Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (commonly referred to as the Habitat Regulations), a Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) is required for land use plans and for planning applications, which are likely to have a significant impact on a Habitat Site.

Habitat Sites, chosen through the EU Birds Directive and EU Habitats Directive, are protected at the highest level and these Directives are transferred into UK law. Consent cannot legally be granted for a development that would either alone or in combination with other developments, have a likely significant effect on a European wildlife site, unless full mitigation is provided.

The approach that Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) will take to mitigating these impacts will differ across the country, and while population growth and the demand for new housing is likely to significantly affect Habitat Sites, LPAs are increasingly having to prepare Recreational disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategies (RAMS).

RAMS has set out that any new housing developments within a Recreational disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation area, or within 13km of a ‘zone of influence’ (ZOL) of European designated sites, will be required to mitigate the effects of the development though Section 106 planning obligations. This is due to developments having a likely effect upon the interest features of the designated sites.

Section 106 or S106 Agreements (also known as Planning Obligations) are made by deed under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and allow a local planning authority to enter into a legally-binding agreement with a landowner or developer to contribute towards the infrastructure that is required to make a development acceptable in planning terms, or to restrict the use of a development.