Tag: Issue of the Week 1

The press release issued by Norfolk Wildlife Trust on 11 January 2019.

None of the proposed routes for the NDR Western Link Road could be built without unacceptable damage to multiple important wildlife sites, warns Norfolk Wildlife Trust, unless there is a significant commitment to mitigation and compensatory habitats.

Four options were shortlisted by Norfolk County Council to link the end of the current Northern Distributor Road (NDR) now called Broadland Northway, on the A1067 with the A47 near to Easton.

The landscape between the A1067 and A47 is a network of habitats that are well-connected and therefore vital for wildlife, including ancient woodlands, grasslands and floodplains.

Whilst a key focus is rightfully to ensure there is no damage to the River Wensum – a site of international importance for wildlife – the landscape contains many significant other areas of importance for wildlife.

Several of these are designated as County Wildlife Sites (CWS), which are the best semi-natural habitats in Norfolk after nature reserves and SSSIs. Further areas locally are also in the process of being designated as CWS within the next few months. The connection between the habitats is of particular importance in this area, to enable wildlife to move through the landscape and not become isolated.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust has considered the four options in detail, looking at the direct impacts on the habitats, as well as indirect impacts such as pollution and habitat severance isolating and therefore undermining species ability to survive. All four options are currently unacceptable as they will cause significant damage to multiple CWS and ancient woodlands.

Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Pamela Abbott said: “Without further evidence that the losses to important wildlife sites, degradation of nearby habitats and habitat separation across the landscape can be avoided or properly mitigated, we currently regard all of the options as unacceptable.

“The western link road will lead to direct loss of habitat, the separation of remaining habitats into smaller fragments and impacts on floodplain hydrology as well as increased light, noise, road run-off and air pollution over a considerable distance each side of the road. Severance of the landscape will result in reduced species mobility, whilst increased pollution will likely result in a reduction in habitat quality and species diversity. Both will reduce nearby sites’ and populations’ ability to cope with other environmental changes and increase the likelihood of localised extinctions.”

Without significant commitments to mitigation and compensatory habitat that robustly demonstrate that there would be a net gain for wildlife from the development, Norfolk Wildlife Trust would likely object to any of the shortlisted options if presented as a planning application.

The press release issued by Norfolk Wildlife Trust on 16 July 2019.

On Monday 15 July 2019 Norfolk County Council approved option C as its preferred route for the NDR Western Link. The decision presupposes there is no realistic alternative to the road link, although we and others believe that case has yet to be fully made.

The core route of this road, even without considering all the additional infrastructure, would destroy parts of three County Wildlife Sites and permanently sever important connections between remnant parts of important habitats and populations of vulnerable species for nearly four miles.

Whilst we recognise and endorse the Council’s aspiration to deliver a net gain for wildlife alongside this scheme, we have grave concerns about how this will be met, and whether appropriate measures have been included in the budget. We will continue to campaign for the best interests of wildlife and biodiversity.

The press release issued by Norfolk Wildlife Trust on 3 February 2020.

The inclusion of Defra’s targets for ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ in Norfolk County Council’s proposal for the Western Link road will not be enough to protect the area’s wildlife, with bats in particular becoming vulnerable to local extinction.

Biodiversity Net Gain is an approach which aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than before, by ensuring that more habitat is created following development than is destroyed. But much of Norfolk’s wildlife depends on mature and established habitat, and will not be able to survive in areas of new habitat, even if the areas are larger.

Conservation Officer at Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Mike Jones said:
“We estimate that the western link road will include the permanent loss of between three and four hectares of woodland. The mature trees in this woodland provide features such as holes and bark gaps, which form a key roosting habitat for the local bat population. The rarity of the species present means that this woodland is likely to be of national importance.

“A new woodland planted to meet the net gain targets adopted would fail to provide replacement bat roost sites and therefore would not mitigate or compensate for the losses. This would be compounded by the disconnection of the remaining areas, leaving them more vulnerable to local extinction.”

This week Norfolk Wildlife Trust raised its concerns directly with the Council, asking them to consider the principle of creating a real net gain for all biodiversity and highlight the real threat to wildlife, which Defra’s targets will not solve.

Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Pamela Abbott said:
“We appreciate the inclusion of a strategic objective to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain. However, there is a difference between delivering habitat targets and ensuring that all biodiversity impacts are mitigated effectively across the route. It is very likely that the newly created habitat will not support the wildlife displaced from the areas lost to the road. This is shown most starkly by the impact that the road will have on the bat colony.

“It is vital that all specific habitat requirements of all wildlife along the route are assessed, as well as meeting the Defra net gain habitat targets. In particular, the Council will need to examine in detail the habitat connectivity.”

The press release issued by Norfolk Wildlife Trust on 18 May 2020.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust is dismayed to learn that central government support has been given to the Western Link road for the Northern Distributor Road (NDR).

The planned road will link the end of the current NDR on the A1067 with the A47 near to Easton. The landscape here is a well-connected network of habitats that are important for wildlife, including ancient woodlands, grasslands and floodplains. NWT is very concerned about the potential damage by the Western Link to these important habitats and their connectivity.

The Department for Transport (DfT) gave conditional support for Norfolk County Council’s plans for the 3.8-mile Norwich Western Link road on Friday 15 May 2020 as part of its Large Local Majors funding programme. Despite the backing, the road will still need to secure planning permission and no funding has been allocated for the project. But the support does gives the council the green light to proceed to the next stage of the process.

Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Pamela Abbott said:

“This decision should not have been made before it can be shown that the likely significant biodiversity impacts will be addressed. We will be looking closely at the information from wildlife surveys that the council is gathering this spring, and will then write to the Department for Transport stressing that it is vital that specific habitat requirements of all wildlife along the route are assessed. We will also attend the future public inquiry to make the case for nature.”

Acting Head of People and Wildlife at Norfolk Wildlife Trust, John Hiskett said:

“We estimate that the western link road will include the permanent loss of between three and four hectares of woodland. The mature trees in this woodland provide features such as holes and bark gaps, which form a key roosting habitat for the local bat population. The rarity of the species present means that these areas of woodland, along with the whole complex of woodland habitats, in the vicinity of the proposed route are likely to be of national importance.

“It is very likely that the newly created habitat that is proposed in its place will not be of sufficient quantity or quality to support bats and other wildlife displaced from the areas lost to the road. This is exacerbated by the loss of habitat connectivity that will inevitably occur, particularly in the light of the growing evidence from other road schemes that alternatives such as bat bridges, as currently designed, are rarely effective.”

The press release issued by Norfolk Wildlife Trust on 2 September 2020.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust will strongly object to any planning application for the Western Link and has written to the Department for Transport to raise its concerns over unacceptable wildlife impacts.

The proposed road will link the end of the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) on the A1067 with the A47 near to Easton. It would very likely result in the long-term complete loss of a Special Area of Conservation calibre breeding colony of barbastelle bats, listed as endangered on the IUCN and UK red lists. The bat roosts are protected by law from disturbance and destruction under the Wildlife & Countryside Act and the Habitats Regulations. Additional likely losses are areas of woodland expected to qualify as ancient woodland and permanent damage to two chalk rivers, a globally rare habitat of which the UK holds a significant proportion.

Conservation Officer at Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Mike Jones said:
“Based on the evidence available, we consider that the proposal would result in the loss of significant and irreplaceable ecological features of national importance for which mitigation and compensation are not feasible. We cannot envisage how it would be possible to proceed with the road and comply with wildlife laws and planning policies, nor provide a net gain for biodiversity as stated by Norfolk County Council. As a result, NWT intends to strongly object to the planning application.”

Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Pamela Abbott said:
“We have written to the Department for Transport to urge the Western Link is removed from further consideration. Our recommendation is that the road proposal is stopped at this point. Alternative options for meeting future transport needs that do not contravene multiple wildlife laws must be examined further.”

NWT has also written to Norfolk County Council to share its concerns about the protected habitats and species. It highlighted that proposed new tree planting — regardless of scale — cannot replicate the mature woodland roosting habitats used by a significant colony of endangered bats on the route. NWT therefore strongly disagrees with the Council’s claim that a net gain for biodiversity can be delivered in this context.

The press release issued by Norfolk Wildlife Trust on 1 December 2020.

If the Western Link for the NDR were to go ahead on its proposed route, it would drive through what is likely to be the largest known ‘super-colony’ of barbastelle bats in the UK, according to new independent surveys, risking its complete loss

Norfolk Wildlife Trust wrote to the Council in September expressing its concerns at the wildlife impacts of the Western Link proposal, and requesting that the Council revisits alternative options to meet local transport issues.

In October, a presentation was made at the East of England Bat Conference by independent bat experts, Wild Wings Ecology, presenting the results of their surveys on barbastelles and the Western Link route. The full results of the surveys are still being written up, but the findings clearly show that there are significantly greater numbers of barbastelle bats on the route and in surrounding woodlands than have been found by the Council’s own surveys.

The results have identified the presence of a breeding colony directly on the road route and that this is part of a wider ‘super-colony’ occupying surrounding woodlands in the local area. Indications are that the barbastelle population here is likely to be the largest in the UK, with surveys identifying at least 270 individuals.

Dr Charlotte Packman, the ecologist who identified the size and scale of the bat population said:
“Our research has led to the discovery of an extraordinary barbastelle ‘super-colony’, part of which would be directly cut through by the proposed Norwich Western Link and the remaining part substantially impacted by the road scheme. This is without doubt a nationally important area (and quite possibly the most important area) in the country for this very rare species. The destruction of barbastelle maternity colony woodlands is not permissible under wildlife laws and would be unprecedented. We believe that the predicted substantial and multifarious negative impacts of the proposed road on this protected species cannot be effectively mitigated or compensated for”.

Conservation Officer at Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Mike Jones said:
“It is clear these results indicate that the barbastelle population here is likely to be the largest known ‘super-colony’ in the UK. The road would drive through at least one colony woodland, effectively permanently destroying the colony there, and would seriously damage the ability of the remaining colonies in nearby woodlands to survive. Bats are long-lived species with low birth rates, and there is a very real risk that these losses to the proposed road would lead to the local extinction of this species in the long-term, with consequent impacts on the future of the species nationally. We do not believe it is possible to mitigate or compensate for impacts on this scale.”

Norfolk Wildlife Trust has written to the Council recently about these significant findings and has also written directly to Baroness Vere, the Minister for Transport to request that the Department for Transport defers from any further consideration of funding to Norfolk County Council (NCC) for the Norwich Western Link road proposal.

Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Pamela Abbott said:
“We appreciate that this information about the importance of the area for barbastelle bats was not available to any interested parties earlier in the process when choices were made. However, given the significance of these new findings, we do not believe it is appropriate for work on this approach to be pursued further.

“We therefore urgently ask the Council to pause any further work on the road application whilst the importance of this new information is considered. We continue to request that the Council gives genuine consideration to alternative options.”