Item7Appendix2HabitatsRegulationsAppraisal20220023DETHillTracksCairngorm

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Agenda Item 7 Appendix 2 22/04/2022

AGENDA ITEM 7

APPENDIX 2

2022/0023/DET

HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TIONS APPRAISAL

HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TIONS APPRAISAL

Plan­ning ref­er­ence and pro­pos­al inform­a­tion 2022/0023/DET, Form­a­tion of access hill tracks adja­cent to (1) Base Sta­tion and (2) White Lady Shiel­ing, land 1200m north east of Coire Cas car park, Cairngorm Moun­tain. Next to the Allt a choire chais, which flows into the River Spey SAC approx­im­ately Ikm down­stream, and with­in approx­im­ately 250m (base sta­tion) to 500m (shiel­ing) of the Cairngorms SAC and SPA.

Appraised by Nina Caudrey, Plan­ning Officer

Date 28 Janu­ary 2022

Checked by Sally MacKenzie

Date 16 Feb­ru­ary 2022

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INFORM­A­TION European site details

Name of European site(s) poten­tially affected

1. River Spey SAC
2. Cairngorms SAC
3. Cairngorms SPA

Qual­i­fy­ing interest(s)

1. River Spey SAC Otter Fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel Sea lamprey Atlantic salmon

2. Cairngorms SAC Hab­it­ats: Acid peat stained lakes and ponds Acid­ic scree Alpine and sub­alpine heaths Blanket bog Bog wood­land Cale­do­ni­an forest Clear water lakes or lochs with aquat­ic veget­a­tion and poor to mod­er­ate nutri­ent levels Dry grass­land and scrub­lands on chalk or lime­stone Dry heaths Hard water springs depos­it­ing lime High alti­tude plant com­munit­ies asso­ci­ated with areas of water seep­age Juni­per on heaths or cal­careous grass­lands Mont­ane acid grass­lands Mon­tain wil­low scrub Plants in crevices on acid rocks Plants in crevices on base rocks Spe­cies rich grass­land with mat grass in upland areas

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Tall herb com­munit­ies Very wet mires often iden­ti­fied by an unstable quak­ing sur­face Wet heath­land with cross leaved heath

Spe­cies: Green shield moss (Buxbaumia virid­is) Otter

1. Cairngorms SPA Breed­ing: caper­cail­lie dot­ter­el golden eagle mer­lin osprey per­eg­rine Scot­tish crossbill

Con­ser­va­tion object­ives for qual­i­fy­ing interests

1. 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 2^d for fresh­wa­ter pearl mussel):

2b. Restore the dis­tri­bu­tion of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel through­out the site

2c. Restore the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food

2^d. Restore the dis­tri­bu­tion and viab­il­ity of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel host spe­cies and their sup­port­ing habitats

2a. Restore the pop­u­la­tion of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel as a viable com­pon­ent of the site

2b. Main­tain the dis­tri­bu­tion of sea lamprey through­out the site

2c. Main­tain the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing sea lamprey with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food

2a. Main­tain the pop­u­la­tion of sea lamprey as a viable com­pon­ent of the site

2b. Restore the dis­tri­bu­tion of Atlantic sal­mon through­out the site

2c. Restore the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing Atlantic sal­mon with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food

2a. Restore the pop­u­la­tion of Atlantic sal­mon, includ­ing range of genet­ic types, as a viable com­pon­ent of the site

2b. Main­tain the dis­tri­bu­tion of otter through­out the site

2c. Main­tain the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing otter with­in the site and avail­ab­il­ity of food

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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.

1. Cairngorms SAC To avoid deteri­or­a­tion of the qual­i­fy­ing hab­it­ats thus ensur­ing that the integ­rity of the site is main­tained and the site makes an appro­pri­ate con­tri­bu­tion to achiev­ing favour­able con­ser­va­tion status for each of the qual­i­fy­ing fea­tures; and

To ensure for the qual­i­fy­ing hab­it­ats that the fol­low­ing are main­tained in the long term: Extent of the hab­it­at on site Dis­tri­bu­tion of the hab­it­at with­in site Struc­ture and func­tion of the hab­it­at Pro­cesses sup­port­ing the hab­it­at Dis­tri­bu­tion of typ­ic­al spe­cies of the hab­it­at Viab­il­ity of typ­ic­al spe­cies as com­pon­ents of the hab­it­at No sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance of typ­ic­al spe­cies of the habitat

To avoid deteri­or­a­tion of the hab­it­ats of the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies (otter, green shield moss) or sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance to the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies, thus ensur­ing that the integ­rity of the site is main­tained and the site makes an appro­pri­ate con­tri­bu­tion to achiev­ing favour­able con­ser­va­tion status for each of the qual­i­fy­ing fea­tures; and

To ensure for the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies that the fol­low­ing are main­tained in the long term: Dis­tri­bu­tion of the spe­cies with­in site Dis­tri­bu­tion and extent of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies Struc­ture, func­tion and sup­port­ing pro­cesses of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies No sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance of the spe­cies Pop­u­la­tion of the spe­cies as a viable com­pon­ent of the site

1. Cairngorms SPA To avoid deteri­or­a­tion of the hab­it­ats of the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies or sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance to the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies, thus ensur­ing that the integ­rity of the site is main­tained; and

To ensure for the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies that the fol­low­ing are main­tained in the long term: Pop­u­la­tion of the spe­cies as a viable com­pon­ent of the site Dis­tri­bu­tion of the spe­cies with­in site Dis­tri­bu­tion and extent of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the species

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Struc­ture, func­tion and sup­port­ing pro­cesses of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies No sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance of the species

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APPRAIS­AL STAGE 1: What is the plan or project?

