Martin Baker is Wildlife Trust BCN's Conservation Manager for Cambridgeshire 

There are some aspects of the Local Plan that the Wildlife Trust BCN is highly supportive of. However, there is also a highly damaging proposal for a new settlement of 3,000 homes on Homes England owned land 500 metres from Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve.

We strongly support many of the environmental policies included in the Local Plan that are there to protect biodiversity, water, trees and soils.

Unfortunately, however, the proposed new settlement north of Castor and Ailsworth undermines much of the rest of the plan by proposing major development in an area highlighted for nature recovery, and threatening nationally important wildlife sites.

The proposed location for the new settlement is within the John Clare Countryside area, which is one of the priority areas for nature recovery in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, identified by Natural Cambridgeshire. The landscape includes dozens of ancient woodlands along with species-rich limestone grasslands and marshes, scrub, veteran trees and ponds.

Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve is nationally important for a wide range of habitats and species. It includes ancient woodland, species-rich grassland and ponds and is highly valuable for its bird, invertebrate and plant assemblages. The nature reserve supports a thriving population of nightingales along with a wide range of other woodland birds. It is one of the northern-most populations of nightingale in the UK and with around 30 pairs represents 0.5% of the UK population.

Other breeding birds include turtle dove, garden warbler and grasshopper warbler. All 3 British woodpeckers have been recorded along with woodcock. Woodland butterflies present include silver-washed fritillary, purple hairstreak and white admiral. The rare black hairstreak butterfly is best seen around the blackthorn scrub in June and purple emperor has returned after an extended absence.

Ailsworth Heath, which forms part of the National Nature Reserve support species-rich grassland with man orchid, narrow-leaved water-dropwort, tubular water-dropwort and crested cow-wheat while harvest mouse is found in the rough grassland on the heath. The ponds have been recognised as amongst the best in England and support populations of great crested newt, common toad, Eurasian eel, grass snake, scarce aquatic invertebrates and scarce aquatic flora such as lesser water-plantain, common butterwort, lesser spearwort and opposite-leaved pondweed.

The proposed new settlement represents an existential threat to Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve.

Although Peterborough City Council and Homes England propose a new Country Park alongside the 3,000 homes it is in the wrong location, separated from the new homes by the A47 dual carriageway. It will take many decades for the landscape to mature and for it to serve as an attractive destination for the new residents. It won’t therefore reduce recreational impacts on Castor Hanglands and other local wildlife sites for many years. In the meantime, the National Nature Reserve and other ancient woodlands and grassland and pond habitats will become the default destination for residents of the new settlement. The sites are too sensitive to cope with large numbers of visitors and will suffer from disturbance from people and their dogs, trampling, increased fire risk and litter.

We will be submitting a detailed objection to the inclusion of this area in the Draft Local Plan for the reasons listed below.

• The proposed new settlement is located in the John Clare Countryside, the most biodiverse area in Peterborough and a priority for nature recovery. It compromises future landscape-scale nature recovery in the south of the John Clare Countryside.
• It threatens Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve and its nationally important habitats and species, including nightingales, rare grassland flora and aquatic flora and invertebrates.
• It threatens 10 other Wildlife Sites and a range of priority woodland, grassland and pond habitats.
• The proposed allocation is against other policies in the Local Plan including Policy LP38 which seeks to protect nationally important nature sites through avoiding harm and Policy LP6 on Climate Change.
• The City Council assessment of potential development sites identified this site as inappropriate for development due to its impacts on nationally important wildlife sites.
• The proposed Country Park does not provide suitable mitigation and will not avoid impacts on the nationally important sites and habitats, because it is further from the new homes than Castor Hanglands and on the other side of the A47 dual carriageway.
• The proposed new settlement is in an unsustainable countryside location, separated from other settlements.
• There are alternative development locations to meet local housing needs that do not threaten wildlife sites or nature recovery priorities.

You can find all the information you need to respond to the plan on the consultation webpage at https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/council/planning-and-development/planning-policies/local-plan-review