Appropriate Assessment
We have undertaken Appropriate Assessments related to Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation and Ramsar sites, dealing with impacts including habitat loss, hydrological change, release of historic pollutants in substrates, spillage of pollutants, risk of birds colliding with structures, change to habitual flight-lines due to structures or noise, disturbance due to human presence, construction noise, traffic presence and noise, lighting, vessel movements and recreation activities.
Examples of projects we have assessed include:-
- Works on coast defences on the Crouch Estuary, Essex.
- Managed retreat on the North Norfolk coast.
- Construction and operation of The Mersey Gateway - a new bridge across the Upper Mersey estuary.
- Trunk road improvements and a new bridge crossing the Medway Estuary and Marshes and the Swale Estuary, Kent.
- A new cycleway adjacent on the shore of Langstone Harbour, Hampshire.
- Trunk road maintenance works adjacent to Portsmouth Harbour, Hants
- Shipment of wings for the A380 Airbus along the Dee estuary.
- Housing and golf course development adjacent to the River Tay reedbeds.
- Expansion of the Port Autonome du Havre into the Seine Estuary, Normandy.
- Harbour works within the Burry Inlet, Carmarthenshire.
- Built development adjacent to the Firth of Forth.
- Port expansion in the Dee estuary, Flintshire.
- Continuation of sand-winning from the Horse Bank, Ribble estuary.
- Pipeline construction proximate to the Clyde estuary.
- Drainage infrastructure works beside the Humber.
- We have also successfully produced a scientific case against the extension of a SPA over farmland on the Lleyn peninsula.
Sand-winning from the Horse Bank in the Ribble and Alt estuaries SPA, shown at inquiry to have no significant effect on the use of the site by birds.