DRAFT EPS MITIGATION LICENCE APPLICATION STATUS:

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1 Date: 29 October 2012 Our ref: EPSM A JG (NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT) Mr J Brand C/o Aviva Investors 1 Poultry London ECR 8EJ Sent by only Dear Mr Brand Customer Services Wildlife Licensing Natural England First Floor Temple Quay House 2 The Square Bristol, BS1 6EB T F E eps.mitigation@ naturalengland.org.uk DRAFT EPS MITIGATION LICENCE APPLICATION STATUS: INITIAL APPLICATION LEGISLATION: CONSERVATION OF HABITATS AND SPECIES REGULATIONS 2010 (as amended) SITE: DAVENTRY INTERNATIONAL RAIL FREIGHT INTERCHANGE EXPANSION (DIRFT III), LAND EAST/WEST OF A5, DAVENTRY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE EUROPEAN PROTECTED SPECIES: Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) Thank you for your draft great crested newt mitigation licence application in association with the above site, which was received in this office on the 24 th August Please accept our apologies for the lengthy delay in providing a response to your draft application which, unfortunately, is a result of our limited resources and the exceptionally high workloads that we are currently experiencing. This application relates to a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project which Natural England agreed to review to help ensure the proposals meet protected species licensing requirements. As you will be aware, no final licensing decisions can be made, or any licences issued, unless the development obtains all necessary consents in order to proceed, with any conditions relevant to wildlife discharged. Accordingly we cannot issue any licences unless the Secretary of State grants the Development Consent Order (DCO) in relation to these proposals. We have now completed our assessment and detail our decisions on the three licensing tests below, which as you are aware must all be met before any licence can be issued. In relation to an application of this nature, our advice, if adhered to, will help you achieve the outcome required and enable a letter of comfort to be issued for you to submit in respect of your application to the Planning Inspectorate. Natural England would like to confirm for the benefit of the Planning Inspectorate that we are not aware of any reason why the letters of comfort cannot be granted in respect of these proposals, as soon as the outstanding issues have been addressed and we are keen to continue working with you until these matters have been satisfactorily concluded for all parties concerned. NSIP FIR (03/12)

2 Licensing decisions: Reasoned Statement Overriding Public Interest (Purpose test) (OPI) and No Satisfactory Alternative (NSA) Tests Based on the information provided, Natural England considers that the Purpose and NSA tests would be met should the application be formally submitted using the same information with all relevant supporting evidence included and the development is successful in achieving all necessary consents. Please note that our assessment of these two tests is only relevant should the development in question achieve all the necessary consents it requires in order to proceed and any appropriate conditions or reserved matters are discharged. We also note that section D3.5 makes reference to the development proceeding in accordance with timescales set out in the Method Statement, but there is currently no information provided in the Method Statement regarding when the development will start and finish which is being requested. If you wish to discuss any issues relating to these two tests with the EPS Adviser who assessed the draft Reasoned Statement, please contact Neil Owen on or by at Method Statement - Favourable Conservation Status (FCS) Test The information and evidence currently provided within your draft method statement would not allow us to meet the FCS test. However, please see the enclosed FCS assessment report which indicates the areas of concern that need to be addressed in order to meet this licensing test. If there is any aspect of the FCS assessment report that is not clear to you and you wish to discuss it with the wildlife adviser who assessed the method statement, please contact Cressida Mansfield on or by at: Cressida.Mansfield@naturalengland.org.uk. An identifying issues in advance is helpful as it will enable Cressida to review your queries in the context of the case before discussing them with you. Like all Wildlife Advisers, Cressida does not spend all of her time in the office so there may be a short delay before she can respond to you. Please note that Cressida does not deal with issues relating to the Purpose and Satisfactory Alternatives tests. As detailed above, should you wish to discuss any issues surrounding these tests please contact Neil using the details provided below. Next steps We advise that you make the necessary changes to your application and re-submit the relevant documents following the guidance in the attached annex. We will then review our decision/s based on the new information/evidence provided and issue a revised response as soon as possible. Any letter of comfort issued following assessment of a re-submission (should the FCS test be met) will confirm that, on the basis of the species information and proposals provided, Natural England is satisfied that the licensing tests can be met subject to the DCO being granted. Should the DCO be granted then the mitigation licence application must be formally submitted to Natural England. At this stage any modifications to the timings of the proposed works, e.g. due to ecological requirements of the species concerned, must be made and agreed before a licence is issued; likewise if further survey is required this must also be undertaken and the method statement re-submitted for further assessment.

