Correspondence

Annex B: Provisions relating to licensed actions on or around protected sites in Leicestershire

Published 7 September 2020

Applies to England

Licence Annex B: provisions relating to licensed actions on or around Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and/or Ramsar sites within the county of Leicestershire.

SSSI name	European Designated Site name (where applicable)	Licence condition
Allexton Wood SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation.
Ashby Canal SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Bardon Hill Quarry SSSI		Where this SSSI overlaps Bardon Hill SSSI, all vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint, or to areas of dense bracken/dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Bardon Hill SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense bracken, dense scrub or conifer plantation.
Barrow Gravel Pits SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub, rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation. No trapping or driving of vehicles within wetland habitat.
Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Out Woods SSSI		No licensed activities from 1 March to 31 August to avoid bird breeding season. All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense bracken/dense scrub, rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation.
Benscliffe Wood SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Blackbrook Reservoir SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Botcheston Bog SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland, but must avoid all wet, marshy ground
Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir SSSI		No licensed activities from 1 March to 31 August to avoid bird breeding season. All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or to areas of dense Bracken. No trap to be located within 30 metres of a tree with a trunk diameter greater than 1 metre at breast height.
Breedon Cloud Wood and Quarry SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation.
Breedon Hill SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or areas of dense hawthorn scrub/secondary woodland.
Briery Wood Heronry, Belvoir SSSI		No licensed activities from 1 February to 31 July to avoid heron breeding season.
Buddon Wood and Swithland Reservoir SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub or conifer plantation. No trapping or driving of vehicles within wetland habitat.
Charnwood Lodge SSSI		No licensed activities from 1 March to 31 August to avoid bird breeding season. All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense bracken/dense scrub/secondary woodland, but must avoid all wet, marshy ground
Chater Valley SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland, but must avoid all wet, marshy ground
Cliffe Hill Quarry SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Coalville Meadows SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Cotes Grassland SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Cribb’s Lodge Meadows SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Croxton Park SSSI		No licensed activities from 1 March to 31 August to avoid bird breeding season. All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint. The licensee must assist Natural England with the gathering of information on fox control taking place on, and in the vicinity of, this SSSI (see Notes A and B).
Debdale Meadow, Muston SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Donington Park SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense bracken, rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation. No trap to be located within 30 metres of a tree with a trunk diameter greater than 1 metre at breast height.
Eye Brook Valley Woods SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation.
Frisby Marsh SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Gipsy Lane Pit SSSI		No additional conditions imposed.
Grace Dieu and High Sharpley SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense bracken/dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Grantham Canal SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Groby Pool and Woods SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland. No trapping or driving of vehicles within wetland habitat.
Harby Hill Wood SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Holly Rock Fields SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Holwell Mouth SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or areas of scrub.
Ives Head SSSI		No traps to be located within 20 metres of exposed south and west facing rock outcrops, in the immediate vicinity of the Ordnance Survey triangulation point.
Johnsons’ Meadows		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Kendall’s Meadow SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
King Lud’s Entrenchments and The Drift SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Launde Big Wood SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Leighfield Forest SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Lockington Marshes SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint. No trapping or driving of vehicles within wetland habitat.
Loughborough Meadows SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Lount Meadows SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Main Quarry, Mountsorrel SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Muston Meadows SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Newhurst Quarry SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Newton Burgoland Marshes SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Oakley Wood SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation.
One Barrow Plantation SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Owston Woods SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Pasture and Asplin Woods SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
River Eye SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Roecliffe Manor Lawns SSSI		All operations permitted under this licence must avoid all formal lawn areas within this SSSI.
Sheepy Fields SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub/secondary woodland.
Sheet Hedges Wood SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of rhododendron, cherry laurel scrub or conifer plantation.
Shepshed Cutting SSSI		No additional conditions imposed
Sproxton Quarry SSSI		No additional conditions imposed.
Stonesby Quarry SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Swithland Wood and The Brand SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or to areas of dense bracken/dense scrub/secondary woodland within the grassland land parcel only.
Terrace Hills Pasture SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Tilton Cutting SSSI		No additional conditions imposed.
Twenty Acre Piece SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.
Ulverscroft Valley SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint or, if present, to areas of dense scrub or conifer plantation, but must avoid all wet, marshy ground
Wymondham Rough SSSI		All vehicles must be restricted to existing tracks. Limit location of traps to existing sett footprint.

1. Notes to Annex B

1.1 General note on interpretation

Protected sites that are listed above are not necessarily part of any active operations. Active operations can and will only occur on protected sites where landowner/occupier permission has been granted.

Within the licence conditions, use of the word ‘avoid’ denotes a prohibition, i.e. it indicates that an area must be excluded from relevant activities or that activities must not be undertaken during the time period stated or in the manner described. Similarly, the word ‘restrict’ means that activities must be confined to the areas or time periods stated.

For further details on each protected site and its notified features of special interest and/or European Site qualifying features please enter the site name into the following link: https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteSearch.aspx.

1.2 Individual notes

Note A

Natural England will inform the licensee from time to time of the information it requires. This is likely to focus on whether fox control is routinely undertaken on the relevant site and/or on areas of participating land within a few kilometres of the site. The licensee is expected to use reasonable endeavours to assist Natural England with the gathering of this information.

Note B

Natural England may form the judgment that measures should be introduced to secure the protection of species associated with this site, such as fox control, anti-predator fencing, habitat management, or buffer zones in which badger control is not undertaken. Such measures may be secured through cooperation between licensees, landowners, occupiers, and/or public bodies. If it considers it necessary to do so, Natural England may: exercise its powers under sections 28J-K of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or regulation 20 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017; and/or revoke and re-issue this licence with revised terms (provided that such terms will be reasonable and proportionate in all of the circumstances).

Note W

European protected species are listed in Schedule 2 (animals) and Schedule 5 (plants) of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. Nationally protected species are listed in Schedule 5 (animals) and Schedule 8 (plants) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). Under these laws (regulations 43 and 47 of the 2017 Regulations and sections 9 and 13 of the 1981 Act), it can be an offence to:

• deliberately capture, injure or kill any wild animal of a European protected species
• intentionally kill, injure or take a nationally protected wild animal
• deliberately disturb wild animals of any European protected species
• intentionally or recklessly damage or destroy any structure or place which a nationally protected animal uses for shelter or protection, disturb such an animal while it is occupying such a structure or place, or obstruct access to any such structure or place
• damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of any wild animal of a European protected species
• deliberately take or destroy the eggs of any wild animal of a European protected species
• deliberately pick, collect, cut, uproot or destroy a wild plant of a European protected species
• intentionally pick, uproot or destroy any nationally protected wild plant

Great crested newt, otter, dormouse, and sand lizard are European and nationally protected species.

Note Y

All birds, their eggs and nests (while in use or under construction) are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This licence does not allow you to take or destroy such nests. Birds species listed under Schedule 1 of that Act have additional legal protection so care must be taken to avoid their disturbance during the breeding season.

Note Z

All bats and their roosts (even when not occupied by bats) are protected by the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and by The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. This licence does not allow you to enter or obstruct any bat roost, nor to disturb any bat whilst it is occupying a roost. Care must be taken to avoid sustained human presence near, or artificial illumination of cracks and cavities in trees and man-made structures, and of any mounted boxes.