Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area

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For more information, please contact

Planning Policy and Conservation Team

Tel: 01276 707222
Email: Planning Policy

The need for residential development in Surrey Heath has to be balanced against environmental considerations such as the potential for impact on the habitats of protected species within the Thames Basin Heaths.

What is the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area?

The Special Protection Area (SPA) consists of tracts of heathland covered by a number of local authority areas across Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey, including Surrey Heath. The heathland is part of Natura 2000, a European-wide network of sites of international importance for nature conservation established under the European Community Directives (i.e. Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation). The lowland heath supports distinctive flora and fauna, some of which are under threat and in decline.

The Thames Basin Heaths SPA was designated on 9 March 2005 and is one of the South East's most important natural assets. The Thames Basin Heaths supports important populations of vulnerable ground-nesting birds. Areas of the Ash to Brookwood Heaths Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) are classified as part of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) due to its vulnerable internationally important plant communities.

What is the Joint Strategic Partnership Board?

To find out more about this please follow the link to the Joint Strategic Partnership Board (JSPB)

How does the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area affect Surrey Heath?

The heathland in the Borough supports significant populations of Dartford Warbler, nightjar and woodlark. The SPA covers most of the heathland areas in the Borough such as Bagshot Heath, Old Dean Common, West End Common, and Chobham Common. It also extends to the heathland areas in 10 other districts in west Surrey, north east Hampshire, and south Berkshire. The areas within Surrey Heath that are designated as SPA are:

How does the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area affect new development in Surrey Heath?

Natural England is the Government agency that champions the conservation of wildlife throughout England. They have advised that new housing within 5 kilometres of the SPA may harm the rare bird populations. This harm can be caused by disturbance to the birds from a growth in the number of walkers, cats and dogs frequenting the heathland, and other recreational uses created by additional housing.

No additional housing will be permitted within 400 metres of the SPA. New additional housing within 400m - 5 km of he SPA will be required to demonstrate that it can avoid any likely effect. This can be done using the following measures: first is the provision of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) at an agreed standard of 8ha per 1000 new residents, and the second is through the delivery of Strategic Access Management and Monitoring Measures (SAMM), to be funded by developer contributions.

The way forward

The Borough Council has adopted the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area Avoidance Strategy Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). The SPD was agreed by Executive on 4th January 2012. It sets out the approach that Surrey Heath Borough Council will take to avoiding harm to the Special Protection Area as a result of new housing development.

In addition the Council has now agreed a new SANG at Hawley Meadows/ Blackwater Park (see below for further details). However capacity is limited and larger sites may be required to provide their own SANG. The potential for a further SANG at Heather Farm, Woking is currently being investigated, it is hoped that this may be available later in 2012.

Submitting Planning Applications that require SPA mitigation
Where a planning application involves a net increase in residential units in proximity to the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and in order for the proposal not to have a significant adverse impact on the integrity of the protected site, in combination with other developments, it will be necessary in most cases for applicants/agents to propose financial contributions towards SPA avoidance measures.

Hawley Meadows/ Blackwater Park SANG
This site will provide avoidance measures for sites of less than 10 dwellings across the Borough and for sites of 10 or more dwellings in the Camberley/ Frimley area, as shown on the catchment area mapFile Type: Adobe PDF document, File Size:789.27 Kb (115 seconds @ 56K) Opens in a new window. The contribution required depends on the size of unit. Contributions are based on occupancy rates as follows:

Information on Hawley Meadows/Blackwater Park SANG
Dwelling	Occupancy	Tariff @£2600 per person	Tariff including SAMM payment of £263 per person
1 bedroom	1.40	£3,640	£4,008
2 bedroom	1.85	£4,810	£5,297
3 bedroom	2.50	£6,500	£7,157
4 bedroom	2.85	£7,410	£8,160
5+ bedroom	3.70	£9,620	£10,593

In addition to the above cost of providing a SANG contribution a monitoring fee payment of £400 is also required. There is also a Legal charge for preparing the Unilateral Undertaking which is currently £750 for the preparation of most agreements. If the agreement is more complex than in addition to the standard fee an hourly rate will be applied.

The costs set out above are explained further in the management plan for the site Hawley Meadows / Blackwater Park Management PlanFile Type: Adobe PDF document, File Size:3,230.42 Kb (473 seconds @ 56K) Opens in a new window

Strategic Access Management and Monitoring (SAMM)

SAMM is a project to provide management of visitors across the entire SPA and monitoring of the impact. It addresses the issue of cumulative impact of new development across the SPA. SAMM is a joint project between the Local Planning Authorities affected by the SPA along with Natural England (as the delivery body) and Hampshire County Council (as the administrative body).

For information on the SAMM project and how the tariffs are calculated, please see the Natural England SAMM tariff guidance.File Type: Adobe PDF document, File Size:179.02 Kb (26 seconds @ 56K) Opens in a new window

Unilateral Undertaking

To mitigate against the potential impact of a development on the SPA, applicants will need to notify the Planning Department as soon as possible whether they wish to make the appropriate mitigation payment on submission of a unilateral agreement or make the appropriate payment on commencement of the proposed development otherwise it will be assumed that payments of contributions will be on submission of the Unilateral Undertaking. The Council's Legal Department will then send out a draft unilateral undertaking to be completed by the applicant. The appropriately calculated contributions will be included into the agreement.

The advantage of making the required payment on submission of the unilateral agreement is that this will negate the need to provide the Land Registry Title information and any mortgagee does not need to sign the deed. In most cases this will save the applicant a considerable amount of time and legal costs.

The alternative option is a unilateral agreement with payment on commencement of development, however as stated above, up to date Land Registry Title information will be required with the submitted unilateral undertaking and if there is a mortgagee they will also need to sign the Deed.

Applicants/Agents should note that the provision of a completed Unilateral Undertaking does not mean that the planning application proposal is acceptable. It will still need to be assessed in relation to all other material planning considerations. If following consideration of the planning application the scheme is refused any sums paid to the Local Authority, excluding legal fees, will be returned following the expiry of the time limit for lodging an appeal or sooner if requested.

Guidance Notes on Planning AgreementsFile Type: Adobe PDF document, File Size:38.81 Kb (6 seconds @ 56K) Opens in a new window

Other Documents/ Downloads

For further information on the Special Protection Areas visit the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website www.jncc.gov.uk Opens in a new window - Look under 'Protected Sites' and then 'Special Protection Areas'.