Special areas of conservation

Screen

Stages

• Backlog
• Screen
• Research

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These are the questions we answer during the Screen stage.

Answering them wil help us learn more about the Special areas of conservation consideration, determine if a data standard is required and whether we know enough to move on to the next stage.

• What is the 'Special areas of conservation' consideration?

  Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are protected areas in the UK designated under the Habitats Directive, a European Union directive transposed into UK law. They are established to conserve specific habitats and species of European importance.

• Is there legislation that defines 'Special areas of conservation'?

  Yes

  • What is the legislation that defines 'Special areas of conservation'?

    Habitats and Conservation of Species Regulations 2010

  • What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Special areas of conservation' gets designated?

    The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, Regulation 12

  • What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Special areas of conservation'?

• Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Special areas of conservation'?

• Which organisations do we think should publish the data?

• Is the Special areas of conservation a trigger?

  Yes

  • What needs to be done because Special areas of conservation has acted as the trigger?

    In locations where SACs 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 SAC.

• Is the Special areas of conservation something to consult during plan making?

  Yes

  • Provide information about when Special areas of conservation is used during plan making

    In locations where SACs are present, it is likely that the LPA will have policies included within their Local Plan, setting out the policy requirements relating to SACs. 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.

• Is there any Special areas of conservation data already available?

  Yes

  • What Special areas of conservation data is currently available?

    • Item 1

      • Delete
      • Edit
      • url: https://naturalengland-defra.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/Defra::special-areas-of-conservation-england/about
      • name: Special Areas of Conservation (England)
      • fields: SAC_NAME;SAC_CODE;SAC_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].
      • metadata_url: https://ckan.publishing.service.gov.uk/harvest/object/5be1e24b-7b43-4df9-a518-3d307be62c90/html

• 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.

• Will a data standard be required?

  No