Designated a SSSI in 1986, Arcot Grassland and Ponds is situated near
Cramlington in south east Northumberland. It is a beautiful and important site,
notable as: “It supports probably the largest area of lowland species-rich
unimproved grassland in North East England. The grassland contains a number of
plant species now uncommon in the county. Both this grassland and the heathland
are now extremely rare in Northumberland and threatened by agricultural
improvement and development” (quote from the SSSI document, Natural
England). It is mentioned in 2 habitat categories in the Northumberland
Biodiversity Action Plan (lowland heathland and lowland meadows and pastures).
In 2004, it was one of 5 sites proposed by Natural England (then still
known as English Nature) to be designated as Local Nature Reserves via the
Wildspace! initiative. Wildspace!
was funded in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund to help local communities
create more Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) and improve existing ones. Wildspace!
funded projects all over England between 2002 and 2006 but is now at an end.
Of these 5 sites, only 2 went on to become local nature reserves
(LNRs), East Cramlington and Choppington Woods. Wildspace! provided the funding
for the capital works to enable these 2 reserves to be created plus lots of
other excellent projects around the North East of England with a lasting legacy
of protection and public access to properly-managed nature reserves.
After missing out on this initial opportunity to secure Arcot’s future,
another chance arose in 2011, when the Grasslands Trust charity was awarded
government funding for a 10 year stewardship & wildlife management of the
site:
It looks like the Trust had great plans
for Arcot, as the Journal reports: “The Grasslands Trust will be setting up a
permissive access trail and running guided walks and events to encourage the
local community to use the site and to feel the benefits of enjoying nature. The
Grasslands Trust have been able to secure Government funding to ensure 10 years
of wildlife management at Arcot.”
But misfortune struck again. The Wikipedia entry for the Grasslands
Trust states that the charity closed in 2012 due to ‘cash problems’:
Fast forward to 2017, when planning permission has recently been
granted by Northumberland County Council to commence a huge residential development
of 1,600 homes in the south-west sector of Cramlington, effectively filling in
the final undeveloped quarter of the town. The development site will border the
SSSI, and it is essential to note that the
land the SSSI lies on is now owned by the developers. The land is owned by
a body named the Arcot Consortium which consists of the two housebuilding
companies Persimmon and Bellway Homes.
The developers have included plans for a “buffer zone” to landscape
areas between the edge of the development and the SSSI in order to help protect
it.
Another mitigation is that land to the south of the SSSI will be kept
as set-aside land. This is a good thing as this land appears to support similar
habitats to that contained in the SSSI.
While the vagaries of planning permission are beyond me, I have tried
to decipher what else was built in to the planning permission to safeguard Arcot.
An Environmental Impact Assessment and an Environmental Statement (ES)
was submitted with the application.
The
ES says the site is buffered by the Golf Course - this is incorrect. – I have
attached a map of the SSSI area from Natural England which shows that the SSSI
area INCLUDES the golf course.
The 2015 planning document stated:
7.49 The
site itself does not have any specific ecological designation however, Arcot
Hall Grasslands and ponds Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) lies to
the south of the site. The SSSI could be vulnerable through increased
disturbance from members of the public utilising the public footpaths in the
area. This has been considered as part of the scheme and the layout
incorporates alternative, attractive, areas of open space to reduce impacts on
the SSSI. Natural England have advised that the SSSI does not present a
constraint in determining this application.
7.50 The applicant is proposing to provide a financial contribution
towards the future management of the SSSI, which until recently, has been
managed by the Grassland Trust. Securing the long term maintenance of the SSSI
for the wider benefit is welcomed and this can be secured through a section 106
agreement.
(note the erroneous reference to the Grasslands Trust which by my
reckoning could only have managed the site for a matter of months before going
under).
The conditions of the planning permission include point 31:
31.
No development shall take place unless in accordance with the mitigation
detailed within: the protected species report `An Extended Phase 1 and
Protected Species Survey – Arcot Cramlington - E3 Ecology Ltd R06 update
01.12.14.
Reason: To protect Arcot Hall Grasslands and Ponds SSSI
and conserve protected species and their habitat.
In the subsequent Section 106 agreement agreed in December 2016, there
seemed to be an omission of any reference to such a financial contribution to
the management of Arcot SSSI.
By the way,
the documentation is all on the Northumberland planning portal and the
reference number is 15/00901/OUTES and the subsequent reserved matters
reference number is 17/00393/REM
I wrote to NCC, Natural England and the Northumberland Wildlife Trust
in July 2017, raising my concern that while I appreciated that some mitigation
had been defined, any commitment to manage the SSSI appeared to have been
omitted from the Section 106 agreement.
I received no reply or acknowledgement of my concerns from Natural England.
