Local Development plan as Modified Habitats Regulations Appraisal

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2020 Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al Report

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Table of Con­tents Table of Con­tents | Aber­nethy Forest SPA 67 List of Abbre­vi­ations 3 Anagach Woods SPA 72 Intro­duc­tion 4 Bal­loch­buie SPA 75 The HRA Pro­cess 5 Cairngorms SPA 77

1. Decid­ing wheth­er the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan is sub­ject to HRA 6 Craigmore Wood SPA 82 Glen Tanar SPA 85
2. Identi­fy­ing European sites and gath­er­ing inform­a­tion about them 7 Kin­veachy Forest SPA 87
3. Dis­cre­tion­ary con­sulta­tion on the meth­od and scope of the apprais­al 11 Con­clu­sions 91
4. Screen­ing the Plan 11 6. Pre­pare and con­sult on a draft record of the HRA 91 Pro­posed Policies 11 7 & 8. Amend­ing the LDP and modi­fy­ing the HRA record 91 Pro­posed Sites 12 Appendix I: Inform­a­tion on European sites con­sidered by the Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al 92
5. Appro­pri­ate assess­ment 22 Caper­cail­lie wood­lands 108 Safe­guard­ing policies 22 Appro­pri­ate assess­ment tables 22 Appendix 2: Pro­cess flow chart for assess­ment of poten­tial for caper­cail­lie dis­turb­ance 109 River Spey SAC 23 Rationale for each ques­tion and ini­tial cri­ter­ia for assess­ing the River Dee SAC 27 answers 111 River Tay SAC 30 Appendix 3: LDP & Poten­tial Pop­u­la­tion Change 113 Intro­duc­tion 113 Insh Marshes SAC 33 Meth­od­o­logy and Assump­tions 115 River Spey — Insh Marshes SPA 35 Pop­u­la­tion 115

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Geo­graphy 115 Hous­ing Occu­pa­tion 116 Hous­ing Deliv­ery 116 Res­ults 116

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL List of Abbre­vi­ations 2000 Act Nation­al Parks (Scot­land) Act 2000 AA Appro­pri­ate Assess­ment DPEA Plan­ning and Envir­on­ment­al Appeals Divi­sion Ha Hec­tares HRA Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al LDP Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2020 LSE Likely Sig­ni­fic­ant Effect MRE Minor Resid­ual Effect SAC Spe­cial Area of Con­ser­va­tion SEA Stra­tegic Envir­on­ment­al Assess­ment SPA Spe­cial Pro­tec­tion Area

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Intro­duc­tion This doc­u­ment records the Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al (HRA) of the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan (LDP) 2020 which is the devel­op­ment plan for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park as required under the terms of the Plan­ning (Scot­land) Act 2006. Art­icle 6(3) of the EC Hab­it­ats Dir­ect­ive requires that any plan (or pro­ject) which is not dir­ectly con­nec­ted with or neces­sary to the man­age­ment of a European site, but would be likely to have a sig­ni­fic­ant effect on such a site, either indi­vidu­ally or in com­bin­a­tion with oth­er plans or pro­jects, shall be sub­ject to an ​‘appro­pri­ate assess­ment’ of its implic­a­tions for the European site in view of the site’s con­ser­va­tion object­ives. This pro­ced­ure is applied in Scot­land through The Con­ser­va­tion (Nat­ur­al Hab­it­ats, &c.) Reg­u­la­tions 1994 (as amended), and is known as the ​‘Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al’ of plans. A HRA was pre­pared to accom­pany the pro­posed LDP. The pro­posed LDP was then sub­ject to exam­in­a­tion by the Planning

