Habitats Regulations Assessment

South Bucks District Council (SBDC) has carried out  a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) of the Core Strategy. This is a requirement of regulation 85 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994 (as amended; ‘the Habitats Regulations’).

The assessment focused on the likely significant effects of the Core Strategy on the nature conservation interests of European-protected areas in the vicinity of the District, and sought to establish whether or not there would be any adverse effects on the ecological integrity of these European sites as a result of proposals in the plan. The HRA Screening Statement (March 2010) shows that there is one European site, Burnham Beeches Special Area of Conservation, within the District that required consideration by the assessment due to its specific environmental sensitivities. This concluded that there was no significant impact on the South Bucks European site, Burnham Beeches Special Area of Conservation, as a result of the Core Strategy.

Two further documents were subsequently produced to examine changes made or proposed to the Core Strategy after it was published in March 2010.

• Habitats Regulations Assessment Addendum (July 2010). This considered the more substantive proposed changes made to the Core Strategy when it was submitted for Examination.
• Habitats Regulations Assessment Addendum Update (February 2011). This records the assessment carried out on the further changes put forward during the Core Strategy Examination.

Both documents concluded that the changes proposed would have no significant impact on Burnham Beeches or any other European Site.

Prior to the publication of the HRA Screening Statement (March 2010), a number of earlier iterations of the HRA were prepared in-house by SBDC, which can be summarised as follows:-

• Appropriate Assessment of the South Bucks Core Strategy Preferred Options Document (SBDC, May 2007) which assessed the Council’s preferred options for the plan at a time prior to the finalisation of the South East Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy; RSS);
• Stage 1: Appropriate Assessment Review (SBDC, March 2009) which refreshed the assessment to accompany a consultation on the Council’s preferred ‘emerging approach’ to the Core Strategy.

All of the above documents can be viewed or downloaded below.