Response from Ms Kim Wisdom, Lancashire Wildlife Trust
1. Ms Kim Wisdom, Lancashire Wildlife Trust : 21 Jan 2016 11:48:00
Please make your comments below on the section you have selected. Where appropriate, make reference to the paragraph number you are referring to, your preferred option, the question number asked in the Discussion Paper and the reference number of the site you are commenting on.
Waste management (with particular reference to Q23 - but more fundamental)
The lack of rural sewerage provision in a significant part of the AONB is a major issue and one whose resolution needs to be seen a priority through the DPD process. This includes enforcement and better monitoring but also better design standards. If rural sewerage is not possible, a bespoke solution may need identifying. Currently diffuse pollution is compromising the condition of a number of water bodies in the AONB, and domestic discharges are a recognised as a significant component of the issue.
Open Spaces
Q18 - include orchards and relict orchards in elements list.
Biodiversity (with particular reference to Q22)
We note that a number of the offered sites would have direct or indirect impacts on designated (SSSI/SAC etc) and on Local Wildlife Sites (known as “Biological Heritage Sites” in Lancashire). We assume and expect that these will be rapidly screened out of the DPD process.
Development appraisal should not only be sensitive to current loss but also sensitive to loss of restoration potential and maintenance, enhancement and restoration of local sites and ecological networks and those of the wider Morecambe Bay Nature Improvement Area. There is a need to better understand the role that the fabric of the Arnside & Silverdale AONB plays in connecting sites and enabling movement between them. Some areas that are not designated may be key linkages. We note that the AONB features strongly in many larger scale assessment of are of key ecological linkage; for example Buglife’s ‘B-lines’ project, the work of Morecambe Bay NIA, and the evolving Lancashire ecological networks.
There should be a pro-active aim to support key species that form a part of the settlement character.
There is a need to recognise that the biodiversity identity of the AONB is not framed around the presence of one or two ‘iconic’ species but rather the diversity of species and species assemblages - some widespread, some very specialised, and many not labelled as ‘S41 species’ - that are found here and which, in combination, lead to it being a ‘biodiversity hotspot’.
We hope that you find these comments useful. They are made on behalf of our Area Conservation Officer for Northern Lancashire, Ms Kim Wisdom, to whom correspondence should first be sent.
