Banter 94: Local Nature Recovery Strategy, with Stephen Dury
Stephen clarifies LNRS at both the national and county/unitary level, and what is involved for parish councils
Video Timeline: (min:sec)
00:00 - 19:00 Presentation
19:00 - 37:21 Q & A
Presentation:
Note: this is quite a large file (66MB). You are welcome to download it to use yourself, but the much smaller .pdf version (15MB) is added below if you just wish to view the content. A marked-down version (ie without images) is listed at the bottom of the page for AI Search Engine purposes
.pdf version of presentation:
Meeting Summary:
Nov 05, 2025 11:43 AM London ID: 834 5460 8536
Quick recap
The meeting began with introductions and technical setup, including a discussion about using Zoom for presentations and council operations. The main focus was on Somerset Council's transition to a unitary authority and the implementation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies across England, with Stephen presenting on the LNRS's purpose and delivery mechanisms. The session concluded with discussions about public consultation requirements, financial concerns, and engagement challenges, with participants encouraged to suggest future presentation topics.
Next steps
Summary
Somerset Council Unitary Authority Transition
The group discussed the transition of Somerset Council to a unitary authority, noting challenges with financial issues and integrating different software systems. They also explored the potential for parishes to take on more responsibilities, though concerns were raised about legal frameworks and funding. The conversation ended with instructions for participants to rename themselves in Zoom for better identification and an overview of the upcoming presentation.
Somerset's Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Stephen, the Nature Recovery and Partnerships Manager from Somerset Council, presented on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). He explained its purpose, key components, and delivery mechanisms, emphasizing its role in reversing biodiversity decline and guiding local action. Stephen highlighted that while LNRSs identify priorities and map opportunities, they do not create legal designations or impose obligations, serving instead as a strategic guide for landowners, funders, and planners. He also discussed how Somerset's LNRS can be used by various stakeholders, including parish councils, to inform local projects and planning decisions, with updates planned every 3-10 years.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies Implementation
The meeting focused on the Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) and their implementation across 48 areas in England. Stephen explained that public consultation is a requirement for all areas, with Somerset currently in a 6-week consultation period. He emphasized the importance of collaboration between regions to ensure consistency and shared learning. Stuart raised concerns about the financial burden on farmers and the need for effective monitoring of results. Amanda discussed the challenges of engaging parish and town councils in the LNRS process and highlighted the need for better communication and support. The conversation ended with Graham announcing that the next week's topic would be determined, and he encouraged attendees to suggest future presentation ideas.
Chat:
00:38:38 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: 48 areas required to have LNRS; why not the others?
00:54:40 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: As a Parish Council, can we refer to the LNRS in our responses to planning applications?
00:54:49 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: How long will the LNRS be valid? Is it worth including in our 10-year Parish Plan?
00:55:01 Cllr Allan Wilson Edgmond Shropshire: This is what we in Shropshire have prepared following the publication of the LNRS consultation document, in consultation with parties we prepared a work book to assist Parish & Town Council with information to improve or create habitats in locations that would be supportive of the area chosen. To promote this we held two conference inviting TPC's to attend and listen to practitioners as to what they have done to create nature corridors, etc for connecting spaces and improve NbS and improve biodiversity goals locally in support of the LNRS. Encouraging TPC and landowners to mark up on the map areas they could undertake work https://middlemarchescommunitylandtrust.org.uk/nature-recovery-town-parish-councils/
00:58:15 Amanda Davis: Replying to "As a Parish Council,..."very much so. it is a source of evidence data
01:00:56 Cllr Allan Wilson Edgmond Shropshire: Sorry people, I have to leave, I look forward to seeing the rest of today's video and chat.
01:07:24 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: Reacted to "very much so. it is..." with 👍
01:09:56 Andrew Clegg - Martock, Somerset: Here is Stephen's Plan. Good and easy to use
01:10:07 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: Somerset people might be interested in our environment event coming up: 01:10:15 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: https://www.curryrivelparishcouncil.gov.uk/2025/10/environment-event-22nd-november/
01:11:12 Sarah Whitelaw: EXCELLENT STUFF ! extremely helpful !!
