Questions raised with Natural England.

Dear Mr Armitage

Access to information request – Acknowledgement – Request No RFI 2038

Thank you for your request for information about:

o Given that the Forest of Bowland, Lancs is designated as a Special Protection Area and given that key communities of raptors upon which that designation was first based have reduced significantly in recent times,

· what systems of monitoring and their frequency are in place by Natural England to address these matters,

· when was the last formal exercise undertaken and follow up discussions taken with the Shooting Estates,

· what was the precise nature of advice given to address the loss of these species,

· are liaison meetings held to agree burning regimes with respect to the heather moorland,

· which Estates are currently receiving subsidies to assist with moorland management.

I am referring here to routine liaison carried out by NE staff NOT contact work by the research worker associated with the Hen Harrier Recovery

Plan.

o Recently a road has been put in place onto Blaze Moss, Forest of Bowland. May I enquire if

· Natural England are aware of this and granted permission for it to occur given it is sited within a designated area

· whether this is the precursor to exploratory drilling associated with the fracking for gas within the Bowland Shales

· if such is not the case what is the nature of the development upon which the application rested

· what consultations were held with interested parties

which we received on 8 June 2013. We are dealing with your request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Your request is being considered and we will send out our response within the legal deadline of 20 working days which is 5 July 2013, for any reason, we are unable to meet the deadline we will keep you fully informed of the reasons for this.

Yours sincerely

Customer Services Team

Natural England

Email: foi@naturalengland.org.uk

Our Customer Services Team has been awarded the Customer Service Excellence Standard www.naturalengland.org.uk

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