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ID sylw: 107277

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Cotswolds National Landscape Board

Overall, the Cotswolds National Landscape (CNL) Board agrees with the approach laid out in Draft Policy Direction 36.
However, with regards to irreplaceable habitats, the Board recommends that the following habitats should be explicitly classed as irreplaceable habitat, in line with Policy CE8 (Nature recovery and biodiversity) of the CNL Management Plan:70
i.
ancient and veteran trees;
ii.
ancient woodland (continually wooded since 1600);
iii.
ancient unimproved grassland (surviving since 1945);
iv.
ancient hedgerows (present since before the Enclosure Acts, passed mainly between 1720 and 1840).
We acknowledge that (iii) and (iv) are not included in the list of irreplaceable habitats in the Biodiversity Gain Requirements (Irreplaceable Habitat) Regulations 2024.71 However, the list in the Regulations is not definitive and discussions with Defra are ongoing, at a national level, to try and secure the inclusion of these habitats within the Regulations. In the meantime, we consider that it would be good practice to align with Policy CE8 of the CNL Management Plan.