01:11:23 Matt Geen Curry Rivel PC: Thanks!
01:11:26 Jo Morris Frome Town Council: Thank you
01:11:32 Stephen Dury: Reacted to "Somerset people mi..." with 👍
01:11:59 Cathy Wynne, Hildenborough PC Kent: Thank you nice and clear information
01:12:25 David Bourn, Shepton Beauchamp Parish Council: Many thanks.
01:13:30 lisa scott: thank you
Audio-Transcript:
WEBVTT
52 00:10:19.030 --> 00:10:23.530 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Steven, welcome to the, the broadcast.
53 00:10:24.070 --> 00:10:25.490 Stephen Dury: Thank you, David.
54 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:26.760 Stephen Dury: Thank you.
55 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:33.879 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: I'm sort of standing in for Graham until such time as he can, jump on, because he's,
56 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:38.740 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Off doing a resilience… a live resilience exercise.
57 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:43.859 Stephen Dury: Yes, he did mention that. He'll be joining just sort of bang on 12, around about then.
58 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:44.460 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Yep.
59 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:52.059 Stephen Dury: I've just tested my share screen, it seems to work, because I don't normally use Zoom, so I wanted to make sure it worked.
60 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:56.740 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Oh, you were sort of a primarily… primarily a Teams user.
61 00:10:56.890 --> 00:11:04.010 Stephen Dury: Yes, our council, they advise on Teams, they don't like Zoom, so we don't have the Zoom app on our laptops.
62 00:11:04.770 --> 00:11:12.300 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: I think there is a problem from a government perspective about security, because the MOD will not have it anywhere near their systems either.
63 00:11:12.780 --> 00:11:14.569 Stephen Dury: Probably it, yeah, yeah.
64 00:11:15.810 --> 00:11:16.589 Stephen Dury: On the whole.
65 00:11:16.590 --> 00:11:18.209 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Although much of a muchness.
66 00:11:18.790 --> 00:11:24.769 Stephen Dury: I'm sure they are, yeah. It seems to work, just share screen, it seems quite straightforward.
67 00:11:28.090 --> 00:11:34.140 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: So you, have you always… has Somerset Council always been a unitary authority?
68 00:11:34.400 --> 00:11:44.419 Stephen Dury: No, we became unitary… well, vesting was only about a year ago. There was a couple of years lead up to it. We were five district councils before that.
69 00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:46.439 Stephen Dury: So, it's quite recent.
70 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:48.460 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: And how is that working?
71 00:11:49.070 --> 00:12:03.989 Stephen Dury: Lots of teething problems. It was supposed to help in terms of the finances. We don't see… we don't see the benefit of that yet. We're still in grave financial trouble.
72 00:12:04.050 --> 00:12:10.260 Stephen Dury: Yeah, no, it's bringing people in who have all worked on different,
73 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:18.060 Stephen Dury: software packages and, you know, in different ways has been quite a challenge. I think it's getting, it's getting there.
74 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:27.279 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Yeah, because we're about to go through this great change,
75 00:12:27.990 --> 00:12:31.410 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: in sort of Hampshire, where they're going to create
76 00:12:31.690 --> 00:12:34.989 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Four unitary authorities out of the…
77 00:12:35.850 --> 00:12:39.060 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Out of all the district councils within Hampshire.
78 00:12:39.290 --> 00:12:43.129 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: And I must admit, I… I think it's…
79 00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:47.430 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: I come from an MAD background, and I saw
80 00:12:48.520 --> 00:12:51.250 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Massive changes to try and
81 00:12:52.070 --> 00:13:01.249 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Rationalize and make efficiencies by joining components from the single services into a defense structure.
82 00:13:01.630 --> 00:13:02.170 Stephen Dury: Dang.
83 00:13:02.170 --> 00:13:04.420 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: All we see is more muddle.
84 00:13:04.730 --> 00:13:07.349 Stephen Dury: And more complexity.
