Nature Conservation Supplementary Planning Documents
The Council has produced a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for Nature Conservation. The SPD has been written as part of the Council’s Local Development Framework. The purpose of the SPD is to support the nature conservation policies (including both ecology and geology) in the adopted Unitary Development Plan (UDP), and explain how they should be addressed in the development control process. The SPD is a material consideration when determining planning applications.
The Nature Conservation SPD was adopted on 13th September 2006. This followed a public consultation which was carried out to allow local people and interest groups to be involved in the development of policy guidance. Consultation draft of the Nature Conservation SPD was available for a period of six weeks from 20th February to 31st March 2006.
The SPD is accompanied by a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) explaining the consultation process and a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) which examines impact on social, economic and environmental conditions in the Borough.
UPDATE: Relevant guidance has emerged from the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) since the publication of the adopted Nature Conservation SPD. BCT's Bat surveys - good practice guidelines (2007) are free to download from the
Bat conservation Trust website.
Until the SPD is formally updated, we will accept bat surveys and assessments to the level of reasonable survey effort outlined in this BCT document, where professional justifications are made. Please use the contact details below if you have any uncertainty regarding the implications of this.
The adopted SPD and associated documents contain all relevant contact information and are attached below:
