Step by Step Guidance for Agricultural Planning Applications and Environmental Considerations

As a statutory consultee, DAERA is a key stakeholder in the land use planning process in Northern Ireland, providing environmental advice to planning authorities, applicants, agents, developers, environmental specialist and the wider public.

DAERA has a role in development management and responds to development proposals where there is potential for impacts on the natural and marine environments and fisheries interests.

This step-by-step guide contains details of the considerations you need to make regarding the environmental information, that is likely to be required when submitting planning applications, to enable determinations to be made.

If the local planning authority receives, or DAERA is consulted on, an application and the environmental information required to make a determination or informed consultation response is absent, you will likely receive a request for further information.

A flow chart providing an overview of the process can be found on Flowchart of Step by Step Guidance for Planning Applicants.

1 - Consider the Need for Environmental Impact Assessment

Consider whether your development proposal may meet Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) thresholds. You can engage with your local planning authority to determine whether an Environmental Statement is required.

• If the proposal is an EIA Development, it is likely that you will need to employ a planning agent to prepare the EIA Environmental Statement. The agent should have sufficient knowledge and expertise to know what environmental information will need to be provided with your application.
• If your proposal it is not EIA development proceed to step 2.

2 - Consider How Your Agricultural Development Might Impact the Environment and what Environmental Assets are in Your Locality

Review the information in the links below to identify the environmental issues that need considered for agricultural developments. This will help inform the associated documentation that should be submitted as part of your planning application.

Links are listed over 3 main areas:                                                        

1. the type of environmental impacts that your proposal may have
2. the overarching considerations in relation to 6 key areas within DAERA, and
3. information about some of the environmental assets in your locality.

2.1 - The relevant links below give an indication of the type of environmental impacts that your proposal may have

• Advice on the key environmental impacts from and the documents/information required for agricultural developments which incorporate livestock activities including intensive agriculture developments.
• The Code of Good Agricultural Practice for the Reduction of Ammonia Emissions (referred to as  the Code ) is a guidance document which explains how farmers, growers, land managers, advisers and contractors can minimise ammonia emissions from agriculture.
• Standing advice for Agricultural Developments that may impact on the water environment.
• Additional standing advice for developments that may have an impact on the water environment including advice on discharge to the water environment, pollution prevention guidance, sustainable drainage systems, culverting.
• Standing Advice for developments on land that may affect Natural Heritage Interests.
• The key environmental impacts from and documents/information that may be required for the construction and operation of anaerobic digestion facilities.

2.2 - The information below provides overarching key considerations in relation to Natural Heritage, Drinking Water, Water Quality, Water Courses, Shellfish Water and Contaminated land.

2.2.1 - Natural Heritage

• All developments have a potential to impact on Natural Heritage interests.
• It is recommended that a Biodiversity Checklist is completed by a competent ecologist and submitted with all planning applications.
• The checklist will assist in the initial ecological assessment of an application and will inform the need for more detailed or specific surveys.

NI Biodiversity Checklist documents

• If issues are identified details of further specific survey specifications, document requirements and species-specific guidance can be found in the links below:
  • Development of land that may affect natural heritage interests including landscape
  • Standing advice for development of land that may affect Natural Heritage Interests
• Particular attention needs to be given to air pollution impacts, in particular ammonia gas, as livestock installations, which includes indoor facilities for the rearing of pigs and poultry, egg production or milking and holding of cattle are the types of development that most commonly give rise to potentially significant impacts on designated sites and priority habitats.

Ammonia emissions in Northern Ireland

2.2.2 - Drinking Water Quality

• A development must not impact on either the quality or sufficiency of a private water supply, and mitigation measures must be put in place, where required, in the protection of such drinking water supplies. Therefore, the developer should undertake a scoping exercise to determine the location of any private water supplies by accessing the Drinking Water Inspectorate Viewer.
• Under Article 7 of the Water Framework Directive, all catchments are considered Drinking Water Protected Areas (DWPAs). These catchments are utilised by NI Water Ltd to provide the public supply of water. The proposed development should not adversely impact on DWPAs. NI Water Ltd has a regulatory obligation to undertake risk assessments of all aspects of its drinking water supply systems from catchment through to consumers’ taps.
• Therefore, if the development is considered regionally significant or a risk to a catchment, the applicant should consult with and provide all necessary data to NI Water Ltd for inclusion within their risk assessments in relation to any potential impact on the management of its drinking water abstractions.

2.2.3 - Water Quality

• Pollution Prevention should be a primary consideration during all stages of a development’s lifecycle, from planning, construction, operation, and maintenance all the way through to decommissioning or reinstatement of a site.
• Planning applications where the development is in close proximity to a watercourse require additional care to be taken to prevent pollution entering the waterway. Any ‘waterway’ as defined by the Water (NI) Order 1999 will pose a constraint to construction projects. Consideration must be given at planning and design stages to ensure that impacts on the receiving water environment during any construction and operational phases are minimised.
  
  Standing advice for development that may have an effect on the water environment (including groundwater and fisheries)

• A range of Guidance for Pollution Prevention (GPPs) have been produced which are targeted at a particular type of business or activity. NIEA recommend these GPPs should be referred to by planning applicants, building contractors and development operators as a source of information on good practice regarding their proposed development.

  Guidance for Pollution Prevention (GPP) documents | NetRegs Environmental Guidance for your Business in Northern Ireland & Scotland (netregs.org.uk)

• If a proposed development will result in a potentially polluting discharge to the water environment, during the construction or operational phases e.g. sewage effluent, site drainage or process effluent a discharge Consent issued under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 may be required.