85 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:08.040 Stephen Dury: Yeah.
86 00:13:08.230 --> 00:13:14.220 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Well, that's what our experience was. Oh, right, Graeme, you're here, are you?
87 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:15.110 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Indeed.
88 00:13:15.420 --> 00:13:18.930 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Oh, brilliant, well done. You made it. I was keeping Stephen entertained.
89 00:13:19.650 --> 00:13:23.170 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: I'm sure you're doing a brilliant job, so don't let me interrupt you.
90 00:13:23.570 --> 00:13:30.560 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: No, no, no, we were just talking about… the myth that… Big equals good.
91 00:13:32.370 --> 00:13:35.040 Stephen Dury: As in, transition to unitary.
92 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:44.459 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: It's been a painful process, but I guess it is anywhere, isn't it? Not just Somerset.
93 00:13:45.450 --> 00:13:59.980 Stephen Dury: Yes, and there's that missing middle layer of government then, because we've done away with the districts, and Somerset Council is trying to push things towards the parishes to deliver services, so it's interesting times at the moment.
94 00:14:00.260 --> 00:14:04.119 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Are you… oh, so you're actually pushing stuff down to the parishes, are you?
95 00:14:04.170 --> 00:14:05.990 Stephen Dury: Trying to, yes, yes.
96 00:14:05.990 --> 00:14:08.770 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Do they have the legal framework to be able to do that?
97 00:14:09.170 --> 00:14:21.490 Stephen Dury: Well, we devolved some things to town halls, the larger town halls, but I think we're expecting some services to be increasingly delivered at the very local level.
98 00:14:21.610 --> 00:14:25.029 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: I think there are some expectations that parishes will…
99 00:14:25.150 --> 00:14:26.260 Stephen Dury: do more.
100 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:33.460 Stephen Dury: Amongst their, sort of, voluntary and often not-so-young membership of councillors.
101 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:43.950 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: No, absolutely. My, my, my slight concern is that whenever we try to do something, useful at parish level.
102 00:14:44.260 --> 00:14:50.379 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: We usually get, scuppered by the clerk, who says.
103 00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:53.430 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: We're not legislated to do this.
104 00:14:55.750 --> 00:14:57.360 Stephen Dury: Yes, well, that's… that should…
105 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:06.369 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: So if… so if you… so, for example, we want to take on more responsibility for the, maintaining the verges and the ditches.
106 00:15:06.450 --> 00:15:07.810 Stephen Dury: Yeah.
107 00:15:08.900 --> 00:15:13.120 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: from the Highways Authority, because, frankly, we're just so small.
108 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:21.530 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: And their budget's so stretched that the last place they… they think about is our little parish. But trying to…
109 00:15:22.250 --> 00:15:25.220 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Then… fund.
110 00:15:25.400 --> 00:15:29.529 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: The… those activities become a… becomes a real challenge.
111 00:15:30.040 --> 00:15:35.080 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Because we're not the highways authority, and we don't have the legal authority to do so.
112 00:15:36.030 --> 00:15:46.870 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: So how are you going to get round? Are you going to need a round of, legislation to change the roles and responsibility of parish and town councils?
113 00:15:47.830 --> 00:16:02.480 Stephen Dury: Well, it is a good question. I presume that it probably will. I know, certainly, we've been devolving quite a few things to town councils. Town councils have been keen to take on some of the responsibilities. I guess they use their precept
114 00:16:02.620 --> 00:16:09.289 Stephen Dury: to cover that, and we've got a new, brand new town council in Taunton. They didn't have one before.
115 00:16:09.490 --> 00:16:15.910 Stephen Dury: So county are keen to offload as much as possible. Town councils actually seem keen
116 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:22.710 Stephen Dury: To absorb some of it, not all of it, a lot of negotiations taking place at the moment.
117 00:16:22.910 --> 00:16:31.629 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: I mean, I quite look forward to it. I mean, if that happens for us, I think that will be a step in the right direction. Anyway, over to you, Graeme, because I think we've hit the witching hour.
