Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what duties are placed on local authorities to protect Ramsar sites from damage as a result of development.

The National Planning Policy Framework clarifies that as a matter of Government policy, Ramsar sites receive the same high level of protection as those sites designated under Habitats and Birds Directives. Accordingly, in determining planning proposals, local authorities should refuse planning permission if significant harm on a Ramsar site cannot be avoided, mitigated, or as a last resort, compensated.