Ecosystem services statement – Buster Hill Chalk Quarry

Challenge

TJ Transport made a planning application to the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) for the revised restoration of Buster Hill Chalk Quarry. Under Planning Policy SD2 of the SDNP Plan they were required to submit an Ecosystems Services Statement.

Solution

The site is to be restored in accordance with a landscape/nature conservation-led scheme. It will be restored to a mix of grassland, scrub and woodland. The intention is that the site will eventually form a local strategic link to the adjacent Queen Elizabeth Country Park, allowing public access in the form of informal walking/running trails extending into the neighbouring Country Park. The restoration proposals aim to reinstate and reinforce the Special Qualities of the National Park.

Ancillary to the Environmental Statement, SLR also undertook an Ecosystems Services assessment which included:

• Definition of the scope including the area within which ecosystem services may be impacted by the project (positively or negatively);
• Summarising the likely post-construction conditions, including opportunities to implement Ecosystem Services actions on the site;
• Detailing any likely changes in ecosystem services provision due to the proposed project; and
• Summarise how the project will influence local ecosystem services.

Impact

The assessment provided the SDNPA with a comprehensive Baseline Ecosystem Service Mapping analysis which was used to assess the likely effects upon local ecosystem services during different times of the development.

Overall, the ecosystem services assessment indicated that the project, following mitigation measures and restoration of the site would have a positive effect on the ecosystem services.