118 00:16:31.630 --> 00:16:44.259 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Well, we're getting close. Good afternoon, everybody. I wonder if I could ask, since we have so many new faces, if people could rename themselves in their Zoom windows to let us at least know where you are?
119 00:16:44.520 --> 00:16:53.250 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: For those who are not fresh to Zoom, it's usually found in the two little… three little dots at the top of your screen, top right corner.
120 00:16:53.330 --> 00:17:06.399 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Or you can go into Participants and do it there. So take your pick, but it would be appreciated by those of us who are very fine to know how far we're reaching, to know where you are, please.
121 00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:14.239 Cllr Allan Wilson Edgmond Shropshire: little blue box in the top right-hand corner, it's got three dots in it. Click on that, and rename appears.
122 00:17:14.530 --> 00:17:15.399 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: There you go.
123 00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:19.190 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And…
124 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:26.229 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: We're probably looking for about another 8 people.
125 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:29.590 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: So, let's see where we are for magical tonight.
126 00:17:39.890 --> 00:17:43.049 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Yeah, we've got a couple of minutes yet for the latecomers, because people always seem
127 00:17:43.450 --> 00:17:46.240 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Perhaps a chapter on calls or previous meetings.
128 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:53.289 Stephen Dury: So you've been at a… was it a resilience meeting, Graeme, this morning?
129 00:17:53.290 --> 00:17:57.339 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: It was actually a live exercise to,
130 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:07.420 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Usually, your imagination and ride disappeared underwater from the combination of a very high tide and an awful lot of rain.
131 00:18:07.770 --> 00:18:16.859 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And it was actually a very interesting exercise, because they say, well, do you know who in your street is vulnerable? Who needs to be got out before the power gets lost?
132 00:18:17.010 --> 00:18:21.230 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Which people are stuck in basements, which people refuse to leave.
133 00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:39.249 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And what assets do you have available to get them out? So, you know, those who can't move under their own steam need to be evacuated in a 4x4 to the nearest warm center or the area where all the effort is being concentrated.
134 00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:42.500 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And, who's got food, who's got water, who hasn't?
135 00:18:42.760 --> 00:18:44.329 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Rave, do you,
136 00:18:44.830 --> 00:18:51.069 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: That's a really interesting issue, because it's… you've got to have a list of all these people who are vulnerable.
137 00:18:51.460 --> 00:18:54.350 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Then, of course, you hit the GDPR, sort of.
138 00:18:54.350 --> 00:18:54.860 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Yay.
139 00:18:54.990 --> 00:18:57.850 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: So, it's becoming a matter of liaison, doesn't it?
140 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:04.719 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Leading with the people who are allowed to have that information, like the local, town council?
141 00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:14.970 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Yeah, but how can they have it? Because if they… they too are stuck. Parish and town councils are no different in terms… from their statutory, sort of, level.
142 00:19:15.170 --> 00:19:17.560 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: So, at a parish…
143 00:19:17.560 --> 00:19:23.440 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: You go into the electricity companies, they have to know. They must know who their clients are that are vulnerable.
144 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:24.460 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: So you…
145 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:26.210 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: And water companies as well, yeah.
146 00:19:26.210 --> 00:19:44.070 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Yeah, it's a great exercise in communication, actually, in that the business is how many people do you have to turn to to get the data you want? And bear in mind that you're sloshing down a street that's full of water and up to your neck, or whatever. How do you communicate? Your telephone is disappeared underwater.
147 00:19:45.130 --> 00:19:46.729 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: The dog has run away.
148 00:19:46.840 --> 00:19:49.319 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: You're in deep trouble.
149 00:19:49.320 --> 00:19:52.980 Andrew Clegg - Martock, Somerset: We find the list creates itself after the flood.
150 00:19:52.980 --> 00:19:55.230 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Hey, well…
151 00:19:56.620 --> 00:19:58.560 Andrew Clegg - Martock, Somerset: We have quite a long list now.
152 00:19:58.560 --> 00:20:03.590 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Which… which is not when you want it, you want it before the flood.
