Scientific Survey

We endeavour to speak with every land owner and occupier who will be affected by the ASSI to inform of the proposed declaration and confirm your interest in the land to be declared. We hope to do this by way of a visit, but we may contact you by telephone or by letter if this is not possible. This is not part of the statutory declaration process, but we are always happy to take note of your comments on the proposal at this stage or provide an answer to any questions you may have. The person who contacts you may not be able to answer all your questions at this time because of the complexity of some ASSI declarations, but they will take a note of them and get back to you.

Occasionally we may ask you to wait until you have received the notice, mentioned in the following paragraph, which provides comprehensive information about the ASSI declaration.

NIEA is obliged by law laid down in the Order to make a declaration that the area selected through survey is an area of special scientific interest. It is also required to give notice of the declaration to the owner and occupier. This is done through the issue of documentation that provides detail of the special scientific interests and operations that could potentially damage these interests, and includes a map showing the area that has been declared an ASSI. Also included in this notice is a statement of NIEA’ s views about how the lands should be managed, which is in a manner that will be sympathetic to the special scientific interest. (This notice is normally referred to as the ‘citation’ All of the above documents are available on the relevant page for each site.

The issue of this citation is, in fact, the start of a consultation process we are required to undertake under the law. This citation will invite you to make, if you so wish, representations to us about the declaration, or to object to it. It will also advise you of the date by which you should respond, which will be the end of the consultation period. The law directs that this should be a minimum of three months from the date of the notification, but we usually allow four months.

The law requires us to consider any representations or objections received during this consultation; and we must either confirm the declaration (with or without modifications) or else rescind it within three months from the end of the consultation period. We will write to advise each consultee of our final decision in this regard.

We also must publicise the ASSI declaration more widely, and we do this by publishing a notice of the declaration in at least two newspapers circulating in the general area. In addition, we place a copy of the citation on display in a public building located as close as possible to the site of the ASSI.

Other public bodies, including district councils and other government departments such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, are also informed as the law requires them to take the presence of the ASSI into account when they are carrying out their functions. In addition, we inform other interested parties, such as representative bodies of farming or other industries, or nature conservation bodies.

Information about designated sites is posted on our website but this does not include land ownership or access information.