Does Yateley Common have any protection for its natural habitats, and wild fauna and flora?

Yes. Much of Yateley Common has the highest protection it can get, having been designated a Special Protection Area for Wild Birds (SPA), implementing the European Union Wild Birds Directive. The Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994 (Statutory Instrument No. 2716) s.10 translates the EU Habitats Directive into UK law and defines the Thames Basin Heaths SPA as European Site. The Thames Basin Heaths, classified on 9 March 2005 is made up of 13 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in the 3 counties of Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey and 11 planning authorities. The total size of the entire SPA is 8,284 hectares. The SPA has been designated to protect 3 of Britain's rarest birds: the Nightjar, Woodlark and Dartford Warbler.

Yateley Common forms part of the Castle Bottom to Yateley & Hawley Commons SSSI which has a total area of 923 hectares. Our part of the SPA is therefore 11% of the total.

The Yateley & Hawley Commons SSSI has been a Proposed Special Protection Area (pSPA) since 1993, and has had all the protection of European Site since 1993. There are been several large planning inquiries, notably Cobbetts Lane and Fox Farm which have had to consider the significant effect of new residential development on the pSPA.

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