Documents for the River Lambourn Special Area of Conservation (SAC)

Natural England (NE) has previously advised 32 LPAs that, where protected sites are in unfavourable condition due to excess nutrients, development should only go ahead if it will not cause additional nutrient pollution to sites. In March 2022, Natural England advised a further 42 local planning authorities that protected sites within their areas are covered by this advice, including the River Lambourn Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The documents listed below are those that Natural England have made available to the council to support this decision:

• The  Water Quality and Nutrient Neutrality Advice Letter [499KB] , dated 16 March 2022
• Nutrient Neutrality Principles [152KB] , dated February 2022
• Nutrient Neutrality Summary Guide [141KB]
• The  River Lambourn Evidence Pack [182KB] confirming the levels of phosphorous within the various units of the River Lambourn

The advice letter also applies to planning applications at the reserved matters approval stage of the planning application process, and to applications for grants of prior approval and/or certificates of lawfulness for a proposed use or operation.

Tourism attractions and tourism accommodation are included in the methodology, as these land uses attract people into the catchment and generate additional wastewater and consequential nutrient loading on the designated sites. This includes self-service and serviced tourist accommodation such as hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfasts, self-catering holiday chalets and static caravan sites.

Other types of proposal should be considered on their individual merits, for example conference facilities that generate overnight stays.

Other types of business or commercial development, not involving overnight accommodation, will generally not need to be included in the assessment unless they have other (non-sewerage) water quality implications. For the purposes of the methodology, it is assumed that anyone living in the catchment also works and uses facilities in the catchment, and therefore wastewater generated can be calculated using the population increase from new homes and other accommodation.

The European Site Conservation Objectives for River Lambourn SAC (UK0030257) (26 September 2014) record provides Natural England's advice on the Conservation Objectives for the River Lambourn SAC.