Ecology Survey

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PROPOSED URBAN EXTENSIONHILLBOROUGH, HERNE BAY

ECOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT

September 2009

Kitewood Estates Tom La DellLandscapeArchitects

Stocks Studio Grafty GreenMaidstone Kent ME17 2AP

Tel: 01622-850 245Fax: 01622-858 063

Email: [email protected]


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PROPOSED URBAN EXTENSION

HILLBOROUGH, HERNE BAY

ECOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 THE SITE

3.0 HABITAT DESIGNATIONS

4.0 NATURE CONSERVATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

5.0 LOCAL NATURE CONSERVATION

6.0 CONCLUSIONS

MAP 1 - Site location

MAP 2 - Thanet Coast Special Protection Area and Ramsar Site

MAP 3 - Thanet Coast and Blean Woods Sites of Special Scientific Interest

MAP 4 - Bishopstone Cliffs Local Nature Reserve

ANNEX TL1 Phase 1 Habitat Survey for the site, January 2000

ANNEX TL2 - Natura 2000 Standard Data Form

ANNEX TL3 - Information sheet on Ramsar Wetlands

ANNEX TL4 - Thanet Coast (Kent) Ramsar Citation

ANNEX TL5 Letter from Natural England, 12 June 2009


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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 This report has been prepared by Tom La Dell CMLI, MIEEM toaccompany a Masterplan for Hillborough. The practice also prepared theLandscape, Visual Survey and Nature Conservation report for the site inJanuary 2000 and has over 30 years experience of nature conservation,habitat creation and management. It is a professional assessment of therelationship between the ecology of the area including the coastalSpecial Protection Area and the proposed urban extension atHillborough. It includes an assessment of the ecology and wildlife valueof the site and the potential ecological value of the Masterplanproposals. It is offered as part of the information gathering for the

preparation of Canterbury City Councils Local Development FrameworkCore Strategy DPD.

2.0 THE SITE

2.1 The site at Hillborough is mainly arable farmland with some hedgerowsof generally low quality. The North Kent Railway line runs west / eastclose to the centre of the site and is mainly in a cutting. The geology isLondon Clay. It is characterized by a gently undulating topography with alow ridge towards the west and the lowest levels at the western andeastern ends of the site. The location, boundaries and contours areshown on Map 1.

2.2 The site is at the eastern end of the town of Herne Bay. Its northernboundary is with existing urban areas of Herne Bay and at the easternend with Hillborough and Sweechbridge Road, the southern boundary iswith the A299, Thanet Way, and the western boundary is with AltiraBusiness Park and the urban area of Herne Bay. Beyond the Thanet

Way to the south and south east there is agricultural land and to thesouth west the urban area of Broomfield.

2.3 Herne Bay fronts on to the North Sea. Part of the shore line has cliffs upto 30 metres high. Much of the residential area is close to the top of thecliffs and over 5 km long, with an extension to the west at Studd Hill. Theurban area of Herne Bay, between the sea and Thanet Way, variesbetween 1.8 km and 0.6 km in depth. It is dense and almost entirelyresidential with few commercial developments and open spaces areas.Herne Bay has an existing population of approximately 38,424 people(2007 Experian Data).


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3.0 HABITAT DESIGNATIONS

3.1 The mud flats of the coastline below the cliffs and running eastward fromHerne Bay are designated as a Special Protection Area under theEuropean Union Birds Directive implemented in the UK under theConservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994.

3.2 The coastline is also designated under the Ramsar Convention onWetlands of International Importance Especially as Wildfowl Habitat andit is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The SPA andRamsar are designated under the Thanet Coast and Sandwich Baydesignations and the SSSI under Thanet Coast designation. The

Bishopstone Cliffs Local Nature Reserve is designated to the north eastof the site. These wildlife designation areas are shown on Maps 2, 3 and4.

3.3 To the south of the site and Herne Bay the levels rise relatively steeplyfrom 30m to 50m. The slopes are mainly agricultural with Herne Baymerging into the village of Herne along the A251 to Canterbury. The topsof the hills are dominated by the woodland of the West and East BleanWoods. These are part of the Blean Woods Site of Special ScientificInterest. (Map 3).

3.4 A Phase 1 Habitat Survey of the Hillborough Strategic DevelopmentArea was carried out in 2000 in accordance with the Handbook forPhase 1 habitat survey - A technique for environmental audit (NatureConservancy Council 1990) (Annex TL1). The site has subsequentlybeen walked by the writer in June 2009. It was noted that there are nosignificant changes to the site since 2000, which has remained mainly inarable production. The Phase 1 survey included land to the west whichis currently being developed as Altira Business Park.


