Protected species

Cairngorms Plan­ning Advice Note Pro­tec­ted Spe­cies and Plan­ning Applications

Updated: Septem­ber 2022

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park has some of the UK’s rarest and most threatened spe­cies and hab­it­ats. Plan­ning policies in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan seek to safe­guard, and where pos­sible, encour­age devel­op­ment to enhance the hab­it­ats and spe­cies in the Park.

This advice note has been pro­duced help people apply­ing for plan­ning per­mis­sion under­stand what inform­a­tion they will need to sup­ply with their applic­a­tion if pro­tec­ted spe­cies could be affected.

Pro­tec­ted species

There are many spe­cies of anim­al, plant, insect, bird and fish that are pro­tec­ted by law, mak­ing it illeg­al to harm or dis­turb them or the places they live. It is your respons­ib­il­ity to know and com­ply with the law — advice from NatureScot on this can be found at: https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/protected-species/your-responsibilities

Spe­cies sur­veys and pro­tec­tion plans

The plan­ning author­ity deal­ing with your pro­pos­al may be able to advise you about which pro­tec­ted spe­cies may be present on or near your site and what inform­a­tion (includ­ing sur­veys) you need to provide with your application.

NatureScot have detailed advice on how, when and to what stand­ard pro­tec­ted spe­cies sur­veys should be car­ried out, the sorts of actions you may need to incor­por­ate into your pro­pos­al to avoid effects and what you would need a licence for.

Advice on spe­cies sur­veys and pro­tec­tion plans can be found at: https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/licensing/species-protection-plan

Licens­ing

For many pro­tec­ted spe­cies, if a meth­od of works or design can­not be adap­ted to avoid poten­tial harm, it may be pos­sible to get a licence to do some­thing that would nor­mally be an offense provided the rel­ev­ant licens­ing tests are met. You can get more inform­a­tion about licens­ing and the tests that devel­op­ment needs to meet to gain a license from NatureScot at: https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/licensing/species-licensing-z-guide

Inform­a­tion required to sup­port plan­ning applications

Where pro­tec­ted spe­cies are or may be present, plan­ning per­mis­sion can­not be gran­ted unless the plan­ning author­ity is sure that an offense will not be com­mit­ted, and, where it is not pos­sible to avoid adverse effects, that the rel­ev­ant spe­cies licens­ing tests can be met.

If there is a chance that your pro­pos­al would harm or dis­turb a pro­tec­ted spe­cies, you will there­fore need to:

1. arrange a sur­vey of the site to find out exactly where and how pro­tec­ted spe­cies could be affected – the sur­vey should be car­ried out by an exper­i­enced and licensed eco­lo­gist if the sur­vey itself may cause dis­turb­ance or oth­er action that would oth­er­wise be an offense; and, where pro­tec­ted spe­cies will be affected by the proposal,
2. pro­duce a spe­cies pro­tec­tion plan that explains the find­ings of the sur­vey, how your devel­op­ment will min­im­ise effects on pro­tec­ted spe­cies and how it will meet the rel­ev­ant licens­ing tests.

Applic­ants need to provide suf­fi­cient inform­a­tion in the form of a spe­cies pro­tec­tion plan accom­pa­ny­ing their plan­ning applic­a­tion to enable the plan­ning author­ity to make that decision. The scale and com­plex­ity of any sur­vey or spe­cies pro­tec­tion plan required will depend on the effect the pro­pos­al is likely to have on the spe­cies. NatureScot provide advice on the poten­tial effects of devel­op­ment on pro­tec­ted spe­cies and how to mit­ig­ate or avoid effects at: https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/planning-and-development/planning-and-development-advice/planning-and-development-protected-species

Pre-applic­a­tion advice

If you ask your loc­al author­ity plan­ning team for pre-applic­a­tion advice and your applic­a­tion is likely to be ​“called” in by Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA), the loc­al author­ity will ask CNPA to provide them with pre-applic­a­tion advice for your pro­pos­al. In our response, where pos­sible we will identi­fy which pro­tec­ted spe­cies that may be present that you need to sur­vey and plan for.

If you sub­mit a plan­ning applic­a­tion without all the inform­a­tion needed by the plan­ning author­ity to decide it, you may find it is not accep­ted, is quickly refused, or any decision is delayed until you have sup­plied suf­fi­cient information.

You can get more advice on mak­ing a plan­ning applic­a­tion from the plan­ning depart­ment of the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­ity, or you can con­tact the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity plan­ning team in Grant­own on Spey at planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk. Tel: 01479 873535

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY 14 The Square, Grant­own on Spey, PH26 3HG. t: 01479873535 f: 01479873527 e: planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk w: cairngorms​.co​.uk