Avon Wildlife Trust has responded to the North Somerset Additional Sites Consultation.

While we don’t currently have the resources to review and respond to every planning application, Avon Wildlife Trust prioritises those that will affect designated sites.

We also provide resources to support individuals and groups who are concerned about developments in their local communities.

The UK Government’s mandatory housing requirement for North Somerset significantly increases existing development pressures, and we’re concerned about the impact on vulnerable species and designated sites.

This threatens the integrity and connectivity of designated sites, across this area and beyond, that are critically important for local biodiversity.  

Many of the proposed sites for development are connected to the North Somerset Levels and Moors, an area that contains numerous sites designated for their ecological importance. This is also one of the largest areas of coastal and floodplain grazing marsh in England, leading to the internationally important Severn Estuary.

At a time of ecological and climate emergency, Avon Wildlife Trust’s priorities are to maintain and improve recognised nature-rich places and to strengthen the networks between these sites to help nature recover. 

These special places also bring many benefits for local communities to spend time in green spaces and to promote wellbeing.

It is also imperative that areas around sensitive and ecologically important sites – buffer or impact risk zones - are protected.

Avon Wildlife Trust is particularly concerned about developments near, or that affect, the following important sites.

Weston Big Wood, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

The ancient woodlands at Weston Big Wood have developed over centuries and are now amongst the most fragile and rare of all landscapes in the country. Once damaged they cannot be restored.

Weston Big Wood is an important seedbank, promoting natural woodland regeneration in surrounding areas. It also plays a vital role in connecting areas of open grassland, other woodlands, and wetland moors in the Gordano Valley, allowing wildlife to move and thrive.

Goblin Combe

The additional sites identified for development are adjacent to two SSSIs and ancient woodlands - King's Wood and Goblin Combe - both defined as sensitive areas by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations. This woodland complex is the second largest area of woodland in Avon and the largest in North Somerset.

Proposed developments would be located between these two sites and, therefore, has the potential to adversely impact the connectivity between these two sensitive areas.

Developments in the areas identified will have a negative effect on the North Somerset and Mendip Bat Special Area of Conservation (SAC), as foraging and roosting sites become fragmented or lost entirely.

Purn Hill SSSI

Purn Hill SSSI is home to nationally rare plants and is an important area of calcareous grassland.

As well as supporting flora and fauna indicative of unimproved calcareous grassland, the site’s proximity to the coast enables the presence of rare maritime species.

The areas of bare, warm soil on the rocky ledges and slopes provide habitat for rare invertebrates, while areas of scrub and woodland provide habitat for woodland edge species. 

However, Purn Hill SSSI is a small reserve, making it exceptionally vulnerable to development pressures and isolation from other species rich areas.

Purn Hill is part of the recently declared Mendip National Nature Reserve, further highlighting its significance for connectivity and its species richness.