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The Yorkshire Energy Park site provides a range of habitat for species including great crested newts, and wintering birds including lapwing, curlew and golden plover.
Throughout the construction and operation phases, we want to have a positive impact on our environment, and we must mitigate for any likely significant effects on biodiversity.
During the development of the outline planning submission, a range of measures and principles of how this will be achieved were developed and subject to extensive consultation. Approval by key stakeholders including Natural England ensured all mitigation measures are robust. These measures are legally binding and secured in the planning permission through the planning conditions and Section106 Agreement.
Benefits to biodiversity?
- Increase in available habitat for biodiversity
- Protecting, monitoring, and managing the habitat for a minimum of 85 years
- Ecological steering group established with key stakeholders such as Natural England to oversee the development
- Ecological areas are established in a phased manner but always prior to development to ensure no loss of habitat during construction
What will we be doing?
The Yorkshire Energy Park has committed to enhancing and protecting the existing habitat by establishing the ecological mitigation zone for a minimum of 85 years. The EMZ is 45 hectares (111 acres) set aside for biodiversity and will be established before any development commences in Phase 1 (Energy & Data Centre).
Measures such as additional wetland features, GCN hibernaculas and securing the site will all enhance the current habitat for the protected species. The ecological mitigation zone becomes a protected and dedicated area for wildlife which will be monitored by the ecological steering group.
The ecological mitigation steering group will review and advise on ecological matters associated with the development, members invited to the group include East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Natural England, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
The Yorkshire Energy Park has also committed to provide an offsite mitigation area for the passage and wintering birds. This is a further 89 hectares (220 acres) of land that will be set aside and be protected for biodiversity for a minimum of 80 years. This is known as the Offsite Mitigation Area (OSMA) and has to be established before development of Phase 2 commences.
This increases and protects the overall size of available habitat and ensures that there is no loss of habitat for the passage and wintering birds throughout the construction phases.