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL The HRA Pro­cess There is no pre­scribed meth­od for a HRA. The CNPA there­fore roughly fol­lowed the guid­ance pre­pared by Dav­id Tyldes­ley and Asso­ci­ates for NatureScot (formerly known as Scot­tish Nat­ur­al Her­it­age, SNH) ​‘Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­als of Plans’ (Janu­ary 2015), apart from where this has been super­seded by more recent case law. The CNPA have con­sul­ted NatureScot dur­ing the pre­par­a­tion of the apprais­al. There are a num­ber of stages to the meth­od­o­logy fol­lowed, as sum­mar­ised in Table I. The stages are adap­ted from the guid­ance pre­pared by Dav­id Tyldes­ley and Asso­ci­ates, tak­ing account of more recent case law. Table I The HRA pro­cess (Adap­ted from NatureScot Guid­ance: Hab­it­ats Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al of Plans, D Tyldes­ley, 2015) 1 Decide wheth­er plan is sub­ject to HRA 2 Identi­fy European sites that should be con­sidered and gath­er inform­a­tion about them 3 Dis­cre­tion­ary con­sulta­tion on the meth­od and scope of the apprais­al 4 Screen the plan for poten­tial likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects (LSEs) on European sites 5 Under­take an appro­pri­ate assess­ment in view of con­ser­va­tion object­ives of any aspect of the plan for which LSEs have been iden­ti­fied, and apply mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures until there is no adverse effect on European site integ­rity 6 Pre­pare and con­sult on a draft record of the HRA 7 If amend­ing the plan in light of con­sulta­tion, screen amend­ments for likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects and, if required, carry out appro­pri­ate assess­ment and con­sult NatureScot again 8 Modi­fy HRA record in light of any amend­ments, com­plete and pub­lish the final HRA record with clear conclusions

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAISAL

1. Decid­ing wheth­er the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan is sub­ject to HRA The LDP 2020 is the devel­op­ment plan for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park as required under the terms of the Plan­ning (Scot­land) Act 2006. It will replaces the Cairngorms Nation­al Park LDP 2015. The 2020 LDP cov­ers the whole of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park admin­is­trat­ive area and will be used by both the Nation­al Park Author­ity and the Loc­al Author­it­ies that cov­er its area. The pur­pose of the LDP is to provide a land use plan­ning policy frame­work to guide future devel­op­ment and be used to determ­ine plan­ning applic­a­tions. The LDP includes a stra­tegic ​“vis­ion” for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park, fore­casts for new hous­ing, indus­tri­al and com­mer­cial require­ments, with site alloc­a­tions made to meet these require­ments. The LDP also con­tains policies aimed at con­sid­er­ing devel­op­ment pro­pos­als while pro­tect­ing the built and nat­ur­al envir­on­ment resources of the Nation­al Park. It was clear that the pro­posed LDP con­tained aspects that could have a dir­ect con­sequence for at least one European site. It was also clear that the LDP is not solely for the pur­poses of man­aging European sites. The LDP must there­fore be sub­ject to HRA.

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAISAL

1. Identi­fy­ing European sites and gath­er­ing inform­a­tion about them The next stage of the assess­ment pro­cess involved identi­fy­ing which of the European sites either with­in or out­with the Nation­al Park may be affected by the LDP. A total of 2,213 km² (around 50%) of the Nation­al Park has been des­ig­nated as a European site (Fig­ure 1). A num­ber of European sites over­lap the Nation­al Park bound­ary, with a total 572 km² of their area loc­ated out­with its bound­ary. A total of 43 European sites were con­sidered in the assess­ment. They are lis­ted in Table 2. Details of the con­di­tion of the sites are provided in Appendix 1.

