Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Site Report for Sizewell EN-6: Revised draft National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation Planning for new energy infrastructure October 2010 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Habitats Regulations Assessment of the revised draft Nuclear National Policy Statement Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) screening and Appropriate Assessment (AA) of the revised draft Nuclear NPS including potentially suitable sites, has been undertaken in parallel with the Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS). These strategic assessments are part of an ongoing assessment process that will continue with project level assessments. Applications to the IPC for development consent will need to take account of the issues identified and recommendations made in the strategic, plan level HRA/AA; and include more detailed project level HRA as necessary. The Habitats Regulations Assessment is provided in the following documents: HRA Non-Technical Summary Main HRA of the revised draft Nuclear NPS Introduction Methods Findings Summary of Sites Technical Appendices Annexes to the Main HRA Report: Reports on Sites Site HRA Reports Technical Appendices All documents are available on the website of the Department of Energy and Climate Change at www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk This document is the Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Site Report for Sizewell. This document has been produced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change based on technical assessment undertaken by MWH UK Ltd with Enfusion Ltd and Nicholas Pearson Associates Ltd. 2 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Contents Appendix 1 European Site Identification and Characterisation…………………………………………..4 Appendix 2 Plans and Programmes Review……………………………………………………………...91 Appendix 3 Likely Significant Effects Screening………………………………………………………..103 Appendix 4 Appropriate Assessment Proforma…………………………………………………………187 3 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Appendix 1: European Site Characterisations Natura 2000 Site Identification Natura 2000 Radius (measured from central grid reference point, MAGIC) Designation 5km 10km 15km 20km SAC • Minsmere to • Alde-Ore and Butley • Dew’s Ponds • Staverton Park and Walberswick Heaths Estuaries • Orfordness-Shingle The Thicks, and Marshes Street Wantisden • Benacre to Easton Bavents Lagoons SPA • Sandlings • Alde-Ore Estuary • None • Benacre to Easton • Minsmere to Bavents Walberswick • Outer Thames Estuary SPA Ramsar • Minsmere to • Alde-Ore Estuary • None • None Walberswick 4 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Natura 2000 Site Characterisations Special Areas of Conservation (SAC)1 1. Alde-Ore and Butley Estuaries 2. Benacre to Easton Bavents Lagoons 3. Dew’s Ponds 4. Minsmere to Walberswick Heaths and Marshes 5. Orfordness-Shingle Street 6. Staverton Park and The Thicks, Wantisden Special Protection Areas (SPA)2 1. Alde-Ore Estuary 2. Benacre to Easton Bavents 3. Minsmere to Walberswick 4. Sandlings 5. Outer Thames Estuary SPA3 1 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are classified under the Habitats Directive and provide rare and vulnerable animals, plants and habitats with increased protection and management 2 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are classified under the Birds Directive to help protect and manage areas which are important for rare and vulnerable birds because they use them for breeding, feeding, wintering or migration. Together SAC’s and SPA’s make up the Natura 2000 series. 3 In November 2009 Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee launched a consultation on 10 new possible SACs and two new potential SPAs in English, Welsh and offshore waters around the UK, including Outer Thames Estuary pSPA (see http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/marine/sacconsultation/default.aspx). The consultation closed in February 2010 and the Outer Thames Estuary was officially classified as an SPA in August 2010. There were minor revisions to the site boundary but these are not deemed to significantly affect the outcome of this assessment. 4Ramsar sites are designated under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. The broad objectives are to stem the loss and progressive encroachmen t on wetlands now and in the future. These are often coincident with SPA sites designated under the Birds Directive. Although RAMSAR sites are not considered part of the Natura 2000 network, they are treated the same way as Natura 2000 sites. 