The Antonine Wall Management Plan 2013-18 - Glasgow City Council

Strategic Environmental Assessment: Environmental Report
Annex A – Assessment matrices
Matrix 1: Assessment of the Vision for the Antonine Wall WHS Management Plan 2013-18
SEA topics Biodiversity, flora and fauna Material assets Cultural heritage Landscape and geodiversity Summary and mitigation
will the overarching
vision….
Vision wording
• prevent damage and
encourage favourable
condition to designated sites
and protected species and
undesignated biodiversity,
flora and fauna?
• promote and enhance where
appropriate enjoyment
and understanding of the
site from a natural heritage
perspective?
• contribute to effective
adaptation to potential
impacts of climate change
on natural heritage?
• maintain or enhance (where
appropriate) the tourism
resource of the WHS and the
wider area?
• support national forestry
policy?
• protect and where
appropriate enhance the
historic environment?
• promote positive effects for
the historic environment
through land management?
• promote and enhance where
appropriate enjoyment and
understanding of the site
from a cultural heritage
perspective?
• contribute to effective
adaptation to potential
impacts of climate change
on cultural heritage?
• protect and enhance the
landscape and geodiversity
value of the WHS?
• promote positive effects for
the landscape through land
management?
• contribute to effective
adaptation to potential
impacts of climate change
on the landscape?
• promote and enhance where
appropriate enjoyment
and understanding of
the landscape value and
geodiversity of the site?
The Antonine Wall will
be: a World Heritage Site
that is well maintained
and sustainably
managed to safeguard its
Outstanding Universal
Value; a property that is
established as a world
class visitor experience;
a catalyst to connect and
transform communities
locally, nationally and
internationally; a focus to
realise sustainable benefits
economically, socially
and environmentally
for locals and visitors
alike; and a resource for
inspiring learning and
creating opportunity
for participation and
discovery.
/
The wording of the vision,
particularly the inclusion of a
commitment to sustainable
management and to realising
environmental benefits,
provides scope within
the management plan to
have positive impacts for
biodiversity, flora and fauna.
The emphasis on creating
opportunity for participation
and discovery is not limited
to focusing on the cultural
heritage aspects of the site,
and therefore has the flexibility
contributed to promotion and
enhancement of the site from
a natural heritage perspective.
However, the level of benefit
will depend on aims and
objectives at lower levels of the
plan.
The vision contains an
explicit commitment to
substantially enhancing the
visitor experience of the site;
this will be an enhancement
of the tourism resource with
potentially significant benefits.
Whilst the vision does not
specifically refer to commercial
forestry, there is scope within
it to ensure that forestry policy
is supported. At this level, the
vision is likely to have a neutral
effect in respect of this criteria.
The vision is underpinned by
a commitment to protect and
enhance the site from a historic
environment perspective. The
introduction of commitments
to consider the sustainable
management of the site provide
scope for the lower levels of
the plan to address issues of
climate change adaptation in a
positive manner. However, the
introduction of a commitment
to realise sustainable benefits
economically, socially
and environmentally has
the potential to require
compromise where tensions
arise between different
sectors; this is unlikely to have
negative impacts, although it
could potentially temper the
level of positive benefit for the
historic environment in some
circumstances.
/
The wording of the vision,
particularly the inclusion of a
commitment to sustainable
management and to realising
environmental benefits,
provides scope within the
management plan to have
positive impacts for landscape
and geodiversity. The emphasis
on creating opportunity for
participation and discovery
is not limited to focusing on
the cultural heritage aspects
of the site, and therefore has
the flexibility contributed to
promotion and enhancement of
the site from a landscape value
and geodiversity perspective.
However, the level of benefit
will depend on aims and
objectives at lower levels of the
plan.
Whilst developing the
vision, it was considered
that introduction of an
emphasis on sustainability
in the management of the
site, and a recognition of the
environmental benefits which
the site can provide, would
provide scope for the plan to
have broader environmental
benefits, rather than focusing
solely on the historic
environment aspect of the site.
In general, the vision is likely
to have an overall positive
environmental effect, although
the level of benefit will depend
to some extent on the content
of aims and objectives at lower
levels of the plan. No specific
mitigation is recommended in
respect of the vision.
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