Paragraph 7 Landscape and ecology management planI1

England and Wales

(1)

No phase of the authorised development may commence, and no part of the permitted preliminary works for that phase comprising vegetation removal may start, until a landscape and ecology management plan (which must be substantially in accordance with the outline landscape and ecology management plan) has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that phase or, where the phase falls within the administrative areas of both the District of South Kesteven and the County of Rutland, both relevant planning authorities, following consultation with Natural England and Lincolnshire County Council.

(2)

The landscape and ecology management plan must include details of all proposed hard and soft landscaping works and ecological mitigation and enhancement measures (as applicable for the relevant numbered work) for that part and where applicable include for that part—

(a)

the location, number, species, size and planting density of any proposed planting including details of any proposed tree, hedgerow and shrub planting and the proposed times of such planting;

(b)

grassland planting, establishment and maintenance (including any necessary updates to the Grassland Establishment Management Plan (Appendix 3 of the outline landscape and ecology management plan);

(c)

any hedgerows proposed for removal that are not shown on the hedgerows plans;

(d)

cultivation, importing of materials and other operations to ensure plant establishment;

(e)

existing trees to be retained;

(f)

an implementation timetable;

(g)

how the plan proposals will contribute to the achievement of a minimum of 65% biodiversity net gain in habitat units and a minimum of 36% biodiversity net gain in hedgerow units for all of the authorised development during the operation of the authorised development and the metric that has been used to calculate that those percentages will be reached;

(h)

how the landscaping and ecological measures proposed in the plan will be managed and maintained during the operational life of the authorised development to the date on which the decommissioning environmental management plan is implemented pursuant to requirement 18 (decommissioning and restoration);

(i)

the ecological surveys required to be carried out prior to commencement of a numbered work, or following completion of a numbered work in order to monitor the effect of, or inform, the ecological mitigation measures and the monitoring regime to be taken forward following those initial surveys; and

(j)

the final routing, specification and maintenance regime for each permissive path.

(3)

Any hedgerow, shrub or tree planted as part of the approved plan that, within a period of five years after planting, is removed, dies or becomes, in the opinion of the relevant planning authority (as applicable), seriously damaged or diseased, must be replaced in the first available planting seasons with a specimen of the same species and size as that originally planted.

(4)

Each landscape and ecology management plan approved under sub-paragraph (1) must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant phases of the authorised development to which each plan relates.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Sch. 2 para. 7 in force at 3.8.2024, see art. 1