Environmental Statement volume 4 - Chiltern Evergreen3

• bats (European protected species) (1) - bridges and viaduct structures,warehouses and small concrete bunkers, occasional mature and veteran trees;• otter (European protected species) (2) – ditches, rivers and waterbodies;• great crested newt (European protected species) (3) – field ponds, wet stillditches and drains, man-made waterbodies;• badger (nationally protected species) (4) – railway embankments – up to 10 settsrecorded;• water vole (nationally protected species) (5) – ditches, rivers andwaterbodies/marsh and wet grassland;• breeding birds (European or nationally protected species) (6) – wet and marshfields, tree scrub and bramble, reservoir, larger ditches and rivers;• wintering birds (European to nationally protected species) (7) - wet and marshfields and larger ditches; and• reptiles (nationally protected species) (8) – railway embankments and tall drygrassland patches.Identification of Key Issues and ImpactsDesignated Sites3.4.13 The Oxfordshire Meadows SAC located in close proximity to part of the southernsection of the route is designated for lowland hay meadows and Apium repens(creeping marshwort). The Phase 1 Survey will identify any qualifying featurespresent within any areas to be disturbed, though it is not considered that the workswill directly impact the SAC.3.4.14 The EIA will need to take into account the potential for impacts on the followingSSSIs which are located adjacent to, or are intersected by the study corridor:• Hook Meadow and the Trap Ground SSSI;• Wolvercote Meadows SSSI;• Port Meadow with Wolvercote Common and Green SSSI; and• Wendlebury Meads and Mansmoor Closes SSSI.3.4.15 The nature of any predicted impacts, direct, or indirect to the SSSIs will bedetermined and Natural England will be consulted as appropriate.3.4.16 Further consideration will be given to eight local sites comprising County WildlifeSites (CWS) and Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINCs) occurwithin close proximity or are intersected by the existing rail corridor.(1) All British bat species are protected under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations 1994, as amended. Three batspecies, including pipistrelle, Barbastelle and Lesser Horseshoe, are also LBAP priority species.(2)Included under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations 1994, as amended and protected under the WCA asamended by the CRoW Act 2000.(3) Great crested newts are protected under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations 1994, as amended.(4) Protection for Badgers Act 1992.(5) Add protection legislation(6) European to national protection.(7) European to national protection.(8) All reptiles in the UK are protected under the WCA as amended by the CRoW Act 2000.ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT26CHILTERN RAILWAYS LTD