Rel­ev­ant sum­mary details of pro­pos­al (includ­ing loc­a­tion, tim­ing, meth­ods, etc) Form­a­tion of access hill tracks adja­cent to (1) Base Sta­tion and (2) White Lady Shiel­ing, land 1200m north east of Coire Cas car park, Cairngorm Moun­tain. Next to the Allt a choire chais, which flows into the River Spey SAC approx­im­ately Ikm down­stream, and with­in approx­im­ately 250m (base sta­tion) to 500m (sheil­ing) of the Cairngorms SAC and SPA.

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)?

1. River Spey SAC YES – there is poten­tial for a likely sig­ni­fic­ant effect on the hab­it­ats relied upon by the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies of the River Spey SAC and/​or their food caused by pol­lu­tion from sed­i­ment release affect­ing water qual­ity and smoth­er­ing hab­it­ats dur­ing con­struc­tion of the tracks along­side 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 dur­ing con­struc­tion due to the pro­posed devel­op­ment site being approx­im­ately Ikm upstream and so out­with the dis­turb­ance dis­tance for River Spey SAC otter. This aspect is there­fore not con­sidered further.

1. Cairngorms SAC NO likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects: There will be no dir­ect effects on the SAC hab­it­ats or those hab­it­ats sup­port­ing SAC spe­cies, due to the type and loc­a­tion of the pro­posed devel­op­ment, the dis­tance between the devel­op­ment and the SAC and the inter­ven­ing exist­ing infra­struc­ture. The pro­posed tracks are next to exist­ing well used tracks and foot­paths (and build­ings). The new tracks would not encour­age people to go off into areas that are not already well used.

There will not be any likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects due to dis­turb­ance to otter, as there would be no change to the exist­ing levels or pat­terns of human activ­ity caused by the imple­ment­a­tion of the pro­posed devel­op­ment. (Although the Allt a choire chais could in the­ory be used by otter asso­ci­ated with the SAC, the area in which the pro­posed devel­op­ment is situ­ated is well used by

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people and vehicles on the exist­ing tracks, foot­paths and build­ings, which is likely to deter otter/​any otter using the water­course will be habitu­ated to the exist­ing level of dis­turb­ance, which would not change.) As there are no likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects iden­ti­fied, the SAC is not con­sidered further.

1. Cairngorms SPA NO likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects: There will be no dir­ect effects on the hab­it­at sup­port­ing SPA spe­cies due to the type and loc­a­tion of the pro­posed devel­op­ment, the dis­tance between the devel­op­ment and the SPA and the inter­ven­ing exist­ing infra­struc­ture. The pro­posed tracks are next to exist­ing well used tracks and foot­paths (and build­ings). The new tracks would not encour­age people to go off into areas that are not already well used. There will not be any likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects due to dis­turb­ance, as there would be no change to the exist­ing levels or pat­terns of human activ­ity caused by the imple­ment­a­tion of the pro­posed devel­op­ment. As there are no likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects iden­ti­fied, the SPA is not con­sidered further.

STAGE 4: Under­take an Appro­pri­ate Assess­ment of the implic­a­tions for the site(s) in view of the(ir) con­ser­va­tion objectives

1. River Spey SAC The pro­posed devel­op­ment has the poten­tial to pre­vent the con­ser­va­tion object­ives being met for the River Spey SAC. This would occur due to: The very high risk of sed­i­ment release enter­ing the Allt a choire chais water­course that flows into the River Spey SAC dur­ing con­struc­tion work, due to prox­im­ity of works along­side the Allt a choire chais. This would affect the water qual­ity relied upon by the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies, and poten­tially smoth­er hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies and their food, there­fore affect­ing dis­tri­bu­tion and pop­u­la­tion levels.

How­ever, a Con­struc­tion Meth­od State­ment (CMS) should be able address the risk of sed­i­ment release through appro­pri­ate pol­lu­tion pre­ven­tion and con­trol meas­ures, such that the pol­lu­tion risk could be min­im­ised. A detailed Con­struc­tion Meth­od State­ment would need to be secured by con­di­tion to be agreed in writ­ing with CNPA pri­or to con­struc­tion start­ing, should plan­ning per­mis­sion be granted.

STAGE 5: Can it be ascer­tained that there will not be an adverse effect on site integrity?

1. River Spey SAC Provided the below con­di­tion is applied to plan­ning per­mis­sion (should per­mis­sion be gran­ted) requir­ing a CMS, then the con­ser­va­tion object­ives will be met and there will not be an adverse effect on site integrity:

Con­di­tion: A detailed Con­struc­tion Meth­od State­ment to be agreed in writ­ing with CNPA pri­or to con­struc­tion start­ing, detail­ing pol­lu­tion pre­ven­tion and control

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meas­ures to pre­vent sed­i­ment enter­ing the Allt a choire chais dur­ing construction.

Reas­on: To ensure pol­lu­tion does not enter the River Spey SAC and so avoid an adverse effect on site integrity.

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