Natural England is responsible for ensuring that England’s unique natural environment, including its flora and fauna, land and seascapes, geology and soils are protected and improved. As the Government’s statutory nature conservation adviser it is a statutory consultee in planning.
Natural England commissioned this research to establish a strong evidence base for the advice it gives regarding environmental mitigation for linear transport schemes. The work focuses on mitigation used to ameliorate on-site impacts. The specific objectives were to:
- Undertake a literature review to identify and summarise relevant studies and evidence (from UK, Europe and beyond) that explore the effectiveness of mitigation measures developed to address the impacts of road and rail schemes on the natural environment.
- Provide a report evaluating the evidence, identifying key findings, common themes and conclusions that provide evidence to underpin Natural England’s advice on appropriate mitigation for transport schemes, and to identify evidence gaps where further research could be beneficial.
The results will be used to provide evidence to support, and to improve, the responses of
Natural England’s Land Use team to development management consultations related to planning applications, Environmental Impact Assessments, Habitats Regulations Assessments and Appropriate Assessments.