1. Introduction

1.1 Overview

ITPEnergised was appointed by SSE Renewables, to undertake a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal informed by an ecological desk study and extended Phase 1 habitat survey for the onshore transmission works of the proposed Berwick Bank offshore wind farm development at Torness, southeast of Dunbar (hereafter referred to as the ‘Site’). The Site has central Ordnance Grid Reference: NT 74632 73282. The Study Area comprised the Site (landward of the Mean Low Water Spring (MLWS)) and up to a 500 m buffer dependent on the feature of interest (as shown on Figure 7.1.1).

The purpose of the extended Phase 1 habitat survey was to document the habitats present within the Site and immediately adjacent areas. The potential for protected or otherwise notable species to be present within the Site was also assessed to inform further survey requirements. The survey included a Preliminary Roost Assessment (PRA) of all buildings, structures and trees within the Site and a 50 m buffer. The results of the PRA including survey methods are reported upon within Volume 4, Appendix 7.3 (ITPEnergised, 2022a).

This report describes the methods used to gather and record information for the Site and summarises the findings of the study.

1.2 Site Description

The Site is approximately 600 hectares (ha) in size and extends from north-west of Skateraw Harbour to Bilsdean in the south. The A1 trunk road and the East Coast Main Line (ECML) railway pass through the Site from the north-west to the south-east. The Site largely comprises agricultural land with a mixture of arable and grazed fields. Braidwood Burn and Ogle Burn run through the western reaches of the Site, Thornton Burn and Branxton Burn runs through the centre of the Site, Dry Burn runs through the north of the Site and Bilsdean Burn runs through the south of the Site. These watercourses are commonly associated with corridors of scrub and mixed woodland habitat.  The Site also encompasses a number of small hamlets and farm steadings. Larger settlements include Crowhill, Branxton and Lawfield to the south of the A1 trunk road and Skateraw and Thorntonloch to the north.  The Site includes areas of the coastline the landfall locations to the north of Torness Point.

2. Legislation, Policy and Guidelines

An overview of relevant legislation, policy and guidance is provided below.

2.1 Legislation

Full consideration has been given to the relevant nature conservation legislation when carrying out this assessment. This includes the following:

       The Conservation of Natural Habitats and Wild Flora and Fauna (the ‘Habitats Directive’) 1992 (92/4/3EEC) (European Commission, 1992), transposed into Scots law by the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended);

       Directive (2009/147/EC) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (the ‘Birds Directive’) (European Commission, 2009), transposed into Scots law by the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as later amended);

       The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended);

       Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) (WCA);

       Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (as amended);

       The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) (WANE) Act 2011 (as amended); and

    The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) which places a statutory duty on all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity through the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, with Scottish priority species and habitats listed on the Scottish Biodiversity List (SBL), itself based on the former UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP), and regional biodiversity targets defined through the Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP).

Legislation specific to otter, badger and great crested newts including details of all actions which would constitute an offence, is detailed fully within Annex A.

2.2 Policy Framework

The policies set out in Annex B are those relevant to nature conservation and include those from National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) (Scottish Government, 2023), Planning Advice Note 60: Planning for Natural Heritage (Scottish Government, 2000) and the East Lothian Council Local Development Plan (LDP) (East Lothian Council, 2018).

2.3 Good Practice Ecological Guidance

In preparing this work, cognisance has been taken of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) good practice guidelines and survey methods (CIEEM, 2017 and 2018). The extended Phase 1 habitat survey is based on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) guidelines for Phase 1 habitat survey (JNCC, 2010). In addition, cognisance has been taken of the following best practice guidelines and survey method publications in relation to badgers (Meles meles), otter (Lutra lutra), water vole (Arvicola amphibius) and great crested newt (Triturus cristatus):

2.3.1           Otter

       Competencies for Species Survey: Otter (CIEEM, 2013a); and

       Monitoring the Otter Lutra lutra (Chanin, 2003).

2.3.2           Water vole

       Competencies for Species Survey: Water Vole (CIEEM, 2013b); and

       The Water Vole Mitigation Handbook (Dean et al., 2016).

2.3.3           Badger survey

       Competencies for Species Survey: Badger (CIEEM, 2013c); and

       Surveying for Badgers: Good Practice Guidelines (Scottish Badgers, 2018).

