Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)
The Habitats Directive was introduced and designed to protect and enhance species and habitats of nature conservation importance at the European level. In accordance with this directive an ‘Appropriate Assessment’ must be carried out on land use plans where it is considered that they are likely to have significant effects on Natura 2000 sites. These sites include Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s), Special Protection Areas (SPA’s) and RAMSAR sites. This assessment will be to identify the potential impacts of land use plans against the Conservation objectives of European Sites.
The HRA of the Torfaen LDP should be an iterative process and undertaken at each key stage of plan preparation. This will be dependant on the nature and scale of changes to the development plan as it progresses. The first stage of this process is to undertake a screening exercise to assess the likely Natura 2000 sites that could be affected by the implementation of the Torfaen LDP. This assessment is contained within the Habitats Regulations Assessment Screening Report|. It is considered that the next stage of HRA will coincide with the Deposit Torfaen LDP in January 2009.
The Council is also undertaking a Sustainability Appraisal (incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment) of the Torfaen LDP. In accordance with the draft HRA guidance it is identified that SA/SEA should run in parallel with but be clearly distinguishable from the HRA of the Torfaen LDP.
Therefore, for the Torfaen LDP Preferred Strategy| an Initial Sustainability Appraisal Report (ISAR)| has been produced which covers the SA/SEA requirements alongside this Screening Report which covers the requirements of the Habitats Regulations.