153 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:12.569 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: But it was actually a very interesting exercise. I mean, I think it's like all these things, you spend a lot of time standing around and waiting, but then,
154 00:20:12.570 --> 00:20:35.600 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: it's spread out over a considerable area, and the people who are organizing it have sent out their inspectors with lists of things to inject at certain times, and some people get the times wrong, and sometimes you're already overwhelmed by the previous accident, and therefore you haven't got time to deal with the current one, but that's the way it goes, isn't it? So it's… it was actually a very good exercise, I thought.
155 00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:45.930 Andrew Clegg - Martock, Somerset: My garage is full of hydrosnakes. Do you know all about hydrosnakes? They're 20… 28 pounds a pair at Screwfix.
156 00:20:46.250 --> 00:20:53.560 Andrew Clegg - Martock, Somerset: And we put them in the back of the Land Rover, and we delivered them just in time. There's one for the front door, and one for the back door.
157 00:20:53.830 --> 00:20:54.989 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Well done!
158 00:20:54.990 --> 00:20:58.849 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: They're the ones that sort of react chemically when you.
159 00:20:58.850 --> 00:21:13.700 Andrew Clegg - Martock, Somerset: Yes, they're full of… they're full of a chemical that expands when the water gets into it. They're actually brilliant. They… they save people thousands of pounds, and they're… you know, but they never… people will never buy them themselves until after the flood.
160 00:21:14.420 --> 00:21:17.279 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: No matter how my.
161 00:21:17.600 --> 00:21:20.909 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Times you show them where to get them, and so on.
162 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:22.565 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Right.
163 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:24.860 Cllr David Morgan-Jones Ewshot PC: Oh, there we go.
164 00:21:25.230 --> 00:21:38.620 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: We're at the 5-minute mark, Stephen, so I'm going to declare that the meeting has started. For everybody who's new, we do record these sessions, and we make the recordings available to everybody afterwards.
165 00:21:38.620 --> 00:21:46.910 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And the copy of the presentation is also available, and the copy of the Zoom session, and the chat, and everything else, so…
166 00:21:46.910 --> 00:21:58.100 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Feel free to say absolutely nothing while the presentation is going on, but do please write comments in the chat system, because that's a really useful way of
167 00:21:58.150 --> 00:22:01.719 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: clicking on people's links. If you've got somewhere that is…
168 00:22:01.810 --> 00:22:17.969 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: pertinent to the conversation at the time, by all means, chuck it into the chat session, and we'll pick it up afterwards. And if you have questions for Stephen, then rather than interrupt his conversation, again, throw them into the chat, or just we'll have a Q&A session when he's finished.
169 00:22:18.070 --> 00:22:21.990 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And, we'll see if we can deluge him with, with business.
170 00:22:22.210 --> 00:22:29.720 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: So, Stephen, Earl, over to you. Please do feel free to interrupt yourself, or introduce yourself even, and take it from there.
171 00:22:30.090 --> 00:22:36.080 Stephen Dury: Thank you very much indeed, Graeme, and thank you for this invite to present, and I'm going to attempt
172 00:22:36.310 --> 00:22:41.519 Stephen Dury: to share my screen. I hope this works.
snip - timeout to resolve presentation issues
356 00:35:57.630 --> 00:36:02.899 Stephen Dury: Right, well… I… Shel, are we ready to go, then?
357 00:36:02.900 --> 00:36:04.620 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Go for it, it's all yours, Stephen.
358 00:36:04.620 --> 00:36:11.469 Stephen Dury: Yeah, okay. So, thank you everyone. So, I'm Steve Jury, Somerset Council, Nature Recovery and Partnerships Manager.
359 00:36:11.560 --> 00:36:26.440 Stephen Dury: And I shall… my talk is on understanding local nature recovery strategies, so what they are, why they matter, and how it will guide local action for nature's recovery. So, next slide, please, Graeme.
360 00:36:30.050 --> 00:36:44.599 Stephen Dury: So, this will encompass why do we need a local nature recovery strategy, what is the purpose of LNRS, what will the LNRS do, and what will it not do? I'll give some examples from the Somerset LNRS.
