The Natural Environment

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Reflecting the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, the NPPFplaces great weight on protecting and enhancing Greater Norwich’s rich natural environment. It seeks to ensure that development not only avoids harm to natural environmental assets, but also encourages a local plan policy approach which actively protects, promotes and enhances biodiversity, so that development results in biodiversity net gain. 

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A key means of achieving biodiversity net gain is through the NPPF requirement that local plans take a strategic approach to maintaining and enhancing networks of habitats and green infrastructure. The development of a multi-functional green infrastructure network was formalised locally through the Joint Core Strategy in 2011. It is essential that the network continues to be protected and developed further into the long term as green infrastructure aims to link fragmented habitats, allowing the movement of species and supporting biodiversity gain. It also has other benefits such as reducing flood risk and promoting active travel.

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Tools such as the Defra biodiversity metric should be used to demonstrate the expected biodiversity net gain that will be achieved through development. A holistic approach to biodiversity gain should provide a range of biodiversity improvements.

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A Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) has been produced for the plan. It identifies in detail how internationally designated ecological habitats and wildlife sites in the wider area, including areas in the Broads and on the Norfolk coast, would potentially be impacted by recreational pressures likely to be generated by growth in Greater Norwich. The policy therefore sets a requirement that development mitigates impact on sites protected under the Habitats Regulations Directive.

 

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The HRA identifies a range of mitigation measures to alleviate additional recreational pressure from additional growth planned in the Greater Norwich Local Plan. These include interventions at the sites themselves, providing suitable alternative natural green space (known as SANGS) and the implementation of a wider programme of green infrastructure improvements.

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The HRA provides further information on SANGS, stating that this could take the form of a new country park containing woodland and waterbodies. This would be in addition to the new country park facilities which are already planned for the Growth Triangle.

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The Joint Core Strategy identified the potential to create a new country park at Bawburgh Lakes to the west of Norwich. It would complement the existing country park to the east of the city at Whitlingham, with the parks linked by the Yare Valley green corridor. Its establishment remains desirable. However, the policy is not site specific as other opportunities may be identified either through local green infrastructure strategies or through other means. For example, there are proposals being brought forward to the north-west of Horsford and new small-scale country parks, such as at Ladybelt Country Park in East Carleton, can provide valuable additional green infrastructure.

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A Norfolk-wide study, the Green infrastructure and Recreational Impact Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy[79], has been undertaken and has informed this Plan, including the approach to avoiding and mitigating the potential impacts on the most important protected wildlife sites (identified under the HRA Directive) that might arise from visitor pressure related to new housing developments.  This sets out a two-pronged approach to avoidance and mitigation of impacts. 

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Firstly, it seeks to avoid impacts on the protected sites through the provision of sufficient and suitable informal recreational greenspace elsewhere to reduce the number of visits to the protected sites.  The Greater Norwich authorities currently have different informal recreational requirements on development set out in their Development Management policies local plans.  These will continue to apply.  The suitability of such greenspace will depend on a number of factors, including the size of the area, its accessibility and its quality, which together provide its attractiveness to users.  However, as a guide and in order to ensure that adequate provision is made to reduce the impacts on the protected sites, this policy requires a minimum of 2 hectares per 1,000 population of suitable informal recreational greenspace to be provided by a residential development.  This figure has regard to the existing local standards, Natural England’s Accessible Natural Greenspace standard and the Fields in Trust informal recreational space standard. In addition, the provision of the greenspace should reflect the standards set out in Natural England’s Accessible Natural Greenspace standard. 

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Secondly, a contribution of around £205 (plus allowance for inflation) from each new home is to be made towards direct mitigation measures on the protected sites.

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The Norfolk Strategic Planning Framework includes county-wide policy objectives on environmental protection, landscape protection and biodiversity. Work supporting the  NSPF includes a county-wide green infrastructure network map which provides the basis for more detailed mapping to support and inform local plans, including the GNLP. The updated green corridors map for Greater Norwich, including links to neighbouring areas, is in maps 8 A and B below.

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The Greater Norwich Green Infrastructure Study80 outlines the existing green infrastructure, biodiversity and designated Historic Environment assets for housing allocations within the area. It gives general comments about opportunities for potential enhancements of green infrastructure related to the allocations. Whilst this not intended to replace detailed site survey and design work, it is intended to assist the Development Management process

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The policy therefore builds on the success of the JCS to ensure both continued long-term development of the green infrastructure network and that visitor pressure issues are addressed.