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Table 2 European Sites selec­ted for assess­ment in the HRA of the LDP. Site Code Site Name Site Status Loc­al Author­ity Area Wholly Par­tially With­in With­in CNP CNP Total Area with­in Area CNP (ha) % With­in CNP UK9002561 Aber­nethy Forest SPA High­land X 5,793.46 5,793.46 100% UK9020297 Anagach Woods SPA High­land X 392.78 392.78 100% UK0012957 Beinn a’ Ghlo SAC Perth & Kinross X 8,084.76 7,762.25 96.0% UK0030030 Bal­loch­buie SAC Aber­deen­shire X 1,881.73 1,881.73 100% UK9002781 Bal­loch­buie SPA Aber­deen­shire X 1,881.73 1,881.73 100% UK0012821 Caen­lochan SAC Aber­deen­shire; Angus; Perth and Kinross X 5,204.16 5,204.16 100% UK9004011 Caen­lochan SPA Aber­deen­shire; Angus; Perth and Kinross X 5,975.28 5,975.28 100% UK0016412 Cairngorms SAC Aber­deen­shire; High­land; Moray X 57,685.02 57,685.02 100% UK9002241 Cairngorms SPA Aber­deen­shire; High­land; Moray X 50,903.74 50,903.74 100% UK9020308 Cairngorms Mas­sif SPA Aber­deen­shire, Angus, High­land, Moray, Perth and Kinross X 187,504.06 173,254.64 92.4% UK0030122 Coyles of Muick SAC Aber­deen­shire X 135.16 135.16 100% UK9001801 Craigmore Wood SPA High­land X 654.09 654.09 100% UK0012955 Cre­ag Mea­gaidh SAC High­land X 6,144.58 507.19 8.3%

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Wholly Par­tially Total Area with­in % With­in Site Code Site Name Site Status Loc­al Author­ity Area With­in With­in Area CNP CNP CNP CNP (ha) (ha) UK9002161 Cre­ag Mea­gaidh SPA High­land X 2,872.64 71.18 2.5% UK0013584 Cre­ag nan Gam­hainn SAC Moray X 15.75 15.75 100% UK0030134 Din­net Oak­wood SAC Aber­deen­shire 19.73 19.73 100% UK0012942 Drumochter Hills SAC High­land; Perth and Kinross X 9,445.56 7,382.22 78.2% UK9002301 Drumochter Hills SPA High­land; Perth and Kinross X 9,445.56 7,382.22 78.2% UK9004381 Forest of Clunie SPA Perth and Kinross X 19,349.38 905.22 4.7% UK0012756 Glen Tanar SAC Aber­deen­shire X 4,180.09 4,142.25 99.1% UK9002771 Glen Tanar SPA Aber­deen­shire X 4,180.09 4,142.25 99.1% Green Hill of UK0030159 SAC Aber­deen­shire X 640.77 640.77 100% Strath­don UK0019812 Insh Marshes SAC High­land X 1,158.78 1,158.78 100% UK0030179 Lad­der Hills SAC Aber­deen­shire; Moray 4,357.94 4,357.94 100% UK0012759 Kin­veachy Forest SAC High­land X 2,849.36 2,232.59 78.4% UK9002581 Kin­veachy Forest SPA High­land X 2,849.36 2,232.59 78.4% UK9002751 Loch Vaa SPA High­land X 44.6 44.6 100% UK9002281 Loch­nagar SPA Angus, Aber­deen­shire X 1,431.28 1,431.28 100%

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Wholly Par­tially Total Area with­in % With­in Site Code Site Name Site Status Loc­al Author­ity Area With­in With­in Area CNP CNP CNP CNP (ha) (ha) UK0030210 Mon­adh­liath SAC High­land X 10,671.11 7,121.03 66.7% UK0012894 Mor­rone Birk­wood SAC Aber­deen­shire X 318.4 318.4 100% Mor­ven & UK0019958 SAC Aber­deen­shire X 916.76 916.76 100% Mul­lach­dubh UK0019959 Muir of Din­net SAC Aber­deen­shire 415.76 415.76 100% UK9002791 Muir of Din­net SPA Aber­deen­shire X 157.6 157.6 100% UK0030251 River Dee SAC Aber­deen­shire X 2,446.82 1,368.59 55.9% UK0030262 River South Esk SAC Angus X 478.62 103.48 21.6% UK0019811 River Spey SAC High­land; Moray X 5,729.48 4,181.76 73.0% River Spey — Insh UK9002231 SPA High­land X 1,158.87 1,158.87 100% Marshes UK0030312 River Tay SAC Angus; Argyll and Bute; Perth & Kinross; Stirl­ing X 9,497.72 233.94 2.5% UK0030348 The Maim SAC Aber­deen­shire X 484.58 484.58 100%