3 I hope that the information detailed within this letter and its enclosures have been helpful. However, should you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely Oliver Lowe Group Co-ordinator EPS Mitigation Licensing

4 Annex - Guidance for providing further information or formally submitting the licence application. Important note: when submitting your subsequent application, please mark all correspondence NSIP EPSM A JG, Daventry International Rail Freight Interchange Expansion (DIRFT III) for the attention of Kathryn Murray and John Gordon. Submitting Documents. Documents must be sent to the Customer Services Wildlife Licensing (postal and address at the top of this letter). Changes to Documents Reasoned Statement and/or Method Statement. Changes must be identified using one or more of the following methods: underline new text/strikeout deleted text; use different font colour; block-coloured text, or all the above. Reasoned Statement Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest or Public Health and Safety and/or No Satisfactory Alternative. When submitting a revised Reasoned Statement please send us one copy on CD, or by if less than 5MB in size, or alternatively one paper copy of the complete, revised document. Please do not send the amended sections in isolation. Method Statement Favourable Conservation Status. When submitting a revised Method Statement please send us one copy on CD, or by if less than 5MB in size, or alternatively three paper copies. The method statement should be submitted in its entirety including all figures, appendices, supporting documents. This document forms part of the licence; please do not send the amended sections in isolation.

5 Customer Feedback EPS Mitigation Licensing To help us improve our service please complete the following questionnaire and return to: Customer Services, Natural England, First Floor, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6EB. Fax: or to wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk Natural England Reference Number (optional): Please tick to indicate your role: Consultant Developer (Applicant/Licensee) 1. How easy was it to get in contact with the Wildlife Management & Licensing team of Natural England? Difficult (1) OK (2) Easy (3) Very Easy (4) If 1 please specify who you initially contacted in relation to your issue/enquiry? 2. Please tell us how aware you were (BEFORE you contacted us) of wildlife legislation and what it does/does not permit in relation to your enquiry? Unaware (1) Very Limited Awareness (2) Partially Aware (3) Fully Aware (4) 3. How would you rate the service provided by Natural England? Ease of completion of application Advice provided by telephone (if applicable) Our web site (if applicable) Clarity and usefulness of published guidance Helpfulness and politeness of staff Advice and clarity of explanations provided during Method Statement assessment Advice and clarity of explanations provided during Reasoned Statement assessment Speed of process Overall service If 1 or 2 to any of the above please specify why: Poor Fair Good Excellent Not applicable 4. Was your issue/enquiry resolved by the activity authorised under licence or advice provided by us? Fully Partially Unresolved If not fully resolved please state what you think could have been done instead (note legislation affects which actions can be licensed): 5. Was there a public reaction to any action taken under the licence or as a result of our advice? Positive support No reaction Negative reaction 6. Would you use a fully online licensing service if it could be made available in the future? Definitely Possibly Unlikely No 7. Do you have any further comments to make or suggestions for improving our service, if yes please specify (continue comments on an additional sheet if necessary). If you are happy to be contacted at a later date to explore possible improvement options, please tick this box and ensure your Natural England reference number is at the top of this page.

6 Date: 18 November 2012 Our ref: EPSI A NO (NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT) Mr J Brand C/o Aviva Investors Sent by only Dear Mr Brand Customer Services Wildlife Licensing Natural England First Floor Temple Quay House 2 The Square Bristol, BS1 6EB T F E eps.mitigation@ naturalengland.org.uk DRAFT EPS MITIGATION LICENCE APPLICATION STATUS: INITIAL APPLICATION LEGISLATION: CONSERVATION OF HABITATS AND SPECIES REGULATIONS 2010 SITE: DAVENTRY INTERNATIONAL RAIL FREIGHT INTERCHANGE EXPANSION (DIRFT III), LAND EAST/WEST OF A5, DAVENTRY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE EUROPEAN PROTECTED SPECIES: Brown Long Eared Bat (Plecotus auritus) Thank you for your draft bat mitigation licence application in association with the above site, which was received in this office on the 10 th October This application relates to a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project which Natural England agreed to review to help ensure the proposals meet protected species licensing requirements. As you will be aware, no final licensing decisions can be made, or any licence issued, unless the development obtains all necessary consents in order to proceed, with any conditions relevant to wildlife discharged. Accordingly we cannot issue any licences unless the Secretary of State grants the Development Consent Order (DCO) in relation to these proposals. We have now completed our assessment and detail our decisions on the three licensing tests below, which as you are aware must all be met before any licence can be issued. In relation to an application of this nature, our advice, if adhered to, will help you achieve the outcome required and enable a letter of comfort to be issued for you to submit in respect of your application to the Planning Inspectorate. Natural England would like to confirm for the benefit of the Planning Inspectorate that we are not aware of any reason why the letter of comfort cannot be granted in respect of these proposals, as soon as the outstanding issues have been addressed, and we are keen to continue working with you until these matters have been satisfactorily addressed for all parties concerned. We believe that the queries we have identified in respect of the draft Method Statement should be relatively straightforward to clarify. However, as these relate to confirmation as to how the surveys in question were undertaken and specific details in relation to the proposed replacement bat loft, they are considered key elements of the proposed application and it is important that these issues are addressed within the draft method statement before the letter of comfort is issued. Further details are contained both below and in the report accompanying this letter. Licensing decisions: Reasoned Statement - Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest (Purpose) test and No Satisfactory Alternative (NSA) Test NSIP FIR (03/12)

