Planning for Renewable Energy in Worcestershire Research Paper

166. RENEWABLE ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT ● Planning for Renewable Energy in Worcestershire6.5 Landscape, biodiversity andheritage designations exist at national,regional and local levels of policy-making,offering protection to valuable natural andbuilt environments throughout the County.For the purposes of renewable energy,PPS22 offers guidance on technologieswithin International Designated Sites;National Designations; and LocalDesignations. Each of these designationsconveys a different form of protection.There are currently two internationallydesignatedsites in the County (BredonHill in Wychavon and Lyppard GrangePonds in Worcester), both of which areSpecial Areas of Conservation (SACs). Inaddition, there are a number of SACs andRAMSAR wetland sites which fall whollyor partly within the administrativeboundaries of neighbouring Counties. Interms of national designations, there aretwo Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty(AONBs) that extend into the County, theMalvern Hills to the south-west, and theCotswolds to the south. Alongside theseprotected landscapes, a host of otherdesignations apply across the County,including numerous Sites of SpecialScientific Interest (SSSI); Special WildlifeSites (SWS); Local Nature Reserves(LNR), sites of archaeological,architectural or historic interest recordedon the Historic Environment Record etc.Full schedules of these sites can befound in each district's adopted LocalPlan or Local Development Framework.15PPS22 does not provide a definition of "small scale",but it may be assumed from the definition of "large scale"within the Companion Guide to PPS22 as "producing over0.5MW of electricity" that "small scale" is below this level.16It should be noted that the AONBs have statutoryManagement Plans in place, to which regard should behad when considering development within their areas. Inaddition, the Cotswolds AONB Conservation Board havepublished a Position Statement on the Criteria forRenewable Energy, which should be considered whenplanning renewables projects within, or close to, theCotswolds AONB.Technical Research Paper6.6 National policy in 'PPS7:Sustainable Development in Rural Areas'and 'PPS9: Biodiversity and GeologicalConservation' dictates how these varioussites are to be protected. It is not possibleto generalise the type of development thatwill or will not be appropriate within oradjacent to these sites, as each schememust be considered on its merits, againstset criteria.6.7 The Government has stated inPPS22 that development that willadversely affect internationally-designatedsites will not be permissible unless thereare "imperative reasons of overridingpublic interest, including those of a socialor economic nature".6.8 For nationally-designated sites,the objectives of designation should notbe compromised, and if "significantadverse affects" are identified then thesemust be "clearly outweighed by theenvironmental, social and economicbenefits". Of particular relevance withinWorcestershire, it is stated that Areas ofOutstanding Natural Beauty should beable to accommodate small-scaledevelopments 15 , providing theenvironment is not significantlycompromised 16 .6.9 Local designations are insufficientin themselves to preclude renewables,and criteria-based policies should beused to make a judgment in these areas.Examples of such designations in theCounty include Local Nature Reservesand Special Wildlife Sites.