361 00:36:44.600 --> 00:36:51.360 Stephen Dury: And I'll also talk a little bit around how will the LNRS be delivered. Next slide, please.
362 00:36:54.750 --> 00:37:09.610 Stephen Dury: So, as set out in the UK State of Nature Report 2023, nature is in trouble. England is considered to be one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. It ranked 228th
363 00:37:09.720 --> 00:37:28.419 Stephen Dury: out of 240 countries in a study commissioned by the Natural History Museum, it has experienced a significant loss of biodiversity in the last 50 years alone, with around 13% of species in England threatened with extinction.
364 00:37:28.540 --> 00:37:33.480 Stephen Dury: Most of the important habitats for nature are in poor condition.
365 00:37:33.590 --> 00:37:42.560 Stephen Dury: But, more optimistically, the report does say that it's not too late, and that restoration projects can, and do.
366 00:37:42.650 --> 00:37:49.190 Stephen Dury: Have clear benefits for nature and people, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation.
367 00:37:49.280 --> 00:37:57.299 Stephen Dury: And the Environment Act in 2021 brought into law requirements to halt the decline of species
368 00:37:57.370 --> 00:38:12.639 Stephen Dury: and improve our natural environment. And Somerset is one of 48 strategy areas in England that are required by the Environment Act to develop a local nature recovery strategy for their area. Next slide, please.
369 00:38:14.460 --> 00:38:25.640 Stephen Dury: So, the purpose of LNRSs, so, they are new strategy system of spatial strategies for nature's recovery, as brought in by the Environment Act.
370 00:38:25.820 --> 00:38:38.609 Stephen Dury: They will help reverse the ongoing decline of nature and biodiversity in England. This decline has profound implications for the long-term health
371 00:38:38.740 --> 00:38:42.820 Stephen Dury: Well-being and livelihood of communities.
372 00:38:42.970 --> 00:38:55.389 Stephen Dury: They will provide a clear, place-based plan for restoring and protecting nature in a way that supports both people and the environment.
373 00:38:55.820 --> 00:39:12.680 Stephen Dury: And, this is then used to target resources effectively, so that public funding and private investment can be directed to those areas that will make the biggest difference for nature. Next slide.
374 00:39:15.330 --> 00:39:20.210 Stephen Dury: So, what will the LLRS do, and what will it not do? Next slide.
375 00:39:22.070 --> 00:39:30.229 Stephen Dury: So, two most important things it does are it identifies priorities, and it maps opportunities.
376 00:39:30.350 --> 00:39:49.060 Stephen Dury: So it sets out the most important local priorities for nature recovery, through a structured, evidence-based, and locally informed process. So, for example, this might include restoring wetlands, planting woodlands, or creating urban green spaces.
377 00:39:49.190 --> 00:40:03.069 Stephen Dury: It also links those local priorities with national environmental targets. So, for example, there is a national environment target to increase woodland cover in the UK
378 00:40:03.260 --> 00:40:09.260 Stephen Dury: From 14.5% to 16.5% by 2050.
379 00:40:09.700 --> 00:40:13.350 Stephen Dury: Secondly, so mapping opportunities…
380 00:40:13.490 --> 00:40:32.119 Stephen Dury: It will produce a map showing where actions would have the most benefit for wildlife, people, and the climate. It highlights existing important habitats, and it shows opportunities for new habitats, or improvements. Next slide.
381 00:40:34.180 --> 00:40:54.149 Stephen Dury: So furthermore, once it's done this, this will then guide investment and action, so it provides a blueprint for farmers, landowners, councils, and developers to align their projects with nature recovery goals. So once published, it becomes the reference document
382 00:40:54.190 --> 00:40:57.400 Stephen Dury: used by funders, planners.
383 00:40:57.520 --> 00:41:09.640 Stephen Dury: Land managers and delivery bodies, so that future spending and projects align with the agreed map and priorities, rather than being scattered ad hoc.
