To answer the following questions from members of the public, received in accordance with Procedure Rule 10:-
i. from Mr John Price
“Who is the present appointed Heritage Champion for WAVERLEY and when was the appointment made?”
ii. from Mr Jerry Hyman of Farnham
“The evidence from Visitor Surveys suggests that SANGs are having the opposite effect to intended, as visitor numbers to the TBHSPA have increased since 2005. Of course, common sense and principles indicated that would happen, but in hot pursuit of East Street and cramming Farnham, Waverley led the 13 'TBHSPA-affected' planning authorities to adopt the SANG strategy at the SEP EiP TBHSPA technical sessions in 2006/7.
Clearly this poses a very real threat of unmitigated disaster to endangered bird species, and even Natural England say they have no evidence that SANGs are effective. As we know, the NPPF and the law demand "convincing" evidence that the cumulative effect of development must not cause any significant harmful impact on the protected species populations and their habitats.
If this Council has any real evidence that the SANG strategy is not counter-productive, where can that evidence be found?"
[NB. Questions from members of the public express personal views of the questioners and Waverley does not endorse any statements in any way and they do not reflect the views of Waverley Borough Council].
Minutes:
The following questions were received from members of the public in accordance with Procedure Rule 10:
i. from Mr Price
“Who is the present appointed Heritage Champion for WAVERLEY and when was the appointment made?”
The Leader of the Council gave the following reply:-
“Cllr Nick Holder was Waverley’s Heritage Champion for some years but the position is currently vacant. We will be appointing to this position, along with a number of other appointments, after the elections in May”.
ii. from Mr Jerry Hyman of Farnham
“The evidence from Visitor Surveys suggests that SANGs are having the opposite effect to intended, as visitor numbers to the TBHSPA have increased since 2005. Of course, common sense and principles indicated that would happen, but in hot pursuit of East Street and cramming Farnham, Waverley led the 13 'TBHSPA-affected' planning authorities to adopt the SANG strategy at the SEP EiP TBHSPA technical sessions in 2006/7.
Clearly this poses a very real threat of unmitigated disaster to endangered bird species, and even Natural England say they have no evidence that SANGs are effective. As we know, the NPPF and the law demand "convincing" evidence that the cumulative effect of development must not cause any significant harmful impact on the protected species populations and their habitats.
If this Council has any real evidence that the SANG strategy is not counter-productive, where can that evidence be found?"
The Executive Portfolio Holder for Planning, Cllr Brian Adams, responded:-
“It is worth clarifying that the SPA avoidance strategy is provided to enable the delivery of housing without having a significant effect on the SPA. The issue, therefore, is to demonstrate that there has not been an increase in recreational pressure as a result of new housing development. This is a different test to assessing whether visitor numbers overall have increased.
The Visitor Survey notes that although the total number of people counted entering the SPA at the survey locations was 10% higher than in 2005, the differences were not however significant and fall within the limits of what could be expected by chance’. The report further states Para. 3.58 that ‘Statistically there is no evidence of a real change in visitor numbers, and the 10% increase in the total count of visitors between 2005 and 2012/13 (Table 26) should be attributed to either location specific factors or unquantifiable sampling variation.’
It is also worth highlighting that consideration of the effectiveness of the SPA avoidance strategy also needs to take into account the full range of mitigation measures. This includes access management – eg wardening on the SPA – which has now commenced. The wardens’ role includes promoting a positive conservation message to SPA visitors, encouraging responsible dog walking, and promoting the suite of SANGs to SPA users as alternative sites. This is an important element of the strategy and as part of this new initiative, the project will be identifying and refining measures of success to judge the effectiveness of access management measures on the ground.
Your view therefore that the SANG and delivery framework is ineffective is premature, based on a partial analysis of Natural England’s conclusions and is not supported by the evidence they have gathered.”