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Development Control Planning in Poland
Good practice guide for local authority planners and developers in Poland
- Project financial instrument: Interreg IVc
- Implementation stage: Project proposal under development
- Project partners: Selected UK County Councils, Olsztyn Voivodship Planning Autority
- Country: UK and Poland
- Budget: est. 500,000 Euro
Background
Nature conservation in the European Union is mainly based on the following two important pieces of binding legislation:
- The Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (the Birds Directive)
- The Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (the Habitats Directive)
As a prerequisite to joining the EU, Poland agreed, along with All Member States of the EU, to transpose the provisions of these Directives into the national legislation and ensure adequate implementation and enforcement. Implementation of both the Birds and the Habitats Directive are essential in order to ensure: conservation of bird species, management of sites and habitats towards favourable conservation status and to fulfil the Gothenburg target (endorsed by EU Heads of States and Governments) of halting biodiversity decline by 2010. Implementation of the Bird and Habitats Directives and the transposition of these into Polish law came as a consequence of joining the European Union in 2004. Understanding of what this means in practise for planners and developing sustainable solutions for future development is an area of great importance. In addition, Local Authorities, and especially planners, are seen as key to safeguarding and connecting designated sites as well as enhancing biodiversity in the wider countryside. This potential has not been explored as yet and collaboration between LA planners and nature conservation interests remain to be developed. This project will be unique in seeking to develop such links.
Aims
- Through a series of workshops to produce a Biodiversity Checklist with and for Local Authority planners and a Checklist for developers.
- Raise the awareness of the implications of the Birds and Habitats Directives for the Polish Planning system
- Achieve ownership of LA planners for protecting and enhancing habitats and species through the planning system.
The Voivod of Olsztyn in collaboration with an English Local Authority, Polish NGOs and Natura International will prepare a checklist with, and for, planners through a series of workshops. This checklist will help planners deal more effectively with biodiversity issues in response to recent international and national policies mentioned above, and will save time in processing applications. This checklist aims to aid strategic and development control planners when considering biodiversity in relation to their work, both in policy development and when dealing with planning proposals.
A check list for developers will also be prepared as part of these workshops. These check lists will be adopted/endorsed by the Polish Ministry and used as Good Practice Guides throughout Poland.
The Biodiversity Checklist for Land Use Planners
The experience of the Biodiversity Partnership for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, who prepared a Biodiversity Checklist for Land Use Planners in 2002, will be built upon. This Biodiversity Checklist has been adopted as a Good Practice Guide by the UK Biodiversity Partnership and won the national Green Apple Award in 2003.
It is proposed that the Polish checklist contains elements such as:
- Introduction: to interpretation of the Birds and Habitats Directive and national legislation.
- Section 1 will lay out five main objectives for planners and lists some of the relevant planning justifications and mechanisms.
- Section 2 a flow chart to identify where the checklist and associated guidance leaflets can be used. A definition of major developments will be given.
- Section 3 will list the steps that can be taken for minor developments.
- Section 4 will give recommendations for different types of development to benefit biodiversity. Each page will act as a checklist for that development.
- Section 5 will give an overview of priority habitats in different locations
- Section 6 will contain contacts for the main organisations that can provide more information on habitats and species.
- Section 7 will list useful publications.
- Annex 1 Biodiversity Summary Form. It is proposed that this form will be used on all major development proposals and filed with the application details for future reference and monitoring.
- Annex 2 Case studies highlighting good practice for protecting and enhancing biodiversity in different development schemes: Small residential development; Increased residential density; Industrial estate; Road development; proposed new settlement; windmill farm.
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