environmental statement - Rotherham's Online Application for ...

Breeding Bird Survey
8.17 Four breeding bird survey visits were undertaken; a single visit was
undertaken on 17 th June 2007 and three further visits were carried out on
29 th April, 20 th June and 11 th July 2008. The visits undertaken in 2008
involved recording all of the bird species observed, their locations and
activity/behaviour on field maps of the survey area. When the visits were
completed the survey maps were analysed to assess the breeding
populations for each species (number of breeding pairs).
Wintering Vantage Point Survey
8.18 Wintering VP watches were carried out at two VPs between 12 October
2007 and 31 March 2008 and amounted to 33.5 hours at VP1 and 35
hours at VP2. The total time spent on VPs therefore fell slightly short of the
required survey effort (36 hours per VP) and could not be recovered in the
time available. This has been accounted for in the CRM calculations.
8.19 All VP watches were of three hours duration (except where these were
curtailed due to rapid deterioration in visibility and poor light) and were
carried out at different times of the day between dawn and dusk to account
for different levels of bird activity.
8.20 The survey data were inputted into the CRM developed by W. Band and
others (Band et al., in press; SNH, 2000).
Assessment Of Significance
8.21 The method of evaluation and assessment uses a combination of the
following guidance:
Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment (Institute of Ecology and
Environmental Management, 2006);
Guidelines for Baseline Ecological Assessment (Institute of
Environmental Assessment, 1995); and
Wind Farms and Birds: Calculating a Theoretical Risk Assuming No
Avoiding Action (Scottish Natural Heritage, 2000).
8.22 The assessment of effects is based on determining firstly the value of the
receiving species and secondly the magnitude of the potential impact on
the species, in order to provide an overall impact score and therefore the
predicted impact significance. The value of each species of nature
conservation interest is assessed based on the guidance listed above,
incorporating additional advice within the Ratcliffe criteria (1977) and the
IEEM Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment (2006).
8.23 Firstly, each assessed species is assigned one of the following nature
conservation values:
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Penny Hill Wind Farm
Environmental Statement