5 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Ramsar Sites4 1. Alde-Ore Estuary 2. Minsmere to Walberswick All core site specific information unless otherwise stated has been referenced from Natural England Sources (Natura 2000 Management Plans) (Nature on the Map) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website (Protected Sites). Information on the designation of the Outer Thames Estuary SPA has been obtained from Natural England’s consultation website. Special Areas of Conservation Site Name: Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries SAC • Location Grid Ref: 013408 E/ 520606 N • JNCC Site Code UK0030076 • Size: 1561.53 ha • Designation: SAC Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries SAC Site Description This estuary, made up of three rivers, is the only bar-built estuary in the UK with a shingle bar. This bar has been extending rapidly along the coast since 1530, pushing the mouth of the estuary progressively south- westwards. The eastwards-running Alde River originally entered the sea at Aldeburgh, but now turns south along the inner side of the Orfordness shingle spit. It is relatively wide and shallow, with extensive intertidal mudflats on both sides of the channel in its upper reaches and saltmarsh accreting along its fringes. The Alde subsequently becomes the south-west flowing River Ore, which is narrower and deeper with stronger currents. The smaller Butley River, which has extensive areas of saltmarsh and a reedbed community bordering intertidal mudflats, flows into the Ore shortly after the latter divides around Havergate Island. The mouth of the River Ore is still moving south as the Orfordness shingle spit continues to grow through longshore drift from the north. There is a range of littoral sediment and rock biotopes (the latter on sea defences) that are of high diversity and species richness for estuaries in eastern England. Water quality is excellent throughout. The area is relatively natural, being largely undeveloped by man and with very limited 6 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries SAC industrial activity. The estuary contains large areas of shallow water over subtidal sediments, and extensive mudflats and saltmarshes exposed at low water. Its diverse and species-rich intertidal sand and mudflat biotopes grade naturally along many lengths of the shore into vegetated or dynamic shingle habitat, saltmarsh, grassland and reedbed. Qualifying Features Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site 1130 Estuaries Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site 1140 Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide 1330 Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae) Conservation Objectives Conservation objectives for this SAC are, subject to natural change, to maintain in favourable condition: • Atlantic saltmeadows; including the following subfeatures: low/mid-marsh communities, upper marsh communities and upper marsh transitional communities; • Mudflats and sandflats not covered by the sea at low tide, including the following subfeatures: mud communities, muddy sand communities and sand and gravel communities; and • Estuaries, including the following subfeatures: Saltmarsh communities, intertidal mudflat and sandflat communities, subtidal mud communities, subtidal muddy sand communities and subtidal mixed sediment communities Source: Posford Haskoning (2002) Suffolk Coast and Estuaries Coastal Habitat Management Plan, Living with the Sea LIFE Nature Project. Component SSSIs Component SSSI (45 units) condition status. SAC Favourable Unfavourable Unfavourable Unfavourable Destroyed, part componen recovering no change declining destroyed t site Alde-Ore 75.96 2.10% 0.59% 21.36% 0% Estuary 7 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries SAC SSSI Key Environmental Estuaries Conditions (factors that In the absence of constraints such as flood banks and hard defences, the estuary would adjust to sea level maintain site integrity rise by inland translocation of intertidal habitats. Where constraints occur, space to accommodate greater volumes of water is compressed and the extent and quality of intertidal habitats declines. Coastal saltmarsh • Where saltmarshes require management this has traditionally been achieved by grazing, and previously used regimes should be continued. However, where there has not been a history of grazing, the saltmarsh will be able to maintain itself and grazing-sensitive species are likely to be present, therefore grazing should not be introduced. • There are a number of factors that are contributing to saltmarsh change that management may need to take into consideration. These include coastal erosion as a result of coastal defence works, rising sea levels, variations in sediment deposition and land claim for development. Littoral sediments (mud and sand flats) • Good water quality and sediment quality should be maintained, and the sediment budget within the estuarine or coastal system should not be restricted by anthropogenic influences. • The location and extent of mud or sandflats is dependent on the extent to which the estuary or coast where they occur is constrained from responding to sea level rise and changing sediment regimes. Management needs to create space to enable landward roll-back to take place in response to sea-level rise, and should also allow the system to be dynamic and retain the flexibility to respond to associated changes such as the movement of physical features within the system, i.e. migrating sub tidal communities. Vegetated shingle • A key management requirement is to avoid or minimise surface disturbance, especially in the more open communities. Many of the vegetation types and species associated with shingle are fragile and vulnerable to damage from trampling. This breaks up the fine humus that develops in the upper layers of the shingle that is vital for the plants to survive. 