7 Based on the information provided, Natural England considers that the Purpose and NSA tests would be met should the application be formally submitted using the same information with all relevant supporting evidence included and the development is successful in achieving all necessary consents. Please note that our assessment of these two tests is only relevant should the development in question achieve all the necessary consents it requires in order to proceed and any appropriate conditions or reserved matters are discharged. If you wish to discuss any issues relating to these two tests with the EPS Adviser who assessed the draft Reasoned Statement, please contact Neil Owen on or by at Method Statement - Favourable Conservation Status (FCS) Test The information and evidence currently provided within your draft method statement would not allow us to meet the FCS test. However, please see the enclosed FCS assessment report which indicates the areas of concern that need to be addressed in order to meet this licensing test. If there is any aspect of the FCS assessment report that is not clear to you and you wish to discuss it with the wildlife adviser who assessed the method statement, please contact Steve Newby on or by at: Steve.Newby@naturalengland.org.uk. An identifying issues in advance is helpful as it will enable Steve to review your queries in the context of the case before discussing them with you. Like all Wildlife Advisers, Steve does not spend all of his time in the office so there may be a short delay before he can respond to you. Please note that Steve does not deal with issues relating to the Purpose and Satisfactory Alternatives tests. As detailed above, should you wish to discuss any issues surrounding these tests please contact Neil using the details provided below. Next steps We advise that you make the necessary changes to your application and re-submit the relevant documents following the guidance in the attached annex. We will then review our decision/s based on the new information/evidence provided and issue a revised response as soon as possible. Any letter of comfort issued following assessment of a subsequent draft application (should the FCS test be met) will confirm that, on the basis of the species information and proposals provided, Natural England is satisfied that the licensing tests can be met subject to the DCO being granted. Should the DCO be granted then the mitigation licence application must be formally submitted to Natural England. At this stage any modifications to the timings of the proposed works, e.g. due to ecological requirements of the species concerned, must be made and agreed before a licence is issued; likewise if further survey is required this must also be undertaken and the method statement re-submitted for further assessment. I hope that the information detailed within this letter and its enclosures have been helpful. However, should you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely John Gordon Group Coordinator - EPS Mitigation Licensing Tel: John.Gordon@naturalengland.org.uk

8 Annex - Guidance for providing further information or formally submitting the licence application. Important note: when submitting your application, should the Development Consent Order be granted, please mark all correspondence NSIP EPSM A NO, Daventry International Rail Freight Interchange Expansion (DIRFT III) for the attention of Kathryn Murray and John Gordon. Submitting Documents. Documents must be sent to the Customer Services Wildlife Licensing (postal and address at the top of this letter). Changes to Documents Reasoned Statement and/or Method Statement. Changes must be identified using one or more of the following methods: underline new text/strikeout deleted text; use different font colour; block-coloured text, or all the above. Reasoned Statement Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest or Public Health and Safety and/or No Satisfactory Alternative. When submitting a revised Reasoned Statement please send us one copy on CD, or by if less than 5MB in size, or alternatively one paper copy of the complete, revised document. Please do not send the amended sections in isolation. Method Statement Favourable Conservation Status. When submitting a revised Method Statement please send us one copy on CD, or by if less than 5MB in size, or alternatively three paper copies. The method statement should be submitted in its entirety including all figures, appendices, supporting documents. This document forms part of the licence; please do not send the amended sections in isolation. amended sections in isolation.

