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Henfield Common destruction of rich archaic grassland vegetation,
including iconic Chamomile lawn.
Can people please
submit a report to the Horsham District Council Planning Enforcement team
through this online system:
https://www.horsham.gov.uk/planning/planning-enforcement
Stress the urgency.
Destructive works – spraying, drainage, topsoil removal – may re-commence in
days.
Contact your local Horsham
district councillor to ask for their support:
http://horsham.moderngov.co.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
The key points here
are:
-
The proposed works
constitute a “material change of use” of the land and this requires planning
permission
-
A full ecological
surveys should be completed this year (spring/summer/autumn) as part of the
planning application process
- Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is
present in quantity. It is a Section 41 species, protected under Natural
Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006
-
The
legislation requires that the public authority (Parish Council and District
Council) must, in exercising its functions, have regard, so far as is
consistent with the proper exercise of those functions, to the purpose of
conserving biodiversity
(NERC Act 2006)
-
There is a distinctive
diversity of other plant and fungi species, some of which may also be protected
species – yet to the untrained eye, this may just look like any grassy area.
-
The PC’s own proposed
NDP (not approved) identified the area as part of Henfield Common and a Local
Green Space. The NDP also had a policy on biodiversity.
Other useful links:
-
NERC Act legislation: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/16/section/41
-
Full list of section
41 species and other conservation designations (search on Chamomile):
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-3408
-
Natural England table
of action on S41 species:
http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/4958719460769792
Thanks,
Dave Bangs
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