Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits Special Protection Area
The Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits Special Protection Area and Ramsar site was formally classified by the UK government in 2011 and covers 1,358 hectares in North and West Northamptonshire.
This Supplementary Planning Document was produced in 2015 to help authorities, developers and others ensure that development has no significant effect on the special protection area:
Special Protection Areas provide increased protection and management for areas which are important for breeding, feeding, wintering or migration of rare and vulnerable species of birds.
A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance designated under the convention of wetlands of international importance (especially as waterfowl habitat).
The Special Protection Area and Ramsar site boundaries for the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits are identical, although the qualifying features are slightly different.
Functionally Linked Land (FLL)
Golden Plover and Lapwing often spend time feeding or roosting on land outside the SPA.
These areas can be located up to 10km from the SPA and may be considered ‘functionally linked land’ to the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits SPA.
Our guidance outlines:
- identifying if it’s functionally linked land
- how planning applications will be affected on this land
- providing compensatory habitat for HRA tests
- consulting with Natural England
Residential developments
For residential developments which result in a net increase in the number of dwellings within 3km of the SPA, it is proposed to avoid and mitigate likely significant effect on the SPA by making a financial contribution per dwelling towards Strategic Access Management and Monitoring (SAMM) or other suitable infrastructure.
This would reduce the adverse impact of people visiting the SPA through specific measures and monitoring.
The mitigation strategy identified a fixed contribution per dwelling (indexed linked, with a based date of 2016). As of 1 April 2024, the rate is £383.61.
Last updated 15 July 2024