RHONDDA CYNON TAF ACTION FOR NATURE PLAN
These actions focus on how we can protect sites that are important for wildlife. The basic unit of biodiversity conservation is habitat so we need to protect ‘priority’ habitats and rich habitat mosaics. But our biodiversity richness co-exists with lots of people, and our history of human activity and habitat is intertwined. Statutory (national and international) and local site protection has a crucial role.
RCT Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs)
Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs) are planning designations used by RCT Council to identify non-statutory sites of County Borough nature conservation importance. The RCT Local Development Plan nature conservation policy, AW8, identifies how the SINC system works. This system uses the ‘Mid Valleys Area SINC Selection Criteria’ and identifies and maps sites which support habitats and species of priority biodiversity importance.
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SINC are designated through the Local Development Plan process and their protection is through the planning process, and when and where planning permission is required for land use change. The policy protection of AW8 requires that planning applications which affect sites with SINC designations are supported by detailed ecological assessment and that the biodiversity features of importance within a site is either protected through avoidance or impacts are mitigated or where possible, enhanced through specific nature conservation action.
Because of where RCT is situated, close to Cardiff and with three major road corridors, and large areas of publicly owned land, there are lots of planning applications that involve consideration of Policy AW8. The SINC system is therefore of immense importance in the delivery of effective biodiversity action in RCT.