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4.0 NATURE CONSERVATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

4.1 The Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Special Protection Area andRamsar site is some 600 metres to the north of the site at its closestpoint. The SPA is described in the Natura 2000 Standard Data Form(Annex TL2), the Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands (Annex TL3)and the Thanet Coast (Kent) Ramsar Citation (Annex TL4). The SPAand Ramsar designations are principally to protect habitats for wetlandbirds, as described in the Annexes 2 to 4. The area of the SPA is mainlythe mudflats, sand flat and lagoons (including saltwork basins) andgoes from low water level to 6 metres AOD. It does not include the cliffs,cliff tops or inland areas.

4.2 The Masterplan for the development is shown in the main report. TheMasterplan shows a potential for:

1,200 Residential Units (700 units pre 2026)

12ha of Employment Area

Local Centre inc. Primary School and Community Centre

Significant Areas of Open Space and Landscaping

4.3 It is at a density of development similar to most of Herne Bay. It hashowever a significant amount of public open space both within it and

adjoining the existing development.

4.4 The principal impact of the proposed development on the SPA / Ramsarsite would be an increase in public access to the site and possibledisturbance of the wildlife and habitats. This possible consequence ofthe development requires close investigation as there is easy access tothe SPA from Herne Bay itself and the Reculver Country Park.

4.4.1 The population of Herne Bay as identified by Experian Data in 2007 was38,424 people. The projected population for Herne Bay in 2027 isestimated to be 45,257 people (increase of 6,833 people). This

represents a natural increase of 17% of the current population of HerneBay over the next 20 years. It is estimated that up to 2026, the site couldaccommodate approximately up to 1,600 people (based on a yield of 2.3persons per household). This represents an increase in population ofonly 3.5% for Herne Bay by 2026. The nature of the Reculver CountryPark adjoining the SPA draws people from a wider area than just thecoastal towns. The additional numbers of people visiting the CountryPark arising from the development proposed at Hillborough is likely,therefore, to be much lower than this.


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4.4.2 Reculver Country Park is immediately east of the urban area of HerneBay. It provides easy car and coach parking for access to the SPA and

the cliff tops. It is also famous for the ruins of the medieval churchperched just above the cliff and the remains of the Roman walls of theRoman fort at the northern end of the Wantsum channel that separatedthe Isle of Thanet from the mainland with a fairly deep water channel.Richborough at the southern end was the main Roman port of the earlyyears of the occupation. The Canterbury City Council visitor centre,managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust has just been extended and willshortly be opened. There are three City Council car parks close to theReculver Country Park that provide easy pedestrian access. These areReculver Lane with some 200 spaces, Bishopstone Lane with some 20spaces (adjoining the eastern end of Herne Bay) and Ocean View with

some 20 spaces (off Reculver Drive, some 500 metres to the west). TheCanterbury City Council car park at Reculver issued 29,224 parkingtickets for cars from May 2008 to May 2009.

4.4.3 The City Council estimates that 100,000 to 150,000 people visit theCountry Park per annum and that the expected maximum is 200,000per annum (Anna Palmer, Senior Countryside Officer, email 26 June2009). The City Council has prepared a Reculver Country Park DraftMasterplan (Canterbury City Council website) and consultation finishedon 12 June 2009. It proposes that the overarching aim is to provide apotential strategy hub for a wider regional tourism and leisure strategy,especially for so-called green tourism.. This is to reverse the declinein visitor numbers over many years which has led to the closure of 10tourism related businesses in Reculver since 1996. These includecaravan parks, a caf, a shop and a public house. The final objective isTo develop Reculver as a high quality strategic hub for green tourismand education. Natural England was consulted before the report wasprepared.

4.4.4 The recent survey figures show that 85% of visitors come from Kent, of

which 14% come from Canterbury, 7% from Reculver, 6% from HerneBay and 10% from the local caravan parks. 76% arrive by car, 12% bybicycle and 8% on foot. It can be seen that a low percentage of peoplefrom Herne Bay visit Reculver Country park and few arrive on foot. Theoverall numbers of visitors arriving by vehicles and bicycles are notknown but this is a popular destination that is widely publicised. The SPAis used by schools for educational visits. Furthermore, Whitstable is apopular tourist destination, as is Herne Bay which is less so than someyears ago. There are, however, holiday caravan sites nearby, includingadjacent to Reculver Country Park.


