Our responses to our own consultations – 2021 to 2023

Our response to consultations on our own plans

You can request our response to our own consultations, as listed below.

By law, NRW must be consulted on some plans to make sure the plans correctly take environmental impacts into account:

  • we are a consultation body for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
  • we are an appropriate nature conservation body for Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)

We must respond to consultations on relevant plans produced by:

  • other authorities (such as Local Development Plans, or the Welsh National Marine Plan)
  • ourselves (such as Flood Risk Management Plans or Forest Resource Plans)

In other words, sometimes we have to formally consult ourselves when we develop our own plans.

Transparency and objectivity

We treat consultations on our own plans with the same degree of objectivity, detachment and rigour as we do consultations from other organisations. We do this by:

  • functional separation
  • transparency

Our Strategic Assessment Team gives us functional separation. The team is in a separate directorate from the plan-makers and plan-approvers, and therefore has real autonomy.

We achieve transparency by listing our responses to consultations on our own plans on this page, and by making the responses available on request. This ensures that our detachment and objectivity is transparent and open to scrutiny.

Requesting our responses to our own consultations

For copies of any of these responses, please contact strategic.assessment@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Our consultation responses

The responses below are from the Strategic Assessment Team to NRW consultations about

  • Habitats Regulations Assessments
  • Strategic Environmental Assessments

These consultation responses were written between January 2021 to February 2023. The exact date of our response letter is in brackets.

Forestry

Forest Resource Plans Habitats Regulations Assessments consultations

Forest Resource Plans are long term management plans which set out how we will manage the Welsh Government Woodland Estate in a local area for the following 10 years.

The management benefits include providing a sustainable source of home-grown timber, places for people to enjoy diverse habitats and landscapes, support for native wildlife, a boost to biodiversity, and regulation of water quality and flow.

North Wales:

  • Abergele (9.3.23)
  • Aberhirnant and Llangower (24.5.21)
  • Bethesda and Abergwyngregyn (16.7.21)
  • Clocaenog (15.9.22)
  • Eryri (16.7.21)
  • Ffestiniog (17.9.21)
  • Hirnant (11.6.21
  • Llanfor and Celyn (2.6.21)
  • Llangollen (30.7.21)
  • Pentraeth and Cefni (10.1.22)
  • Rhydymain (13.7.22)

Mid Wales

  • Brechfa (1.3.23)
  • Coed Sarnau (15.9.22)
  • Dyfi (7.3.22)
  • Dyfnant (7.5.21)
  • Hafren (24.5.21)
  • Lampeter and Cilcennin (8.12.22)
  • Machynlleth (31.10.22)
  • Presteigne (15.9.22)
  • Ystwyth Valley (28.2.22)

South Wales

  • Brecon Beacons East (6.5.21)
  • Carno (2.2.23)
  • Crychan (24.3.23)
  • Cwm Carn (29.7.21)
  • Garw and Ogmore (13.5.22)
  • Heads of the Valleys (23.11.22)
  • Lower Rhondda Valley (21.3.22)
  • Lower Swansea Valley (16.3.21)
  • Lower Taff and the Vale (19.12.22)
  • Mynydd Ddu and Llanthony (26.3.21)
  • Pen y Cymoedd (28.7.21)
  • Usk and Glasfynydd (15.9.22)
  • Wye Valley South (23.11.22)

Forest Design Plan amendment Habitats Regulations Assessments consultations

Forest Design Plans were the predecessor of Forest Resource Plans, which we use to manage the Welsh Government Woodland Estate. As they expire we are replacing them with Forest Resource Plans but several Forest Design Plans are still current.

If we need to do some forest management that was not anticipated and included in the original Forest Design Plan then a forest planner needs to describe the new activities in a Forest Design Plan amendment. 

  • Cambrian Mountains (7.4.21)
  • Rhydymain (19.3.21)

Pesticide application

This is an annual programme of planting conifers which are pre-treated with pesticide. Where necessary the confiers will have a top-up pesticide application to control pine weevil and/orbeetle infestation.

  • Application of acetamiprid and trees pre-treated with acetamiprid, on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate (WGWE) 2021-2022 (29.3.21)
  • Application of acetamiprid and trees pre-treated with acetamiprid, on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate (WGWE) 2022-23 (20.7.22)

Water

River Basin Management Plans

How organisations, stakeholders and communities will work together to improve the water environment over the next 6 years.

  • English River Basin Management Plans Strategic Environmental Assessment Screening
  • Decision consultation (11.5.21) (this includes the Severn catchment, part of which is within Wales.)
  • Draft Severn River Basin Management Plans Habitats Regulations Assessments (22.9.22)
  • Draft Habitats Regulations Assessmentsof draft third cycle Western Wales and Dee River Basin
  • Management Plans (9.4.21)
  • Draft Western Wales River Basin Management Plans Strategic Environmental Assessment
  • Screening determination (23.3.21)
  • Western Wales and Dee River Basin Management Plans HRA (14.4.22)

Flood Risk Management Plans

Managing the risk across Wales of flooding from main rivers, reservoirs and the sea.

  • Draft Dee Flood Risk Management Plans Habitats Regulations Assessments (5.8.22)
  • Draft Severn Flood Risk Management Plans Habitats Regulations Assessments (5.8.22)

Fisheries

Byelaws

Setting the seasons and catch-and-release rules for rod-fishing for salmon and seatrout on the Wye and Usk from 2022-2029.

  • River Wye Rod and Line (Salmon and Sea Trout) (Wales) Byelaws 2021, and the River Usk Rod and Line (Salmon and Sea Trout) (Wales) Byelaws 2021 Habitats Regulations Assessments (31.8.21)

Heritage fishery licence

Annual application for licencing of traditional lave net fishery for salmon at the Black Rock fishery on the Severn estuary.

  • Black Rock Lave Net Fisheries Association Habitats Regulations Assessments 2020 (27.4.20)
  • Black Rock Lave Net Fisheries Association Habitats Regulations Assessments 2021 (30.7.21)
  • Black Rock Lave Net Fisheries Association Habitats Regulations Assessments 2022 (7.4.22)
    Net licences ( All Wales Net Limitation Order)

Annual allocation of salmon and sea trout net licences

  • Habitats Regulations Assessments of Annual allocation of salmon and sea trout net licences in fisheries covered by the All Wales Net Limitation Order (NLO) 2021 (16.4.21)
  • Habitats Regulations Assessment of the Annual allocation of salmon and sea trout net licences in Fisheries covered by the All Wales Net Limitation Order (NLO) 2022 (23.3.22)

Other consultation responses

Fencing, tree-planting and in-river channel works to improve conditions for protected habitats and species to restore biodiversity in the River Dee.

  • LIFE Dee River Project (15.3.21)

Managing and restoring a Special Area of Conservation woodland and surrounding woodland in north Ceredigion. This would be achieved by removing non-native species like larch, other conifers and beech, to benefit the special biodiversity of the site.

  • Celtic Rainforest LIFE project Habitats Regulations Assessments (12.7.21)

Fencing to create buffer strips and streamside corridor habitat. This will improve conditions for protected habitats and species including freshwater pearl mussel. This is part of a large EU-funded river restoration project.

  • 4 Rivers for LIFE tree-fence Habitats Regulations Assessments (21.2.23)

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