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAISAL

1. Dis­cre­tion­ary con­sulta­tion on the meth­od and scope of the apprais­al Advice from NatureScot was sought at key stages in pre­par­ing the HRA includ­ing: Scop­ing approach and meth­od­o­logy for assess­ment. Assess­ing the poten­tial for recre­ation­al dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie. Review and dis­cus­sion of emer­ging drafts of HRA report. Form­al con­sulta­tion as part of the pro­posed LDP con­sulta­tion. Table 3 screens the policies in the LDP for likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects on European sites. Table 4 then con­siders wheth­er the site alloc­a­tions in the LDP have con­nectiv­ity and poten­tial for likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects on European sites.
2. Screen­ing the Plan Pro­posed Policies Table 3 LDP Policies: Screen­ing for likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects. Poten­tial devel­op­ment issues PPS likely to have sig­ni­fic­ant effects indi­vidu­ally or in com­bin­a­tion Gen­er­al Sup­port­ing State­ment Policy 1: Hous­ing Policy 2: Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment Policy 3: Design Policy 4: Nat­ur­al her­it­age Policy 5: Land­scape Pro­jects not gen­er­ated by this PPS Pro­tect­ive, enhance­ment and con­ser­va­tion Does not gen­er­ate devel­op­ment and change Pro­vi­sion of a change with no con­nectiv­ity to European site Pro­vi­sion of a change with no or min­im­al effects Too gen­er­al to assess due to lack of inform­a­tion on where, bower when Screen in/​screen out Out Out Out Out Out

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Poten­tial devel­op­ment issues PPS likely to have sig­ni­fic­ant effects indi­vidu­ally or in mbin­a­tion Gen­er­al Sup­port­ing State­ment Policy 6: Digit­al Com­mu­nic­a­tions Infra­struc­ture Policy 7: Renew­able Energy Policy 8: Sport & recre­ation Policy 9: Cul­tur­al her­it­age Policy 10: Resources Policy 11: Developer Oblig­a­tions Pro­posed Sites Table 4 LDP alloc­a­tion sites: Screen­ing for likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects. Pro­jects not gen­er­ated by this PPS Pro­tect­ive, enhance­ment and con­ser­va­tion Does not gen­er­ate devel­op­ment and change Pro­vi­sion of a change with no con­nectiv­ity to European site Pro­vi­sion of a change with no or min­im­al effects Too gen­er­al to assess due to lack of inform­a­tion on where, bower when Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Screen in Pro­tec­ted Sites LSE / Screen out Aviemore HI Dal­faber Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Aber­nethy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Screen in/​screen out Out Out Out Out Out Out

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Screen in Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE / Screen out H2 Dal­faber Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Aber­nethy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In MI Aviemore Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Dis­turb­ance to otter In High­land resort Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Aber­nethy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In M2 Laurel Bank Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Dis­turb­ance to otter In Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Aber­nethy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In EDI Dal­faber No Out Indus­tri­al Estate ED2 Myr­tle­field No Out ED3 Gran­ish Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Aber­nethy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In CI Land at Dal­faber No Out Drive C2 Former School Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Play­ing Fields

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE Screen in / Screen out C3 Land south of Dal­faber Indus­tri­al No Out Estate An Camas Mòr Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Dis­turb­ance to otter In Yes Anagach Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA Aber­nethy Forest Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA Craigmore Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie and golden eagle In Bal­later HI Mon­al­trie Park Yes River Dee SAC Change to water qual­ity / quant­ity through In abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In EDI Bal­later Bus Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Park TI Cara­van Park Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In CI Former school site No Out HI Beachan Court Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Pro­tec­ted Sites LSE Screen in / Screen out Grant­own on Yes Anagach Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Spey SPA H2 Castle Road Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Anagach Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA EDI Wood­land No Out Indus­tri­al estate TI Cara­van park Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Anagach Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA CI Com­munity Use No Out C2 Spey­side Rail­way Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Exten­sion Allot­ments adja­cent No Out to CI Kin­gussie HI Land at No Out Ard­brailach Roadd and Craig an Darach EDI Coun­cil Depot No Out ED2 McCor­macks No Out Gar­age CI Ardvonie Car No Out Park C2 Car park No Out

