Site designation

Before 1990, the most common statutory environmental designation of a site was the Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI. Many such sites had been designated in the Solent area (but not Dibden Bay!). Such a designation required the landowner to consult English Nature before carrying out certain listed operations. If agreement could not be reached, then after a six month cooling off period, the works could proceed anyway. It was up to English Nature to persuade the landowner of its case. SSSIs do not extend below low water. One of the ‘selling points’ of the SSSI regime was that it was purely consultative, and no coercion existed. Only in 2001 did it become an offence to knowingly damage an SSSI under the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill. As industry had always suspected it would be, the goalposts were moved.

The conservation agencies, (i.e. English Nature in England) were tasked with identifying sites suitable for designation according to broad (and therefore unspecific) criteria set out in the Directives. Species were identified, but they were not quantified. A convention evolved that a site should contain at least 2% of the UK population of the species specified in the directive. If the site is big enough it is bound to contain 2%! Some were selected because the features or species were under threat. For example, the Severn was incredibly important for its wildlife and habitats. But, while that may be true of the coast, the bottom of the Severn estuary, away from the shoreline, was smashed to bits twice a day by some of the biggest tides in the world, and was a virtual desert. “Deserts are important too” was the response. It is difficult to work out which sites do not qualify for designation. Subjective justification can be found because a feature or species is plentiful, or because it is rare.