9 Customer Feedback EPS Mitigation Licensing To help us improve our service please complete the following questionnaire and return to: Customer Services, Natural England, First Floor, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6EB. Fax: or to wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk Natural England Reference Number (optional): Please tick to indicate your role: Consultant Developer (Applicant/Licensee) 1. How easy was it to get in contact with the Wildlife Management & Licensing team of Natural England? Difficult (1) OK (2) Easy (3) Very Easy (4) If 1 please specify who you initially contacted in relation to your issue/enquiry? 2. Please tell us how aware you were (BEFORE you contacted us) of wildlife legislation and what it does/does not permit in relation to your enquiry? Unaware (1) Very Limited Awareness (2) Partially Aware (3) Fully Aware (4) 3. How would you rate the service provided by Natural England? Ease of completion of application Advice provided by telephone (if applicable) Our web site (if applicable) Clarity and usefulness of published guidance Helpfulness and politeness of staff Advice and clarity of explanations provided during Method Statement assessment Advice and clarity of explanations provided during Reasoned Statement assessment Speed of process Overall service If 1 or 2 to any of the above please specify why: Poor Fair Good Excellent Not applicable 4. Was your issue/enquiry resolved by the activity authorised under licence or advice provided by us? Fully Partially Unresolved If not fully resolved please state what you think could have been done instead (note legislation affects which actions can be licensed): 5. Was there a public reaction to any action taken under the licence or as a result of our advice? Positive support No reaction Negative reaction 6. Would you use a fully online licensing service if it could be made available in the future? Definitely Possibly Unlikely No 7. Do you have any further comments to make or suggestions for improving our service, if yes please specify (continue comments on an additional sheet if necessary). If you are happy to be contacted at a later date to explore possible improvement options, please tick this box and ensure your Natural England reference number is at the top of this page.

10 Date: 21 December 2012 Our ref: WLM/2012/2146 (NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT) Mr K Goodbun Ecology Solutions Sent by only Dear Mr Goodbun Customer Services Wildlife Licensing Natural England First Floor Temple Quay House 2 The Square Bristol, BS1 6EB T F E wildlife@ naturalengland.org.uk DRAFT BADGER DEVELOPMENT LICENCE APPLICATION STATUS: INITIAL DRAFT APPLICATION LEGISLATION: PROTECTION OF BADGERS ACT 1992 SITE: DAVENTRY INTERNATIONAL RAIL FREIGHT INTERCHANGE EXPANSION (DIRFT III), LAND EAST/WEST OF A5, DAVENTRY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE PROTECTED SPECIES: BADGERS (Meles meles) Thank you for your draft Badger Development licence application in association with the above site, which was received in this office on the 15 th October 2012 and I apologise for the long delay in providing our response. This application relates to a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project which Natural England agreed to review to help ensure the proposals meet protected species licensing requirements. As you will be aware, no final licensing decisions can be made, or any licence issued, unless the development obtains all necessary consents in order to proceed, with any conditions relevant to wildlife discharged. Accordingly we cannot issue a licence unless the Secretary of State grants the Development Consent Order (DCO) in relation to these proposals. Assessment We have now completed our assessment of this application and have identified the following areas of concern that will need to be addressed before any licence can be issued following receipt of the DCO: A map showing the proposed site layout is required. In order to make a full assessment of the impacts, Natural England will need to see the site layout so that the development can be viewed in context with the proposed artificial sett locations and any retained features can be identified (i.e. foraging ground or dispersal routes). Although photographs are not mandatory, it would be useful to see what the sett and immediate area currently look like to help us visualise site features, habitat type and condition, etc. The method statement does not currently consider the impacts the development will have on badger dispersal routes and future available foraging ground. During construction works and also post-development, there is a risk that badgers could become isolated from foraging areas as barriers to dispersal will be created (we note from the application that a line of badger fencing is proposed along the rail link route whilst it s being constructed). Clarification will be required that badgers will still be able to access adequate foraging ground. NSIP FIR (03/12)