2.3.4           Great crested Newt

       Competencies for Species Survey: Great Crested Newt (CIEEM, 2013d); and

       Evaluating the suitability of habitat for the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) (Oldham et al., 2000).

3. Biodiversity Priorities

3.1 Scottish Biodiversity List

Scottish Ministers created the Scottish Biodiversity List (SBL) (Scottish Government, 2013) in 2005 to satisfy the requirements under Section 2(4) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 and assist public bodies in carrying out conservation of biodiversity, as well as to provide the general public with information regarding conservation within Scotland. The SBL comprises species and habitats listed using both scientific and social criteria. Only scientific criteria are considered relevant to this report. They include the following:

       All UK Priority Species present in Scotland;

       Species which Scotland has an international obligation to safeguard;

       All species defined as nationally rare at a UK level that are present in Scotland;

       Species with populations present (resident, wintering or breeding) in 5 or fewer 10 km squares or sites in Scotland;

       All species that are endemic to Scotland;

       Any sub-species or race that is widely recognised and accepted by the scientific (or other relevant) community and that is endemic to Scotland, if it also meets one of the other criteria; and

       Natural and semi-natural habitats that are known to be particularly important for supporting assemblages of plant or animal groups that are data deficient, such as fungi, bryophytes, lichens, algae and invertebrates.

3.2 Local Biodiversity Reporting

The East Lothian Biodiversity Partnership published the first edition of the East Lothian Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) in 2008 (East Lothian Biodiversity Partnership, 2008). A more recent version is not publicly available but it is considered that the 2008 document remains relevant.  The LBAP outlines priority habitats and species for East Lothian.  Those Priority Habitats relevant to the Site include:

       Woodland Habitats:

• Scrub; and
• Veteran trees.

       Rivers and Wetlands:

• Burns and Rivers.

       Farmland:

• Neutral grasslands;
• Hedgerows; and
• Cereal field margins.

       Urban Habitats:

• Urban Woodland; and
• Greenspace Networks.

       Coastal habitats:

• Sand dunes;
• Estuarine habitats, saltmarsh, mudflats; and
• Intertidal habitats.

Those Priority Species or Species Groups relative to the Site include:

       Great crested newt;

       Otter;

       Badger;

       Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris);

       Water vole;

       Bats (all species);

       Farmland birds;

       Migrants; and

       Waders.

3.3 Birds of Conservation Concern 5 (BoCC)

The leading government (JNCC) and non-government conservation organisations in the UK jointly reviewed the population status of the 246 bird species that are regularly found within the United Kingdom, using data from national monitoring schemes. This was most recently done in 2021 (Stanbury et al., 2021). On the basis of seven quantitative criteria, each species has been placed on one of three lists, these being:

       Red – red-listed species are those that are globally threatened, have had an historical population decline in the UK from 1800 -1995, a rapid (> or = 50%) decline in UK breeding population over the past 25 years, or a rapid (> or = 50%) contraction of UK breeding range over the past 25 years;

       Amber – amber-listed species have had a historical population decline from 1800-1995 but are recovering; population size has more than doubled over the past 25 years, a moderate (25-49%) decline in UK breeding population over the past 25 years, a moderate (25-49%) contraction of UK breeding range over the past 25 years, a moderate (25-49%) decline in UK non-breeding population over the past 25 years, or species with unfavourable conservation status in Europe also known as Species of European Conservation Concern (SPEC); and

       Green – green-listed species have no identified threat to their population status.

4. Methods

4.1 Desk Study

The ecological desk study was carried out using a range of publicly available information sources to provide an understanding of the ecological context of the Study Area.

In terms of statutory nature conservation designations, the desk study identified any international and national designations, such as Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), National Nature Reserves (NNRs) or Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) within 5 km of the Site (extended to 20 km when considering SPAs designated for geese). Only ecological (biological) features were considered relevant to the present study. Any non-statutory designations, such as Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA), Local Biodiversity Sites (LBS), Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINCs), RSPB Important Bird Areas, Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserves (SWTR) or woodland areas included on the Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI), were identified within a 2 km distance of the Site boundary.

Existing records for protected or otherwise notable species (e.g. SBL/LBAP priority species) were identified with a 5 km distance of the centre point of the Site (NT 30770 71363). Only records from the last 10 years were considered relevant to the study.

