Item8Appendix3HRA20210262DET

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Agenda Item 8 Appendix 3 24/09/2021

AGENDA ITEM 8

APPENDIX 3

2021/0262/DET

HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TIONS APPRAISAL

HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TIONS APPRAIS­AL | Plan­ning ref­er­ence and pro­pos­al inform­a­tion | 2021/0262/DET, Form­a­tion, main­ten­ance and upgrad­ing of a vehicu­lar access track (part ret­ro­spect­ive) includ­ing drain­age works, to the south of B955 in Glen Clova, Kirriemuir, DD8 4QR | | — — — — — - | — — — — — - | | Appraised by | Nina Caudrey, Plan­ning Officer | | Date | 31/08/2021 | | Checked by | | | Date | |

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INFORM­A­TION | European site details | | — — — — — - | | Name of European site(s) poten­tially affected | | 1. Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA | | 2. River South Esk SAC | | Qual­i­fy­ing interest(s) | | 1. Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA | | Breed­ing golden eagle | | 2. River South Esk SAC | | Fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel | | Atlantic sal­mon | | Con­ser­va­tion object­ives for qual­i­fy­ing interests | | 1. Cairngorms Mas­sif 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: | | — 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 | | 2. River South Esk SAC | | Con­ser­va­tion Object­ive 2. To ensure that the integ­rity of the River South Esk 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. 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 |

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| Con­ser­va­tion Object­ive I. To ensure that the qual­i­fy­ing fea­tures of the River South Esk SAC are in favour­able con­di­tion and make an appro­pri­ate con­tri­bu­tion to achiev­ing favour­able con­ser­va­tion status |

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APPRAIS­AL
STAGE 1:
What is the plan or project?
Rel­ev­ant sum­mary details of pro­pos­al (includ­ing loc­a­tion, tim­ing, meth­ods, etc)
Ret­ro­spect­ive per­mis­sion for con­struc­tion of a 600m track for forestry pur­poses. The track has been
con­struc­ted with­in a forestry block and is not con­nec­ted to the road. There is plant­a­tion wood­land and a
grassed area between the edge of the track and the roadside.
Form­a­tion, main­ten­ance and upgrad­ing of a vehicu­lar access track (part ret­ro­spect­ive) includ­ing ground and
drain­age works, to the south of B955 in Glen Clova. The track is in two parts that have already been
par­tially cre­ated but are suf­fer­ing from severe erosion of the drain­age chan­nels, with a join­ing route driven
by vehicles over veget­ated ground (the join­ing route is not part of the plan­ning application).
The south­ern part of the track is just within/​on the bound­ary of the Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA. The closest
part of the River South Esk SAC is approx­im­ately 300m downslope to the east across a field, pub­lic road
and anoth­er field. There is dir­ect water­course con­nectiv­ity from the site into the SAC.
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. Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA
Likely sig­ni­fic­ant effect on golden eagle due to part of the track being with­in the SPA therefore
poten­tial to affect the hab­it­at of the prey spe­cies, and the rest of the tracks being in close prox­im­ity to the
SPA, there­fore poten­tial dis­turb­ance to breed­ing eagle should they be breed­ing nearby.
2. River South Esk SAC
Likely sig­ni­fic­ant effect due to poten­tial for sed­i­ment release affect­ing water qual­ity and smothering
hab­it­at relied on by the qual­i­fy­ing interests dur­ing con­struc­tion and oper­a­tion of track. NatureScot advice
is that ​“A small water­course lies adja­cent to part of the track and drains into the SAC. Both freshwater
pearl mus­sels and sal­mon are vul­ner­able to the effects of fine sed­i­ment and oth­er pol­lut­ants. Fine material
can clog the gills of juven­ile sal­mon, and can smoth­er sal­mon redds and fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel beds.
Sed­i­ment enter­ing these water­courses dur­ing con­struc­tion could poten­tially impact on mus­sels and
sal­mon, in com­bin­a­tion with oth­er sources of sediment.”
STAGE 4:
Under­take an Appro­pri­ate Assess­ment of the implic­a­tions for the site(s) in view of
the(ir) con­ser­va­tion objectives

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1. Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA Dis­tri­bu­tion of the spe­cies with­in site There is a very small area of track with­in SPA. It is with­in rough grass­land fields, next to a small forestry block, with the pub­lic road and farm tracks in the vicin­ity. So this area is unlikely to be heav­ily used by golden eagle due to unsuit­ab­il­ity of hab­it­at and exist­ing levels of human activ­ity. There­fore the dis­tri­bu­tion of the spe­cies of the site should not be affected. There­fore this con­ser­va­tion object­ive will be met. Dis­tri­bu­tion and extent of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies Struc­ture, func­tion and sup­port­ing pro­cesses of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies Hab­it­at around the small area of tip of the track with­in the SPA is rough grass­land, of low value to prey spe­cies to golden eagle. There­fore the dis­tri­bu­tion of and extent of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies should not be affected. There­fore this con­ser­va­tion object­ive will be met. No sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance of the specie Advice from NatureScot is that the pro­posed devel­op­ment is ​“some dis­tance from nearest eagle nest­ing site that we [NatureScot] know of’. So there would not be any sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance of the spe­cies. There­fore this con­ser­va­tion object­ive will be met. Pop­u­la­tion of the spe­cies as a viable com­pon­ent of the site As all the oth­er con­ser­va­tion object­ives have been met, there will be no effect on the pop­u­la­tion of the spe­cies There­fore this con­ser­va­tion object­ive will be met.
2. River South Esk SAC Con­ser­va­tion Object­ive 2. To ensure that the integ­rity of the River South Esk 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. 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 Con­ser­va­tion Object­ive 1. To ensure that the qual­i­fy­ing fea­tures of the River South Esk SAC are in favour­able con­di­tion and make an appro­pri­ate con­tri­bu­tion to achiev­ing favour­able con­ser­va­tion status CNPA and NatureScot both con­sider that there is poten­tial for sed­i­ment reach­ing the SAC, which could affect water qual­ity and smoth­er the hab­it­ats sup­port­ing both spe­cies, which would affect the dis­tri­bu­tion of both spe­cies and their pop­u­la­tions. There­fore the pro­posed devel­op­ment as sub­mit­ted would pre­vent the con­ser­va­tion object­ives from being met. STAGE 5: Can it be ascer­tained that there will not be an adverse effect on site integrity?
3. Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA For the Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA, all the con­ser­va­tion object­ives will be met. There­fore there will not be an

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adverse effect on site integrity.

1. River South Esk SAC For the River South Esk SAC, the pro­posed devel­op­ment as sub­mit­ted would pre­vent the con­ser­va­tion object­ives from being met and there­fore there would be an adverse effect on site integ­rity. How­ever, provided the below con­di­tion is applied to pre­vent sed­i­ment release reach­ing water­courses con­nec­ted to the SAC, then the con­ser­va­tion object­ives should be met and there will not be an adverse effect on site integ­rity. The fol­low­ing con­di­tion is required: Con­di­tion: A Con­struc­tion Meth­od State­ment with details of how works will be car­ried out and how drain­age will be formed, includ­ing pol­lu­tion pre­ven­tion and con­trol meas­ures to pre­vent sed­i­ment release reach­ing water­courses con­nec­ted to the River South Esk SAC, to be sub­mit­ted to and approved in writ­ing by CNPA pri­or to any works com­men­cing on site, and there­after imple­men­ted. Reas­on: To pre­vent sed­i­ment release caus­ing pol­lu­tion and hav­ing an adverse effect on the River South Esk SAC.

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