Item6Appendix2HRA20220172DETSkiTow

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Agenda Item 6 Appendix 2 23/09/2022

AGENDA ITEM 6

APPENDIX 2

2022/0172/DET

HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TIONS APPRAISAL

HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TIONS APPRAISAL

Plan­ning ref­er­ence and proposal	2022/0172/DET, install­a­tion of sur­face ski tow and related infra­struc­ture, White Lady, Coire Cas, Cairngorm Moun­tain. In close prox­im­ity (less than approx­im­ately 10m) of a trib­u­tary of the Allt a choire chais, which flows into the River Spey SAC approx­im­ately Ikm downstream.
inform­a­tion
Appraised by	Nina Caudrey, Plan­ning Officer (Devel­op­ment Plan­ning and Envir­on­ment­al Advice)
Date	2 August 2022
Checked by	NatureScot
Date	16 August 2022

INFORM­A­TION

European site details
Name of European site(s) poten­tially affected
River Spey SAC	(The pro­posed devel­op­ment is also approx­im­ately 700m from the Cairngorms SPA and SAC. How­ever due to the scale, type and loc­a­tion of the pro­posed devel­op­ment, and the topo­graphy and exist­ing use of the area, it is not con­sidered that there is con­nectiv­ity to these sites and there­fore they are not included in the HRA.)
Qual­i­fy­ing interest(s)
River Spey SAC	otter­fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­selsea lamprey­At­lantic salmon
Con­ser­va­tion object­ives for qual­i­fy­ing interests
River Spey SAC	Con­ser­va­tion Object­ive 2. To ensure that the integ­rity of the River Spey SAC is restored by meet­ing object­ives 2a, 2b, 2c for each qual­i­fy­ing fea­ture (and 2d for fresh­wa­ter pearl mussel):2b. Restore the dis­tri­bu­tion of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel through­out the site2c. Restore the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food2d. Restore the dis­tri­bu­tion and viab­il­ity of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel host spe­cies and their­sup­port­ing habitats2a. Restore the pop­u­la­tion of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel as a viable com­pon­ent of the site2b. Main­tain the dis­tri­bu­tion of sea lamprey through­out the site2c. Main­tain the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing sea lamprey with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food2a. Main­tain the pop­u­la­tion of sea lamprey as a viable com­pon­ent of the site2b. Restore the dis­tri­bu­tion of Atlantic sal­mon through­out the site2c. Restore the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing Atlantic sal­mon with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food2a. Restore the pop­u­la­tion of Atlantic sal­mon, includ­ing range of genet­ic types, as a viable­com­pon­ent of the site2b. Main­tain the dis­tri­bu­tion of otter through­out the site

2c. Main­tain the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing otter with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food 2a. Main­tain the pop­u­la­tion of otter as a viable com­pon­ent of the site Con­ser­va­tion Object­ive I. To ensure that the qual­i­fy­ing fea­tures of the River Spey SAC are in favour­able con­di­tion and make an appro­pri­ate con­tri­bu­tion to achiev­ing favour­able con­ser­va­tion status.

APPRAIS­AL
STAGE 1:
What is the plan or project?
Rel­ev­ant sum­mary details of pro­pos­al (includ­ing loc­a­tion, tim­ing, meth­ods, etc)	Install­a­tion of sur­face ski tow and related infra­struc­ture com­pris­ing two con­crete anchor blocks embed­ded into the ground with remove­able tow line attached in between, powered by an under­ground power cable, at White Lady, Coire Cas, Cairngorm Moun­tain. In close prox­im­ity (less than approx­im­ately 10m) of a trib­u­tary of the Allt a choire chais, which flows into the River Spey SAC approx­im­ately Ikm downstream.The ski tow will be installed as set out in the CEMP. In sum­mary: turves will be stripped back and retained for reuse, excav­a­tions to install the cabling will be a mix of machine and hand dig­ging, with the con­crete anchor points being excav­ated by machine, with the exposed con­crete being covered with excav­ated mater­i­al and turves, with excav­ated mater­i­al and turves rein­stated along the cable trench. Pol­lu­tion pre­ven­tion and con­trol meas­ures are included in the CEMP.
STAGE 2:
Is the plan or pro­ject dir­ectly con­nec­ted with or neces­sary for the man­age­ment of the European site for nature conservation?
No.
STAGE 3:
Is the plan or pro­ject (either alone or in-com­bin­a­tion with oth­er plans or pro­jects) likely to have a sig­ni­fic­ant effect on the site(s)?
River Spey SAC	YES — there is poten­tial for a likely sig­ni­fic­ant effect on the hab­it­ats relied upon bythe qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies of the River Spey SAC and/​or their food caused by pol­lu­tion­from sed­i­ment release affect­ing water qual­ity and smoth­er­ing hab­it­ats duringex­cav­a­tions, ground and con­struc­tion works along­side the trib­u­tary of the Allt a choire chais,which flows dir­ectly into the River Spey SAC approx­im­ately Ikm downstream.There is NO poten­tial for a likely sig­ni­fic­ant effect on otter from dis­turb­ance dur­ing­con­struc­tion due to the pro­posed devel­op­ment site being approx­im­ately Ikm upstream and soout­with the dis­turb­ance dis­tance for River Spey SAC otter. This aspect is there­fore not­con­sidered further.
STAGE 4:

Annex II — mon­it­or­ing strategy document

Under­take an Appro­pri­ate Assess­ment of the implic­a­tions for the site(s) in view ofthe(ir) con­ser­va­tion objectives
River Spey SAC	The pro­posed devel­op­ment has the poten­tial to pre­vent the con­ser­va­tion object­ivesbe­ing met for the River Spey SAC. This would occur due to: The very high risk of sed­i­ment release enter­ing the trib­u­tary of the Allt a choire chaiswa­ter­course that flows into the River Spey SAC dur­ing con­struc­tion work, due toprox­im­ity of works along­side the Allt a choire chais. This would affect the water qual­i­tyre­lied upon by the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies, and poten­tially smoth­er hab­it­ats sup­port­ing thequal­i­fy­ing spe­cies and their food, there­fore affect­ing dis­tri­bu­tion and pop­u­la­tion levels.However, the Con­struc­tion Envir­on­ment Man­age­ment State­ment (CEMP), Revi­sionE dated 28 July 2022, sub­mit­ted with the applic­a­tion should address the risk ofsed­i­ment release through appro­pri­ate pol­lu­tion pre­ven­tion and con­trol meas­ures, such thatthe pol­lu­tion risk could be min­im­ised. The imple­ment­a­tion of the CEMP would need tobe secured by con­di­tion, should plan­ning per­mis­sion be granted.
STAGE 5:
Can it be ascer­tained that there will not be an adverse effect on site integrity?
River Spey SAC	Provided the below con­di­tion is applied to plan­ning per­mis­sion (should per­mis­sion be granted)requiring the CEMP to be imple­men­ted, then the con­ser­va­tion object­ives will be met and therewill not be an adverse effect on site integrity:Condition: The Con­struc­tion Envir­on­ment Man­age­ment State­ment (CEMP), Revi­sion E dated28 July 2022, to be imple­men­ted in full, in par­tic­u­lar the pol­lu­tion pre­ven­tion and con­trol­meas­ures to pre­vent sed­i­ment enter­ing the trib­u­tary of the Allt a choire chais duringconstruction.Reason: To ensure pol­lu­tion does not enter the River Spey SAC and so avoid an adverseef­fect on site integrity.