The local biological records centre, The Wildlife Information Centre (TWIC), was approached for records. Additional data sources consulted included the following online databases:

       NBN Atlas (NBN Atlas, 2020);

       NatureScot SiteLink (NatureScot, 2020);

       Scotland’s Environment Web (SEPA, 2015); and

       Ancient Woodland Inventory (Scotland) (Scottish Natural Heritage, 2018).

4.2 Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey

An extended Phase 1 habitat survey was undertaken between the 21st and 27th July 2020, by Stuart Abernethy, Ecologist, following the standard JNCC survey methodology (JNCC, 2010) which is a technique for classifying and mapping habitats. Further, targeted updates were made on 15th October 2020 by Stuart Abernethy and Richard King, Principal Ecologist. An update walkover survey was completed by Stuart Abernethy in June and July 2021 to ground truth the results of the previous years’ surveys and note any changes to the baseline. During the surveys, habitats larger than 0.1 ha were mapped within the study area. Where applicable, dominant plant species were recorded and habitats were classified according to their vegetation types. A series of target notes (TNs) were also produced to describe representative habitats and features of interest. TNs were also recorded to describe habitats too small to be mapped. Plant nomenclature follows that of Stace (2010).

If present, invasive plant species such as Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) and Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) were identified and mapped as well as significant stands of other non-native plant species listed on Section 9 of the WCA (1981) as amended in Scotland through the WANE (Scotland) Act 2011.

The habitats within the survey area were assessed in terms of their suitability to support protected or otherwise notable species, such as amphibians, reptiles, breeding birds, bats, water vole (Arvicola amphibius), badger (Meles meles) and otter (Lutra lutra). Any incidental field sign indicating presence of these species was recorded.

Wetlands with potential groundwater dependence were subject to National Vegetation Classification using the methods in Rodwell (2006).

4.3 Great Crested Newt Habitat Suitability Index Assessment

Waterbodies within the Site and within 500 m of the Site (where accessible) were assessed for their potential to support great crested newt (GCN) using a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) (Oldham et al., 2000).

The HSI is a measure of habitat suitability for GCN. Ten key habitat criteria are assessed for the calculation: Geographic location (SI1), pond area (SI2), pond permanence (SI3), water quality (SI4), pond shading (SI5), number of waterfowl (SI6), occurrence of fish (SI7), pond density (SI8), terrestrial habitat quality (SI9) and macrophyte content (SI10). Each habitat criteria is assigned a value between 0 (highly unsuitable) and 1 (highly suitable). The geometric mean of these values provides an overall suitability score for the waterbody using the following equation: HSI = (SI1 x SI2 x SI3 x SI4 x SI5 x SI6 x SI7 x SI8 x SI9 x SI10) 1/10. This score is then used to categorise a waterbody’s suitability for use by GCN as shown below:

       < 0.5 = Poor;

       0.5–0.59 = Below Average;

       0.6–0.69 = Average;

       0.7–0.79 = Good; and

       >0.8 = Excellent.

ARG UK (2010) states that HSI scoring can be useful in:

       ‘Evaluating the general suitability of a pond, or ponds, for great crested newts;

       Comparing general suitability of ponds across different areas;

       Evaluating the suitability of receptor ponds in a proposed mitigation scheme; and

       Identifying habitat management priorities.’

4.4 Survey Limitations

4.4.1           Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey

The extended Phase 1 habitat survey was undertaken within the optimal survey season from April to September, inclusive, and conditions were suitable for survey. Some targeted updates were made in mid-October but involved habitats that were readily classifiable, because species remained present and identifiable.

4.4.2           Great crested newt HSI survey

There was no access to ponds within the Viridor site, to the northwest of the Site.

5. Results

5.1 Desk Study

5.1.1           Nature Conservation Designations

In terms of statutory designations, one designation of international importance and five designations of national importance lie within 5 km of the Site, including one SPA designated for geese. Additionally, one further SPA designated for geese was identified within 20 km and five non-statutory local designations are within 2 km. Statutory nature conservation designations are detailed in Table 1 below and shown on Figure 7.1.2. Non-statutory nature conservation designations are detailed in Table 1 below and shown on Figure 7.1.3

Table 1: Statutory and Non-Statutory Nature Conservation Designations

As shown on Figure 7.1.3 and detailed below in Table 2 below, 29 areas of ancient woodland were identified within 2 km of the Site.

Table 2: Ancient Woodland within 2 km of the Site