8 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries SAC • Where there is a more closed vegetation cover, light grazing, by rabbits for example, may be all that is needed to prevent scrub encroachment on areas of grassland and heath. However if there is a tradition of sheep grazing, it may be beneficial to continue this practice at a low intensity. However the introduction of grazing where it has not been traditionally practiced would not be beneficial. All habitats • Habitats within the SAC are highly sensitive to inorganic fertilizers and pesticides applications of which should be avoided both within the site itself and in adjacent surrounding areas. Herbicides may be useful in targeting certain invasive species, but should be used with extreme care. Access to this site and any recreational activities within, may also need to be controlled. SAC Condition See SSSI condition status. Assessment Vulnerabilities (includes Past canalization and erosion together with sea level rise has resulted in the loss of much of the saltmarsh. existing pressures and There are plans for managed coastal retreat which in the long term will result in the creation of saltmarsh. trends) Main factors affecting all qualifying features: Fisheries, including bait collecting: can result in adverse impacts on estuaries, including death or severe damage to benthos and physical disturbance to sediment structure. Intertidal eel grass beds (Zostera sp) on mudflats and areas of intertidal sand are potentially vulnerable to trampling by bait collectors, clam and cockle digging or raking. Climate change: Shoreline areas will be affected by increased storminess and windiness: the distribution of some shoreline habitats may be altered or reduced by these effects. Transport of the resultant suspended material tends to be inshore into many estuaries. Non-indigenous Species: Non-indigenous species (NIS) present a significant threat to the marine environment and their effects can have both economic and ecological ramifications, including biodiversity loss. Within marine systems, ships’ ballast water, used to improve ship stability and trim, is one of the primary mechanisms for the transport and introduction of non-indigenous marine species to ports worldwide 9 Appendices to the Habitats Regulations Assessment Report for Sizewell Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries SAC Coastal development/coastal squeeze/Industrial impacts: Sedimentary areas protected by hard defences will suffer the greatest impact of sea level rise. Erosive forces would become more dominant and losses of fine sediment would produce narrower intertidal areas, with coarser sediment. The change of sediment characteristics would reduce the content of organic matter in the sediments and change the community structure accordingly. Taken to its conclusion, a greater proportion of estuaries on open-coasts would become marine and sandy and the brackish section would move inland and up-river. In more sheltered areas, there would be more deposition, extending areas of fine sediment and marsh. However, this process would cease once the sediment supply was reduced and ultimately erosion would become the dominant process. Recreational impacts: intertidal eel grass beds on mudflats and sandflats are highly vulnerable to boat anchorages and local boating activities, particularly launching across the eel grass beds. Use of vehicles on the sediment flats changes the drainage and cuts channels along which increased erosion of the eel grass rhizomes occurs. Water Quality: The risk of estuarine and coastal water bodies failing to achieve Good Ecological Status (GES) as defined under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is an aggregation of the likely effects of the following: point source pollution (including effluent discharges from sewage treatment and industry); diffuse source pollution (including run-off from the land and acid rain); water abstraction and flow regulation (including the removal of water for public supplies or manufacturing and the control of river flows for hydroelectric power, navigation, water supplies or other purposes); physical or 'morphological' alteration to water bodies (including land claim for development, flood defence structures or channel modifications); and non-indigenous species. Factors affecting Atlantic Salt Meadows (in addition to above): Air pollution: Based on an assessment of relevant literature, it is considered that this habitat is potentially sensitive to air pollution. However, no assessment has been undertaken of its potential future impact based on critical loads. Cord Grass Spartina anglica: This habitat is threatened by invasion by this out-competing species. Landowner/ Management Suffolk Wildlife Trust, National Trust, RSPB and Natural England Responsibility 10