European Sites Mitigation SPD

European Sites Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

The European Sites Mitigation Supplementary Planning Document is formally adopted by the Council.  Residential development within the 'Zones of Influence' should now provide the necessary mitigation: 

• European Sites Mitigation SPD
• Statement of Adoption

You can see the zones using this link to the interactive map.  New development should make contributions if located within the Zones of Influence of:

• Plymouth and Tamar Estuaries Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area
• Falmouth and Helford Special Area of Conservation
• Penhale Dunes Special Area of Conservation.

The Council may collect contributions as part of a Section 106 agreement.  We use these for major developments.  We may use a planning condition for smaller residential development.  This requires the applicant to enter into a Section 111 agreement before developments starts. 

The tariff applies to all full applications, outline applications, permission principle applications and reserved matters applications where no contribution was made at the outline stage.

Submission of Appropriate Assessments

Applications submitted after 9 August 2021 require an Appropriate Assessment.  You can find the forms using the below links.  Although a S111 form can be completed at the submission stage, and this is encouraged, please do not make the contribution payment until contacted by the Case Officer. 

You can find the forms using these links:

• Form 1 - AA Template for Penhale Dunes
• Form 2 - AA Template for Fal and Helford Contributions
• Form 3 - AA Template for Plymouth Sound Estuaries SAC Tamar Estuaries SPA
• Form 4 - AA Template for Fal and Helford and Penhale Dunes Combined

Section 111 agreement templates

You can find templates for our Section 111 agreements using these links:

• S111 Template For Penhale Dunes Contributions
• S111 Template For Fal And Helford Contributions
• S111 Template For Plymouth Sound Estuaries SAC Tamar Estuaries SPA Contributions
• S111 Template For Fal And Helford And Penhale Dunes Combined Contributions
• Guidance on completion of Appropriate Assessment Templates
• Guidance on types of development requiring mitigation

What is a European Designated Site?

European designated sites have the highest level of environmental designation in the UK. They are nature conservation sites established under the Habitats and Birds Directives.  This includes:

• Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and
• Special Protection Areas (SPAs)

What does the European Sites SPD do?

Policy 22 of the Cornwall Local Plan committed the Council to produce an SPD. Plans and policies must not harm the special features of a European site. The Habitats Regulations Assessment found that there could be harm.  This is due to increased recreation as there will be more people living in Cornwall. So numbers of people using the sites are likely to go up. The document sets out a strategic approach to the of mitigation and monitoring of the sites. With a programme of measures and a scale of contributions from development. This makes it easier for developers to make sure that their proposals will not harm a European Site.  It also means that we can use the contributions to help protect the sites.