Hartlepool's Ecology

Hartlepool Borough is bordered on the east by the North Sea and features extensive areas of attractive coastline including beaches, dunes and coastal grassland.

Much of the coast is internationally important for its bird species and is protected as a Special Protection Area/Ramsar site, with additional designations as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the Teesmouth National Nature Reserve.

The prominent location of the town's Headland, as a first landfall on the east coast, makes it of national significance for the birdwatching community.

Inland is an attractive, rolling agricultural landscape including areas of Special Landscape Value.  Interspersed in this landscape are a number of generally small and fragmented, but nevertheless diverse and important wildlife habitats.

There are 6 Local Nature Reserves spread across the town and 45 non-statutory geodiversity and biodiversity sites, protected as Local Wildlife Sites (formerly Sites of Nature Conservation Interest) and Local Geological Sites (formerly Regionally Important Geological & Geomorphological Sites).

The Borough contains some notable examples of wildlife species: grey and common seals are frequent along the coastline, with the latter breeding in Seaton Channel; red squirrels occur in their most southerly site in the east of England whilst other species occur at their most northerly or southerly limits.

Nature Conservation & Species Protected by Law

Hartlepool Borough Council have produced supplementary planning guidance on nature conservation & species protected by law.

The group of protected species that most commonly affects planning applications are bats.  The Council has produced some guidelines as to when a bat survey would be required with a planning application.

It should be noted that the situation with regards to the occurrence of protected species in the Borough is subject to continued changes as species move into or become extinct within the Borough, or new populations are discovered.

For example, since the supplementary planning guidance was written, three populations of the Great Crested Newt have come to light in the Borough.

Additionally, a number of habitats and species have been identified at a national or local level as being of particular conservation concern; perhaps because they are particularly rare, threatened or of local significance.

Each of these habitats and species will be the subject of a Biodiversity Action Plan that aims to enhance their numbers or status so that they are in a more favourable position.

Current information on the status of protected, or other species, can be obtained from the Council's Ecologist on 01429 523431.