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Screen in Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE / Screen out C3 Land west of Spey No Out Street C4 Car park No Out TI Kin­gussie Golf Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Club Yes Insh Marshes SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes River Spey — Insh Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Marshes SPA New­ton­more HI Land between No Out Perth Rd and Sta­tion Rd EDI Rear of café No Out ED2 Indus­tri­al Park Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Insh Marshes SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes River Spey — Insh Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Marshes SPA TI High­land Folk Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Museum Yes Insh Marshes SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes River Spey — Insh Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Marshes SPA Blair Atholl HI Old Bridge of Tilt Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through waste water

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE Screen in / Screen out H2 Main Road Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through waste water H3 Land North of Old Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Orch­ard TI Blair castle Cara­van Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In Park quant­ity through waste water T2 Cara­van park Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through waste water T3 Vis­it­or gate­way Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through waste water EDI Saw­mill Yard Yes River Tay SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through waste water Boat of Garten EDI Steam Rail­way Yes Aber­nethy Forest Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie on SPA and in con­nect­ing In Sta­tion SPA wood­land such as Boat of Garten woods. TI BOG Cara­van Park Yes Aber­nethy Forest Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie on SPA and in con­nect­ing In SPA wood­land such as Boat of Garten woods. Brae­mar HI Chapel Brae Yes River Dee SAC Change to water qual­ity / quant­ity through In abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE Screen in / Screen out H2 St Andrews Ter­race Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In H3 Kin­drochit Court Yes River Dee SAC Change to water qual­ity / quant­ity through In abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In H4 Chapel Brae Yes River Dee SAC Change to water qual­ity / quant­ity through In abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In EDI Ambu­lance No Out Sta­tion ED2 The Mews Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In TI Cara­van Park Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Car­rbridge HI Carr Road Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In H2 Cran­nich park Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In EDI Land at Rail­way No Out Station

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Pro­tec­ted Sites LSE Screen in / Screen out ED2 Car­rbridge gar­age No Out ED3 Former Saw­mill No Out TI Land­mark Yes Kin­veachy SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Crom­dale HI Kirk Road Yes Anagach Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA H2 Auchroisk Park Yes Anagach Woods Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA EDI Smoke­house Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Dul­nain HI Land west of play Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In area Yes Craigmore Wood Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA H2 Land adja­cent to Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In A938 Yes Craigmore Wood Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA EDI Dul­nain Gararge No Out Kin­craig HI Oppos­ite school Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Insh Marshes SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes River Spey — Insh Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Marshes SPA Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE Screen in / Screen out EDI Baldaw Smiddy Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Insh Marshes SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes River Spey — Insh Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Marshes SPA Nethy­bridge HI Lettoch Road Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Aber­nethy Forest Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA H2 Land at Lyn­stock Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Cres­cent Yes Aber­nethy Forest Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In SPA Tomin­toul HI Land to North East No Out H2 Lecht Drive No Out EDI Gar­age No Out ED2 Land by A939 No Out TI Land to SW No Out Angus Glens N/A No Out Bru­ar & Pit­agow­an N/A No Out Calv­ine CI Com­munity use No Out Dal­whin­nie HI land by gar­age No Out EDI Gar­age Site No Out

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Pro­tec­ted Screen in Set­tle­ment Alloc­a­tion sites Con­nectiv­ity Sites LSE / Screen out Din­net HI Land to East Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In quant­ity through abstrac­tion Yes Glen Tanar SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Yes Bal­loch­buie SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In EDI Former Yes River Dee SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion, Change to water qual­ity / In Stead­ing quant­ity through abstrac­tion Glen­liv­et N/A No Out Glen­more TI camp site Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In T2 Glen­more Lodge Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Glen­shee N/A No Out Insh N/A No Out Inver­druie & TI Camp­ing site Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In Coylumbridge Yes Cairngorms SPA Dis­turb­ance to caper­cail­lie In Kil­liecrankie N/A No Out Lag­gan HI Yes River Spey SAC Pol­lu­tion & silta­tion In

