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Evidence is being gathered to support the long term proposals for a planning framework to manage pressures on sensitive heathlands resulting from development. Formerly the Dorset Heathland Joint Development Plan Document (DPD), this will now be contained in the Dorset Heathland Planning Framework Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).
The documents and further information on the key pieces of evidence are provided below.
Following the inception of an Interim Planning Framework (IPF) monitoring strategy in 2007, a number of south east Dorset-wide monitoring initiatives are ongoing. These include a network of automated visitor counters, car park counts, incident reporting and the monitoring of bird species. Short reports are produced on an annual basis and where appropriate compares and contrasts the information gathered from previous years.
The Analysis and presentation of IPF monitoring and projects to inform the Heathland DPD report considers the impact of the mitigation approach that has been taken. A monitoring system was established to test the impact of projects implemented through the Interim Heathland Planning Framework. In summary it shows that:
While studies have been done on the use of heathlands, less was known about residents' use of other open spaces. To address this, a study was carried out by Footprint Ecology, which took the form of a household survey that looked to:
The results of the study provide us with evidence that can be used to make predictions about the effects of any proposals that may be made in the Dorset Heathland Joint DPD. The study is split in two parts:
The Evidence to support the Appropriate Assessment of development plans and projects in south-east Dorset report relates to the former draft Regional Spatial Strategy of June 2006 (RSS), as it applied to south-east Dorset and focuses on the European heathland sites which could be potentially affected by the RSS and subsequent Local Development Framework (LDF) development policies. The report looks to:
Further reports are available from the Dorset Heathland pages on Natural England's website.