  Regulating Water Discharges

• Sustainable utilisation of manures is a critical environmental aspect of the operation of poultry, pig and cattle farms, particularly since the cumulative impact of manures generated may be significant. For all poultry, cattle and pig farms WMU require the submission of a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) (to include soil sample analysis) detailing any proposed land spreading of manure /slurry / litter associated with the development, to determine the potential impact upon the water environment. Given the high phosphorus levels across NI the applicant needs to demonstrate a sustainable outlet for the manure / slurry / litter generated and that the receiving farms land bank has the capacity to take the proposed tonnage output.
• If manure /slurry / litter is to be exported to the Republic of Ireland, a Contractual Agreement should be provided, as well as a letter from Teagasc.
• Further information is available at Nutrient Management Plan.

2.2.4 - Watercourse Augmentation or Works Within a Watercourse

• Planning applications where works are required to augment a watercourse through realignment, culverting, bank scour protection, watercourse crossings, hydro-electric power generation etc. have the potential to impact fisheries interests, the completion of a Biodiversity Checklist is recommended, this will assist in the initial ecological assessment of an application.
• When Priority Fish species or Priority aquatic habitats are identified this will inform the need for more detailed or specific surveys. In developments where there is the potential for a significant impact to fisheries interests further fisheries assessments or habitat surveys is recommended.
• Any applicant must be aware of their obligations under the Fisheries Act (NI) 1966 as amended, further information is available at Inland Fisheries Statutory Approvals Sections
• Any works required within the watercourses including realignment, headwalls and culverting, must be permitted under Section 48.
• Any such works are also likely to require a fish rescue, the applicant should be aware that this will require permission under Section 14 of the Act. More information can be found on Inland Fisheries Statutory Approvals Sections
• Section 54 relates to the Construction of fish passes in dams in rivers (maintenance of fish passage over any dam), this will apply to bridge inverts, culverts or any other structure built or augmented in a watercourse. Plans, sections and specifications of any crossing are required under Section 54 of the act for any proposals which may impact fish passage.
• Section 47 covers the applicant's responsibilities relating to Penalties for Pollution and the consequences of causing or permitting the release of any Deleterious materials into any waters.
• Applicants should also be aware that Northern Ireland as part of the UK is a signatory to the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic. This treaty requires signatory states to develop programmes of work to conserve, rationally manage and improve Atlantic salmon populations and their habitats within their jurisdiction. This work is scrutinised by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation | North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (nasco.int).

2.2.5 - Watercourse Augmentation or Works Within or Adjacent to Bathing Waters and Shellfish Water Protected Areas

• Planning applications must consider the potential impacts on adjacent bathing waters and candidate bathing waters. These are identified under The Quality of Bathing Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008, and are Protected Area under The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017.  Information on bathing waters can be found on the DAERA website at: About bathing water quality.
• Applications must also consider risk of impact on Shellfish Water Protected Areas which are designated under  The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017.  These designated sites contain commercial shellfish harvesting areas which must meet stringent bacteriological and chemical standards as outlined in the Water Framework Directive (Classification, Priority Substances and Shellfish Waters) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. Information on Shellfish Waters can be found on the DAERA website at: Shellfish Water Protected Areas.
• Works in close proximity to Designated Bathing Waters and Shellfish Water Protected Areas have the potential to impact on human health. It is essential that planners minimise, and where possible avoid, any impact to these sensitive sites during any construction, operation, maintenance, or decommissioning works.

2.2.6 - Land Contamination

• Planning applications for the redevelopment of sites potentially affected by contamination need to be, as a minimum, accompanied by a preliminary risk assessment report which will include a desk study with information on the historical uses of the site and its environmental setting.
• Failure by applicants to provide adequate supporting information with the planning application in relation to contaminated or potentially contaminated land may result in significant delays in the planning process or potentially planning permission being refused by the Local Planning Authority.
• Further information and guidance can be found on Planning and land contamination.

2.3 - The Links Below Provides Information About Some of the Environmental Assets in your Locality.

• The DAERA map viewers provide easy access to environmental information which may help to identify some key environmental assets in your area that could be impacted by your proposals (Note the map viewers do not show all environmental assets for example they do not identify location of species).
• Further information can be found on DAERA Map Viewers.

3 - Identify What Environmental Assessments and Documentation is Needed to Accompany Your Application

As an outcome of step 2 identify assessments and documentation required to accompany your application.

The following link provides detail about the documentation that may be required to inform environmental impacts of the proposal: Required Documentation.

4 - Obtain the Environmental Information Required, Undertake Required Surveys and Assessments, and Prepare Required Documentation

You may have to employ specialists to carry out required survey work and/or complete the required documentation.

Some survey work will identify the need for additional survey work. You should ensure all survey works are completed prior to submitting your application.

Some survey work can only be undertaken at certain times of the year so please ensure that environmental issues are considered at the earliest stage of project design to reduce the likelihood of delays. For example, Bat Activity Surveys should be conducted between April and September.

See species survey specifications in particular for newts, lizards, Marsh Fritillary Butterfly and Bats.

Site Surveys

5 - In the Event of Environmental Issues Being Identified Seek to Avoid, Mitigate or Compensate

If there are environmental issues arising seek options such as scheme redesign or mitigation and/or compensatory measures to reduce impacts. Current planning policy will provide an indication of the level of acceptable impacts arising from a development.

6 - Submit your Application

Submit your application with all environmental assessment, information, surveys and mitigation attached.

The Local Planning Authorities may provide a Pre-Application Discussion (PAD) service where you can speak with a planning officer and discuss proposals before you make a planning application. They can advise you on how to make your application, what information you will need to submit with it and the likely issues when it is considered. A Pre-Application Discussion may help improve the quality of your application.

Development Management Practice Note 10 Pre-Application Community Consultation (and Pre-Application Discussions) | Department of Infrastructure (infrastructure-ni.gov.uk)