Nick Mason, Director of Living
Landscapes at Northumberland Wildlife Trust responded to my enquiry as follows:
“I can confirm NWT is not involved in any current discussions about site
management and has no agreements in place for site management.”
However he promises me that the Trust will keep their eyes peeled on
the development at Arcot. It’s good to know they’ll remain an interested party
but it’s understandable that they are not stakeholders in the decision making
process here, and would need to secure considerable funds in order to buy back
the land and transform it into a NWT-owned nature reserve.
My observations since July 2017
July 2017, email from principal
ecologist at the County Council, Mr David Feige
Acknowledged my concerns, and that the matter was important and they
would be looking in to it.
July 2017, a couple of site
visits to the SSSI
It is very peaceful and eerie place. I can find no trace of the
butterfly orchids that are mentioned in the Rare Plant Register, though the
site is heaving with common spotted orchids, yellow rattle and other native
wild flowers, and teeming with bird and insect life. There is no infrastructure
to support parking and visiting the site. A bridleway/waggonway runs north to
south on the eastern side of the site which is used by walkers, cyclists and
probably illegaly by motorbikes. A minor road borders the south of the site
which runs between the A1 Seaton Burn turnoff and Cramlington; this is
infrequently used due to the East Coast main line level crossing which can
remain closed for long periods due to the frequency of trains on the line. To
the west is the rough and links of Arcot Hall golf club and to the north is the
farmland which will be built on for the massive new housing estate.
The fascination for me with this site is the thought that we are
surrounded by urban sprawl yet this site will look just as it has done for many
hundreds of years, because it is “unimproved”. However the last report of
Natural England on the condition of the SSSI is that it is in poor condition - it is not being
properly managed so is vulnerable to vandalism, and the ‘wrong’ kind of scrub
or vegetation is growing up and crowding out the rare plants. I think this SSSI is
particularly vulnerable compared to many others in Northumberland due to its
proximity to the urban landscape – many others are protected due to their
remoteness in the coastal and hill areas of the county.
September
2017, email from David Feige, Principal
Ecologist and AONB Officer, Northumberland County Council
‘The Arcot Consortium currently have a management agreement with
Natural England covering Arcot Hall Grasslands and Pond SSSI, and there has
evidently been some confusion concerning this and planning obligations that
they should be entering into through the planning process. I am currently setting
up a meeting between Natural England and ourselves to establish what has
happened to date and what should happen from now’.
November 2017
The north of the development site has been cleared and the advertising board
has gone up in the fields adjoining the site - Persimmon Homes – Coming Soon: “The Fairways”. Persimmon will provide a
proportion of the 1,600 new homes to be built with Bellway providing the other.
November 2017, Email from David
Feige
Just to let you know that we are
expecting information to be submitted by the developer concerning the
management of Arcot Hall SSSI and other ecological matters set out in their
Environmental Statement, and they have confirmed that this will be submitted
shortly.
This information will be subject
to public consultation, and so I will let you know when it is submitted.
We cannot stop the uncontrolled development that seems to be happening
everywhere these days. Organisations such as Natural England have had their
budgets slashed. Conservation charities are suffering.
However, we can try our best to ensure that the developers are required
to make the necessary contribution to conserving and managing the land, and
mitigating for the damage they do to habitats. We must hold them to account for
this. Habitat destruction is the biggest threat to our wildlife. The State of
Nature report (2013 and 2016)
“The threats to the UK’s wildlife
are many and varied, the most severe acting either
to destroy valuable
habitat or degrade the quality and value of what remains.”
Postscript: Can we trust developers?
They are sneaky! There have been two instances of housing developers in
my home town of Bedlington destroying hedgerows and other habitats that they
weren’t supposed to – and it always happens right at the end of the
development! i.e sorry we tore down your hedgerows but it’s done now, and the houses
are all built and people have bought them, so what are you going to do about
it? And by the way, we’re not going to bother to plant new native vegetation in
mitigation, or build a play park for the kids, or contribute to the local primary
school etc. Which is deplorable, but the developers are only interested in
maximising profit, jamming as many houses as they can in to the site and
seeking wherever possible to weasel their way out of commitments that damage
their profits.
Next month I’ll
be looking at Druridge Bay, an incredibly important habitat, containing several
nature reserves ad SSSIs, and currently under threat from opencast mining plans.
I urge you to take a look at the Save Druridge campaign. The result of the
public enquiry on Druridge is due in December and I’ll keep you posted on that
as well as any update on Arcot as I hear it.
PHOTOS: Map of the SSSI, map of the housing development, some photos from my site visits in July 2017
Map of Arcot Grassland and Ponds SSSI
Plan of new housing development at Cramlington
View through fallen tree at Arcot Pond
Common spotted orchid at Arcot Pond
Meadow at Arcot Pond
The grasslands at Arcot Pond
Purple loosestrife at Arcot Pond