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4.4.5 In accordance with UK and European Regulations the City Councilcommissioned a report dated January 2009, Information in support of

Habitats Regulations Assessment. This is required to accompanyCouncil planning proposals that may affect proposed development inLocal Development Documents that is within specified distances from aSpecial Protection Area (Planning for the Protection of European Sites :Appropriate Assessment, DCLG, August 2006). It accompanies theReculver Draft Masterplan. It concludes that, subject to certain aspectsof planning of infrastructure and activities and some mitigation, there willbe no significant impacts. Natural Englands consultation response to thereport (Annex TL5) supports the conclusions of the Habitats RegulationsAssessment that the Masterplan is not likely to have significant effectson the European sites.

4.5 The descriptions of the SPA in Annexes 3 and 4 state that the wholecoastline is heavily used for recreation. The identified activities yearround are dog walking (which is the most problematic, especially withvisitors who are not informed by local knowledge of the harm caused bydogs) water sports, wind surfing, kite boarding, boat users and baitdigging among others.

4.6 The visitor figures indicate that a low percentage of the residents of theproposed development will visit Reculver and the protected coastalhabitats. The City Council is planning a significant increase in visitornumbers to Reculver Country Park as part of the economic andenvironmental revitalisation of the area. Consultations with NaturalEngland in the preparation of the report and the Natural Englandresponse to the Habitat Regulations Assessment show support for theproposals to increase visitor numbers and facilities without significantimpacts on the European sites. These factors strongly indicate thatthere will not be a significant increased impact on the SPA and Ramsarsites from the residents of the proposed development. There will be nosignificant physical impact of the development itself as it is a minimum of600 metres to the south of the protected areas and separated from them

by existing residential areas.


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5.0 LOCAL NATURE CONSERVATION

5.1 The Phase 1 Habitat Survey (Annex TL1) and the Kent Habitat Survey(2003) show the site to be Improved (Intensive in KHS) Grassland andArable. The hedgerows are relatively poor quality and mostly not verywide or dense. The ecological value is low. The small areas ofdeveloping scrub are recent colonisation of arable land and easilyreplaced if required. The railside vegetation in Network Rail ownership isgood, dense scrub and young woodland.

5.2 The development Masterplan (in the main report) shows extensive areasof Public Open Space throughout the site. These link to the linear scrub

and developing woodland of the railside vegetation which will increasethe wildlife value of both areas. The open space in the south easternarea links the railside vegetation to the extensive areas of scrub andlinear woodland of the A299 Thanet Way, planted when it wasconstructed some ten years ago. The railside vegetation has no publicaccess and there is little pedestrian access along the A299. Habitatswithout public access are usually comparatively rich in wildlife. The openspaces are extensive and will have a predominantly natural character,reflecting the countryside to the south, and be planted mainly with nativetrees and shrubs. They will provide adequate areas for informalrecreation close to where people live. This will further reduce anypotential impacts on the SPA as there will be natural open spaces whichwill be close the new dwellings. It will provide habitats of much greaterwildlife value than the existing agricultural ones with poor qualityhedgerows.


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6.0 CONCLUSIONS

6.1

The impact of additional people visiting the Country Park due to theproposed development of 700 dwellings pre 2026 and thesubsequent 500 dwellings at Hillborough on the wildlife of the SpecialProtection Area will be so small in the context of existing visitornumbers as to be insignificant.

The SPA and surrounding area already attract significant visitornumbers from a wide catchment area that extends beyond HerneBay.

Canterbury City Council proposes a significant increase in visitornumbers in the Reculver Masterplan.

The proposals have been accepted in principle by Natural England.

The area is already actively marketed and promoted for tourists tovisit.

The Hillborough proposals identify significant open spaces as part of

the proposals in order to provide the opportunity for the futureresidents to enjoy informal recreation areas that will be rich in wildlife.This provision is considerably greater than the average for HerneBay.

The existing effect of dogs running on the mudflats, water sports andfishermen digging for bait are much more problematic issues whichcan only be dealt with by way of information to the public.

Such disturbances could be reduced if the public increased theirappreciation of the sensitivity of the area.

If it is thought that any mitigation measures are required in relation tothe proposed development, information boards can be provided.These would provide information relating to the sensitivity of the areato certain leisure activities about the habitats of the SPA includingtheir international importance. This is considered as the mosteffective form of any mitigation in relation to the Hillboroughproposals.


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Phase 1 Habitat Survey for the site,

January 2000

ANNEX TL1


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Natura 2000 Standard Data Form

ANNEX TL2


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Information sheet on Ramsar Wetlands

ANNEX TL3


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ANNEX TL4

Thanet Coast (Kent) Ramsar Citation


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ANNEX TL5

Letter from Natural England,

12 June 2009


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