Designated areas

[colmjude]

A discussion thread for information about the Designated areas section

[drewshardy]

Can I ask for a clarification on what we mean by 'designated areas' in this context? Is it just any kind of protected area e.g. SSSI, conservation area, etc, or are there more (or less) specific meanings required?

[drewshardy]

Thanks. Given that all these things (apart from conservation areas at present) have national, centrally provided data boundaries, this feels like something that could be automated. Also, terminology for AONBs should be updated to National Landscapes.

[colmjude]

Maybe this is one of the "ENUMs" we should work on?

Therefore, if it was data that services used we'd have an easy mechanism to keep the list up to date

For example:

deisgnated-area	start-date	end-date
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty	YYYY-MM-DD	2024-10-01
National Landscapes	2024-10-01

[drewshardy]

As these are generally binary options i.e. you're either in or out of them, and generally there aren't any variables within the data that have a great bearing on the output (unlike listing), would these be suitable to group in the ENUMs or not? Off the top of my head, here's a non-exhaustive list of well-defined constraints which would be suitable for autocompletion based on a site outline:

• SSSI
• SAC/potential SAC
• SPA/potential SPA
• Ramsar/Potential Ramsar
• Green Belt
• World Heritage Site
• National Nature Reserve
• Local Nature Reserve
• National Parks & Broads
• SSSI Impact Zones (contains variables)
• Historic and active landfill
• Coal mining area - would need liaison with MRA
• Development High Risk Area (coal) - would need liaison with MRA
• Battlefields
• Protected Parks and Gardens
• Scheduled Ancient Monuments
• Source Protection Zones
• broad Agricultural Land Classification (contains variables)
• Ancient Woodland
• other Priority Habitats (contains variables)

[colmjude]

Another factor would be are we trying to develop a list of all designations or well-defined constraints that impact any planning decision OR do we need to focus on a list that's relevant to "Planning application for development relating to the onshore extraction of oil and gas" apps (the only form where his section appears) OR both?

[drewshardy]

The list above is very much relevant for any application, and in my view would be really useful as a checklist for applicants when they make an application i.e. confirm you have supporting evidence relating to impact on the following constraints (if not then application may need further information to validate).

To be honest, the requirements for oil and gas drilling are so much more onerous that it feels a bit redundant in the context of those applications, as all those specific constraints should be covered through their mandatory environmental assessments

[colmjude]

Information model

Only used in the Development relating to the onshore extraction of oil and gas application form

if application-types is empty then field must be included for all application types

Field	Description	Application-Types	Required	Notes
designations[]	List of designated areas that apply to the site		MUST	Multiple selections allowed. If None of the above is selected, no other options can be chosen. Leave blank if none. See designations enum