel­op­ment for the above-men­tioned SPAs’ con­ser­va­tion object­ives. Only if that apprais­al con­cludes that the devel­op­ment (alone or in-com­bin­a­tion with oth­ers) will not adversely affect the integ­rity of any SPA or SAC can plan­ning per­mis­sion be granted.

If you wish to dis­cuss the above advice or need any cla­ri­fic­a­tion, please do not hes­it­ate to con­tact me.

Yours faith­fully Dar­rell Stevens

North Scot­land Tel 01463 715000 Office Etive House Beech­wood Park Inverness IV2 3BW rspb​.org​.uk

Pat­ron: Her Majesty the Queen Chair­man of Coun­cil: Pro­fess­or Steve Ormerod, FIEEM Pres­id­ent: Mir­anda Krestovnikoff Chair­man, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Pro­fess­or Colin Gal­braith Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Stu­art Hous­den OBE Region­al Dir­ect­or: George Camp­bell The RSPB is a registered char­ity in Eng­land and Wales 207076, in Scot­land SCO37654

giv­ing nature rspb a home RSPB Scot­land The High­land Coun­cil Glen­ur­quhart Road Inverness IV35NX By Email: epc@​highland.​gov.​uk Date: 30/01/18 Dear Sir or Madam 18/00315/FUL Erec­tion of 32no apart­ments with asso­ci­ated works (amended design) Devel­op­ment Site On Former Filling Sta­tion Grampi­an Road Aviemore RSPB Scot­land has con­sidered the above applic­a­tion and sup­port­ing doc­u­ments but takes no view at present on the mer­its, or oth­er­wise, of the pro­pos­als. How­ever, we wish to high­light that the pro­posed devel­op­ment is with­in walk­ing, cyc­ling and con­veni­ent driv­ing dis­tance of sev­er­al woods that sup­port caper­cail­lie. The pro­posed devel­op­ment could there­fore lead to increased recre­ation­al usage of the sur­round­ing area with poten­tial for increased dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie. The devel­op­ment of 32 pro­posed apart­ments could res­ult in around 18,900 vis­its to the out­doors each year by the res­id­ents of the devel­op­ment¹. Caper­cail­lie is a qual­i­fy­ing interest of the Cairngorms, Aber­nethy Forest, Anagach Woods, Craigmore Wood and Kin­veachy Forest SPAs. Caper­cail­lie in Badenoch & Strath­spey func­tion as a meta­pop­u­la­tion, so any effect on caper­cail­lie here could poten­tially affect the pop­u­la­tion in the five SPAs. It is there­fore neces­sary to con­sider recre­ation­al impact upon the loc­al pop­u­la­tions of caper­cail­lie in the assess­ment of this applic­a­tion. RSPB Scot­land is very con­cerned about the cumu­lat­ive impacts of hous­ing devel­op­ments in Spey­side, of all scales, on sens­it­ive spe­cies and the effects these may have on their pop­u­la­tions. We recog­nise the need for new afford­able hous­ing devel­op­ments in sus­tain­able loc­a­tions with­in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park and that an indi­vidu­al well- placed devel­op­ment may have lim­ited envir­on­ment­al impact. How­ever the cumu­lat­ive impact of sev­er­al devel­op­ments could be sig­ni­fic­ant. We con­sider that it is neces­sary that Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA) as com­pet­ent author­ity car­ries out a Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al to determ­ine the implic­a­tions of the devel­op­ment for the above-men­tioned SPAs’ con­ser­va­tion object­ives. Only if that apprais­al con­cludes that the devel­op­ment (alone or in-com­bin­a­tion with oth­ers) will not adversely affect the integ­rity of any SPA or SAC can plan­ning per­mis­sion be gran­ted. If you wish to dis­cuss the above advice or need any cla­ri­fic­a­tion, please do not hes­it­ate to con­tact me.

giv­ing nature rspb a home RSPB Scot­land Yours faith­fully Dar­rell Stevens Con­ser­va­tion Officer South Highland