11 Once constructed, the rail link may not act as a barrier to badger movement in itself but no information has been provided on whether culverts under the railway have been considered. Due to the close proximity of the rail link (20-40m), there is an increased risk of species mortality and this impact needs to be considered and mitigated accordingly. Confirmation of land ownership will be required for the area where the artificial sett will be constructed, as this appears to be located outside the site boundary. Before a full re-assessment of a revised method statement can be made, Natural England considers a site visit necessary to gain a greater understanding of the site conditions, level of badger activity and to gain a fuller understanding of how any incombination impacts might affect the badger sett, given that separate developments are proposed to the south and west. If there is any aspect of the above that that is not clear to you and you wish to discuss it with the wildlife adviser who assessed the method statement, or to arrange the site visit as detailed above, please contact Rebecca Lee on or by at Rebecca. Lee@naturalengland.org.uk. An identifying issues in advance is helpful as it will enable Rebecca to review your queries in the context of the case before discussing them with you. Like all Wildlife Advisers, Rebecca does not spend all of her time in the office so there may be a short delay before she can respond to you. Next steps There are two options available to you with regard to this badger application: 1. To prevent any unnecessary delays, we would recommend that you make the necessary changes to your draft application and re-submit the relevant documents as soon as possible. We will then review our decision based on a site visit, the new information/evidence provided and issue a revised response as soon as possible. Any letter of comfort issued following assessment of a re-submission (should our licensing requirements be met) will confirm that, on the basis of the species information and proposals provided, Natural England is satisfied that a licence can be issued subject to the DCO being granted. 2. Alternatively, whilst Natural England would strongly encourage a revised draft application be resubmitted and the concerns detailed above resolved at the earliest possible opportunity, we are also content for these outstanding issues to be addressed at the formal application stage, should the DCO be granted in relation to this development. However, please note that, as previously stated, we will not be able to issue the licence until all the concerns outlined above have been resolved. As previously stated, we would also like to be able to undertake a site visit so this second option may lead to delays to a licence being issued compared to option 1. At the formal application stage, any other modifications to the timings of the proposed works, e.g. due to ecological requirements of the species concerned, must also be made and agreed before a licence is issued; likewise if further surveys are required this must also be undertaken and the application re-submitted for further assessment. I hope that the information detailed within this letter has been helpful. However, should you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact me.

12 Yours sincerely John Gordon Group Coordinator - EPS Mitigation Licensing Tel: John.Gordon@naturalengland.org.uk Annex - Guidance for providing further information or formally submitting the licence application. Important note: when resubmitting your application, please mark all correspondence NSIP Badger Application WLM/2012/2117, Daventry International Rail Freight Interchange Expansion (DIRFT III) for the attention of Kathryn Murray and John Gordon. Submitting Documents. Documents must be sent to the Customer Services Wildlife Licensing (postal and address at the top of this letter). Changes to Documents Method Statement. We would be very grateful if changes to the Method Statement could be identified using one or more of the following methods: underline new text/strikeout deleted text; use different font colour; block-coloured text, or all the above. Please ensure that the method statement is resubmitted in its entirety including all figures, appendices and supporting documents.

13 Customer Feedback Wildlife Licensing To help us improve our service please complete the following questionnaire and return to: Customer Services, Natural England, First Floor, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6EB. Fax: or to wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk Natural England Reference Number (optional): 1. How easy was it to get in contact with the Wildlife Management & Licensing team of Natural England? Difficult (1) OK (2) Easy (3) Very Easy (4) If 1 please specify who you initially contacted in relation to your issue/enquiry? 2. Please tell us how aware you were (BEFORE you contacted us) of wildlife legislation and what it does/does not permit in relation to your enquiry? Unaware (1) Very Limited Awareness (2) Partially Aware (3) Fully Aware (4) 3. How would you rate the service provided by Natural England? Ease of completion of application Advice provided by telephone (if applicable) Our web site (if applicable) Clarity and usefulness of published guidance Helpfulness and politeness of staff Advice and clarity of explanations provided during Method Statement assessment Advice and clarity of explanations provided during Reasoned Statement assessment Speed of process Overall service If 1 or 2 to any of the above please specify why: Poor Fair Good Excellent Not applicable 4. Was your issue/enquiry resolved by the activity authorised under licence or advice provided by us? Fully Partially Unresolved If not fully resolved please state what you think could have been done instead (note legislation affects which actions can be licensed): 5. Was there a public reaction to any action taken under the licence or as a result of our advice? Positive support No reaction Negative reaction 6. Would you use a fully online licensing service if it could be made available in the future? Definitely Possibly Unlikely No 7. Do you have any further comments to make or suggestions for improving our service, if yes please specify (continue comments on an additional sheet if necessary). If you are happy to be contacted at a later date to explore possible improvement options, please tick this box and ensure your Natural England reference number is at the top of this page.