Special protection areas
An area containing bird habitats and species that need conservation
- Design stage
- On the platform
- Github
- Join the discussion
- Synonyms
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- Protected sites
- Expected number of records
- 1,079
- Frequency of updates
- Ad hoc
- Useful links
- Technical specification
- No specification added
Background information
Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.
Backlog
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Who asked for 'Special protection areas' data?
Claire, planning policy SME
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What is the driver for the request?
Existing planning requirement
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Which 2024 focus area does the request support?
- Faster local plans
Screen
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What is the 'Special protection areas' consideration?
A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, aiming to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.
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Is there legislation that defines 'Special protection areas'?
Yes
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What is the legislation that defines 'Special protection areas'?
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What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Special protection areas' gets designated?
The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, Regulation 16 - Notification of a proposal to classify a special protection area
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What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Special protection areas'?
The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, Regulation 16, Paragraph 2 - Where the appropriate nature conservation body is given notice of a proposal under paragraph (1), the body must give notice of that proposal and provide a copy of the appropriate authority’s statement of reasons for that proposal to— (a)any of the following who in its opinion ought to be notified— (i)competent authorities which exercise functions in relation to the site; (ii)competent authorities which exercise functions in relation to an area adjacent to the site; and (iii)every owner and occupier of the site; (b)such other persons as in its opinion ought to be notified; and (c)such other persons as the appropriate authority directs.
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Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Special protection areas'?
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Which organisations do we think should publish the data?
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Is the Special protection areas a trigger?
Yes
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What needs to be done because Special protection areas has acted as the trigger?
In locations where SPAs are present, it is likely that planning officers will require applicants to have consideration to this, and may require the submission of supporting documentation to highlight the mitigation proposed to ensure that there are limited impacts on the SPA.
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Is the Special protection areas something to consult during plan making?
Yes
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Provide information about when Special protection areas is used during plan making
In locations where SPA are present, it is likely that the LPA will have policies included within their Local Plan, setting out the policy requirements relating to SPAs. These ight include the grounds for which development might be refused or approved, as well as any mitigation which might be required to limit impacts on the area.
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Is there any Special protection areas data already available?
Yes
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What Special protection areas data is currently available?
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Item 1
- name
- Special Protection Areas (England)
- fields
- SPA_NAME;SPA_CODE;SPA_AREA;GRID_REF;EASTING;NORTHING;LATITUDE;LONGITUDE;STATUS;ID;AREA;EASTING0;NORTHING0;GIS_DATE;VERSION;Shape_Area;Shape_Length
- licence
- Open Government Licence
- coverage
- National
- publisher
- Natural England
- attribution
- © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year].
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Do we think the data should come from a single source?
Yes, this data is available nationally via a single endpoint provided by Natural England.
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Will a data standard be required?
No
Research
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Do we understand the lifecycle of a Special protection areas?
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Do we understand how the data is created/produced?
We expect that this data is produced using an Ordnance Survey basemap (based on the attribution found in the identified single source dataset).
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Where will or should the data be used?
The data will ensure that the relevant mitigation is in place, both when plan-making and making planning decisions.
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What other planning considerations does it interact with?
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Who are the statutory consultees for Special protection areas?
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Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Special protection areas? How do we expect them to use Special protection areas?
Developers/landowners/site promoters, LPAs and planning professionals
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What are the planning needs for this data?
In locations where SPAs are present, it is likely that planning officers will require applicants to have consideration to this, and may require the submission of supporting documentation to highlight the mitigation proposed to ensure that there are limited impacts on the SPA.
Similarly, in locations where SPA are present, it is likely that the LPA will have policies included within their Local Plan, setting out the policy requirements relating to SPAs. These ight include the grounds for which development might be refused or approved, as well as any mitigation which might be required to limit impacts on the area.
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Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Special protection areas data?
Developers/landowners/site promoters, LPAs and planning professionals
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What are some potential uses of Special protection areas data?
In locations where SPAs are present, it is likely that planning officers will require applicants to have consideration to this, and may require the submission of supporting documentation to highlight the mitigation proposed to ensure that there are limited impacts on the SPA.
Similarly, in locations where SPA are present, it is likely that the LPA will have policies included within their Local Plan, setting out the policy requirements relating to SPAs. These ight include the grounds for which development might be refused or approved, as well as any mitigation which might be required to limit impacts on the area.
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What's the value of adding Special protection areas data to the platform?
In locations where SPAs are present, it is likely that planning officers will require applicants to have consideration to this, and may require the submission of supporting documentation to highlight the mitigation proposed to ensure that there are limited impacts on the SPA.
Similarly, in locations where SPA are present, it is likely that the LPA will have policies included within their Local Plan, setting out the policy requirements relating to SPAs. These ight include the grounds for which development might be refused or approved, as well as any mitigation which might be required to limit impacts on the area.
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From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Special protection areas data available?
2 updates
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Claire Miller (26 September 2024)
As per some research we did, summarised in this blog on an analysis of local plans and local area requirements, we're confident that this consideration acts as an INPUT to the process of creating a local plan.
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Kieran Wint (03 September 2024)
As per the Special Protection Areas data published by Natural England on data.gov.uk, the update frequency is 'not planned', so marked as ad hoc.
Last updated: 2025-04-28 13:15:03