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAISAL

1. Appro­pri­ate assess­ment The appro­pri­ate assess­ment (AA) con­siders the aspects of the LDP that LSEs have been iden­ti­fied dur­ing the screen­ing stage to determ­ine wheth­er or not they will adversely affect the integ­rity of European site(s). The AA iden­ti­fies the poten­tial effects for each aspect and provides the inform­a­tion to allow the CNPA, as com­pet­ent author­ity, to apply mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures to the LDP to avoid any adverse effects on the integ­rity of European sites. The AA applies the pre­cau­tion­ary approach in the case of all poten­tial impacts iden­ti­fied. Safe­guard­ing policies It is import­ant to note that policies to safe­guard European sites have been incor­por­ated into the LDP. The prin­cip­al safe­guard­ing policy is Policy 4 (Nat­ur­al Her­it­age). Amongst oth­er things, this policy states that devel­op­ment likely to have a sig­ni­fic­ant effect on a European site must demon­strate no adverse effect on the integ­rity of the site. It goes on to state that where this is not pos­sible, devel­op­ment will be con­sidered favour­ably only where: there are no altern­at­ive solu­tions; and there are imper­at­ive reas­ons of over­rid­ing pub­lic interest includ­ing those of a social or eco­nom­ic nature. Policy 10 (Resources) is also sig­ni­fic­ant. Amongst oth­er things, this policy sup­ports the pro­tec­tion and enhance­ment of the water envir­on­ment, seeks to min­im­ise the use of treated and abstrac­ted water, and requires the appro­pri­ate use of sus­tain­able drain­age schemes (SuDS). Appro­pri­ate assess­ment tables The AA is set out in the fol­low­ing tables, which are primar­ily struc­tured by European site. How­ever, the assess­ments of the poten­tial for caper­cail­lie dis­turb­ance are struc­tured slightly dif­fer­ently. In this case a series of ini­tial tables are presen­ted before the European site tables. The ini­tial tables cov­er each of the defined set­tle­ments in the LDP. They assess wheth­er or not the total amount of devel­op­ment pro­posed in each set­tle­ment is likely to have a sig­ni­fic­ant effect on caper­cail­lie through increased recre­ation­al dis­turb­ance. The set­tle­ment tables are based on a pro­cess flow-chart that has been developed and agreed with NatureScot. All assess­ments were under­taken jointly with NatureScot. The pro­cess flow-chart is included in Appendix 2: Pro­cess flow chart for assess­ment of poten­tial for caper­cail­lie dis­turb­ance. The con­clu­sions in the set­tle­ment tables are based, in part, on an assess­ment of the likely pop­u­la­tion change that could arise as a con­sequence of the LDP. This assess­ment is out­lined in Appendix 3: LDP & Poten­tial Pop­u­la­tion Change.

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL River Spey SAC The qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies of the River Spey SAC are: Atlantic sal­mon; fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel; otter; and sea lamprey The con­ser­va­tion object­ives are: 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 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: Pop­u­la­tion of the spe­cies, includ­ing range of genet­ic types for sal­mon, as a viable com­pon­ent of the site Dis­tri­bu­tion of the spe­cies with­in the site Dis­tri­bu­tion and extent of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies Struc­ture, func­tion and sup­port­ing pro­cesses of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing the spe­cies No sig­ni­fic­ant dis­turb­ance to the spe­cies Dis­tri­bu­tion and viab­il­ity of fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel host spe­cies Struc­ture, func­tion and sup­port­ing pro­cesses of hab­it­ats sup­port­ing fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel host species

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL Table 3: River Spey SAC Poten­tial likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects River Spey SAC – Atlantic sal­mon, fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel, otter, and sea lamprey Settlement(s) / site(s) Aviemore (ED3); Grant­own (H1, H2, TI, C2); Kin­gussie (TI); New­ton­more (ED2, TI); Crom­dale (EDI); Dul­nain Bridge (H1, H2); Kin­craig (HI, EDI); Nethy Bridge (H1, H2); Glen­more (ΤΙ, T2); i. Poten­tial for con­tam­in­a­tion of pro­tec­ted water­courses by chem­ic­al pol­lut­ants or particles washed into them from con­struc­tion sites. This could res­ult in pol­lu­tion, affect water qual­ity and poten­tially smoth­er hab­it­ats / spe­cies LDP modi­fic­a­tion / mit­ig­a­tion A devel­op­ment require­ment for these sites should be applied in the LDP to ensure that: i. The like­li­hood of pol­lu­tion and silta­tion from con­struc­tion sites reach­ing water­courses con­nec­ted to the SAC is elim­in­ated through safe hand­ling of poten­tial pol­lut­ants and pro­vi­sion of inter­cept­or drains, fil­ters, and oth­er meas­ures on a site in accord­ance with accep­ted best prac­tice. These meas­ures should be set out in a Con­struc­tion Meth­od State­ment which should be sub­mit­ted as part of any rel­ev­ant plan­ning applic­a­tion effects None Resid­ual Con­clu­sion – any adverse effect on site integ­rity? The iden­ti­fied mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures and applic­a­tion of safe­guard­ing policies with­in the LDP will ensure there will be no adverse effect on the integ­rity of the SAC, either alone or cumu­lat­ively with oth­er devel­op­ment affect­ing it

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL River Spey SAC – Atlantic sal­mon, fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel, otter, and sea lamprey Poten­tial likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects LDP modi­fic­a­tion / mit­ig­a­tion Settlement(s) / site(s) Inver­druie & Coylumbridge (TI); Lag­gan (HI) Aviemore (M1, M2, ACM) i. Poten­tial for con­tam­in­a­tion of pro­tec­ted water­courses by chem­ic­al pol­lut­ants or particles washed into them from con­struc­tion sites. This could res­ult in pol­lu­tion, affect water qual­ity and poten­tially smoth­er hab­it­ats / spe­cies ii. Otters and oth­er qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies such as sal­mon may be dis­turbed by con­struc­tion activ­ity, noise, light­ing and oth­er fea­tures of devel­op­ment design or post-con­struc­tion activ­ity A devel­op­ment require­ment for these sites should be applied in the LDP to ensure that: i. The like­li­hood of pol­lu­tion and silta­tion from con­struc­tion sites reach­ing water­courses con­nec­ted to the SAC is elim­in­ated through safe hand­ling of poten­tial pol­lut­ants and pro­vi­sion of inter­cept­or drains, fil­ters, and oth­er meas­ures on a site in accord­ance with accep­ted best prac­tice. These meas­ures should be set out in a Con­struc­tion Meth­od State­ment which should be sub­mit­ted as part of any rel­ev­ant plan­ning applic­a­tion ii. A full sur­vey must be under­taken, in accord­ance with a recog­nised meth­od­o­logy, to determ­ine if there are otters or oth­er qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies in the vicin­ity of devel­op­ment. An apprais­al effects Resid­ual Con­clu­sion – any adverse effect on site integrity?

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL River Spey SAC – Atlantic sal­mon, fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel, otter, and sea lamprey Poten­tial likely sig­ni­fic­ant effects LDP modi­fic­a­tion / mit­ig­a­tion Settlement(s) / site(s) will then be required of the con­struc­tion activ­ity, design and use of the devel­op­ment to see if there would be any effect on otters or oth­er qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies. Any iden­ti­fied effects must be elim­in­ated through modi­fic­a­tions to the devel­op­ment pro­pos­al and detailed with­in a Spe­cies Pro­tec­tion Plan effects Resid­ual Con­clu­sion – any adverse effect on site integrity?

LDP 2020 HAB­IT­ATS REG­U­LA­TION APPRAIS­AL River Dee SAC The qual­i­fy­ing spe­cies of the River Dee SAC are: Atlantic sal­mon; fresh­wa­ter pearl mus­sel; and otter The con­ser­va­tion object­ives are: 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 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: Pop­u­la­tion of the spe­cies, includ­ing range of genet­ic types for sal­mon, as a viable