Item5Appendix4bGeneralCommentsRSPB 25LodgesAHR20230004DET

Cairngorms Item 5 Appendix 4b 26 Janu­ary 2024 Nation­al Park Author­ity Ügh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

Agenda item 5

Appendix 4b

2023/0004/DET

Rep­res­ent­a­tions — general

Plan­ning & Devel­op­ment Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

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

02 Feb­ru­ary 2023

Dear Sir/​Madam,

RSPB SCOT­LAND

2023/0004/DET Change of use of land for sit­ing of 27 lodges, access road, land­scap­ing. Aviemore.

A Hab­it­at Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al (HRA) must be car­ried out by CNPA under the require­ments of the Hab­it­at Reg­u­la­tions for all poten­tially affected European sites. It is our opin­ion that insuf­fi­cient inform­a­tion has been provided with this applic­a­tion to assess the impacts on for­aging osprey, includ­ing those with con­nectiv­ity to the two European Sites.

Both Aber­nethy Forest Spe­cial Pro­tec­tion Area (SPA), Cairngorms SPA and the River Spey — Insh Marshes SPA are under 10km from the applic­a­tion site. Breed­ing osprey are a qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies of both European sites.

Two ponds are present with­in the Applic­a­tion Site Bound­ary, one of which we under­stand to be stocked reg­u­larly with fish by a loc­al pho­to­graphy busi­ness and which is util­ised by for­aging osprey. Ospreys have a core for­aging range of 10km, with some reg­u­lar for­aging up to 20km, and a max­im­um dis­tance recor­ded of 28km¹. There is there­fore poten­tial con­nectiv­ity between the ponds and Aber­nethy Forest Spe­cial Pro­tec­tion Area (SPA), and the River Spey – Insh Marshes SPA.

It is our under­stand­ing that birds from these des­ig­nated sites have been recor­ded for­aging at these ponds (with ringed bird being pho­to­graphed using the pond). Due to the nature and loc­a­tion of the pro­pos­al, there is the poten­tial for dis­turb­ance from con­struc­tion and oper­a­tion of the pro­posed development.

There­fore, likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects on osprey, as a qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies of Aber­nethy Forest Spe­cial Pro­tec­tion Area (SPA) and the River Spey — Insh Marshes SPA can­not be ruled out at this stage and Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity must carry out an Appro­pri­ate Assess­ment of the impacts of the pro­pos­al on the integ­rity of these sites, in view of the site’s con­ser­va­tion interests.

¹ SNH (2016) Scot­tish Nat­ur­al Her­it­age assess­ing con­nectiv­ity with Spe­cial Pro­tec­tion Areas (SPAs) Assess­ing con­nectiv­ity with spe­cial pro­tec­tion areas.pdf (nature.scot)

RSPB Scot­land Headquar­ters 2 Loch­side View Edin­burgh Park Edin­burgh EH12 9DH

Tel: 0131 317 4100 Face­book: @RSPBScotland Twit­ter: @RSPBScotland rspb​.org​.uk

Bird­Life INTER­NA­TION­AL The RSPB is part of Bird­life Inter­na­tion­al, a Part­ner­ship of con­ser­va­tion organ­isa­tions work­ing to give nature a home around the world.

Chair of Coun­cil: Kev­in Cox Pres­id­ent: Dr Amir Khan Chair, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Dr Vicki Nash Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Anne McCall The Roy­al Soci­ety for the Pro­tec­tion of Birds (RSPB) is a registered char­ity: Eng­land and Wales no. 207076, Scot­land no. SC037654 Registered address: The Lodge, Pot­ton Road, Sandy, Bed­ford­shire, SG19 2DL

No inform­a­tion has been included with­in the plan­ning applic­a­tion doc­u­ments to inform an Appro­pri­ate Assess­ment under the Hab­it­at Reg­u­la­tions. We also note that the Inter­im Response from the CNPA Plan­ning Eco­lo­gic­al Advice Officer does not seem to make ref­er­ence to the two above men­tioned SPA, although it does recog­nise the need for fur­ther con­sid­er­a­tion of impacts on oth­er European Sites.

To inform the assess­ment on both SPA birds and the wider osprey pop­u­la­tion in the area, the Applic­ant should request inform­a­tion on osprey using the pond from the high­land bird record­er and the pho­to­graphy busi­ness. All poten­tial impacts, includ­ing those from con­struc­tion and oper­a­tion­al dis­turb­ance impacts must be assessed. Inform­a­tion provided by the Applic­ant should include details of any changes in design to avoid impacts and appro­pri­ate mitigation.

We also note that Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work 4 (NPF4) has been approved by Par­lia­ment and is expec­ted to be adop­ted on 13 Feb­ru­ary 2023. Policy 3 Biod­iversity of NPF4 states that, ​‘Devel­op­ment pro­pos­als will con­trib­ute to the enhance­ment of biod­iversity’ and that

‘Devel­op­ment pro­pos­als for nation­al or major devel­op­ment, or for devel­op­ment that requires an Envir­on­ment­al Impact Assess­ment will only be sup­por­ted where it can be demon­strated that the pro­pos­al will con­serve, restore and enhance biod­iversity, includ­ing nature net­works so they are in a demon­strably bet­ter state than without intervention’.

The Applic­ant there­fore needs to set out how this policy would be com­plied with and what demon­strable enhance­ment would be secured, if the pro­pos­al was con­sidered accept­able in all oth­er respects.

Yours Sin­cerely

Alis­on Phil­lip Con­ser­va­tion Officer – South Highland

RSPB Scot­land Headquar­ters Tel: 0131 317 4100 2 Loch­side View Face­book: @RSPBScotland Edin­burgh Park Twit­ter: @RSPBScotland Edin­burgh rspb​.org​.uk EH12 9DH

Bird­Life INTER­NA­TION­AL The RSPB is part of Bird­life Inter­na­tion­al, a Part­ner­ship of con­ser­va­tion organ­isa­tions work­ing to give nature a home around the world.

Chair of Coun­cil: Kev­in Cox Pres­id­ent: Dr Amir Khan Chair, Com­mit­tee for Scot­land: Dr Vicki Nash Dir­ect­or, RSPB Scot­land: Anne McCall The Roy­al Soci­ety for the Pro­tec­tion of Birds (RSPB) is a registered char­ity: Eng­land and Wales no. 207076, Scot­land no. SC037654 Registered address: The Lodge, Pot­ton Road, Sandy, Bed­ford­shire, SG19 2DL