384 00:41:10.060 --> 00:41:22.550 Stephen Dury: It supports collaboration, so it encourages local partnerships between councils, community groups, environmental organisations, businesses, and landowners.
385 00:41:22.670 --> 00:41:27.190 Stephen Dury: So by giving everyone the same evidence, the same map.
386 00:41:27.310 --> 00:41:35.539 Stephen Dury: And the same agreed priorities to work from, instead of each actor pursuing separate agendas in isolation.
387 00:41:35.860 --> 00:41:37.319 Stephen Dury: Next slide, please.
388 00:41:40.090 --> 00:41:54.699 Stephen Dury: And although, whilst nature recovery is a core aim, LNRSs also promote wider environmental benefits, the so-called ecosystem services. So, such as improving water and air quality.
389 00:41:54.740 --> 00:42:03.579 Stephen Dury: Reducing flood risks and improving climate resilience, and providing better access to nature for people's health and wellbeing.
390 00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:13.149 Stephen Dury: So, in short, an LNRS tells everyone where and what to do to recover nature locally, making sure that the effort adds up to meaningful
391 00:42:13.260 --> 00:42:18.470 Stephen Dury: ecological and societal outcomes. Next slide.
392 00:42:21.100 --> 00:42:33.609 Stephen Dury: So, in terms of, why the local nature recovery strategy is important for everyone, so for communities, it gives communities a clear picture of where nature can be restored or enhanced.
393 00:42:33.720 --> 00:42:48.230 Stephen Dury: It helps local groups, schools, and volunteers plan projects that connect habitats, improve public spaces, and make villages and towns more resilient to flooding, heat, and pollution.
394 00:42:48.390 --> 00:43:02.280 Stephen Dury: For people, it supports healthier, greener places to live, so more trees, cleaner water, richer wildlife, and easier access to nature, close to home.
395 00:43:02.390 --> 00:43:20.350 Stephen Dury: And it also supports practical benefits, so shade in hot water, natural flood defences, and landscapes that absorb carbon and store water. So, LNRS has influenced how land and nature-based solutions improve local health.
396 00:43:20.460 --> 00:43:24.440 Stephen Dury: safety, and quality of life. Next slide.
397 00:43:26.270 --> 00:43:39.480 Stephen Dury: So, for landowners and farmers, the LNRS identifies where land management can deliver the greatest benefit for wildlife, soil health, and the wider community, whilst remaining fully voluntary.
398 00:43:39.710 --> 00:43:44.479 Stephen Dury: It helps guide funding opportunities, such as environmental land management schemes.
399 00:43:44.670 --> 00:43:50.450 Stephen Dury: And private nature finance, so that efforts and investment go to the right places.
400 00:43:50.570 --> 00:44:07.290 Stephen Dury: And for local decision makers, it provides an evidence-based, shared map of priorities for nature recovery across the county, so that councils, public bodies and organisations can use it to coordinate plans, target grants.
401 00:44:07.370 --> 00:44:14.309 Stephen Dury: and ensure local development and infrastructure support biodiversity goals. Next slide.
402 00:44:16.120 --> 00:44:24.479 Stephen Dury: What it does not do, so it does not create new legal designations or protections.
403 00:44:24.750 --> 00:44:28.189 Stephen Dury: It does not regulate or impose
404 00:44:28.310 --> 00:44:42.279 Stephen Dury: obligations, it guides rather than compels. So being mapped as an opportunity area does not force landowners to take action, change land use, or manage land in a certain way.
405 00:44:42.420 --> 00:44:51.560 Stephen Dury: It doesn't provide funding directly. It can influence where funding should go, but it doesn't guarantee investment by itself.
406 00:44:51.930 --> 00:45:00.800 Stephen Dury: It doesn't replace planning or environmental law, so it doesn't override local plans, permits, or statutory protections.
407 00:45:01.030 --> 00:45:07.570 Stephen Dury: It doesn't, in itself, deliver projects. It is a strategy and evidence base.
408 00:45:07.740 --> 00:45:13.260 Stephen Dury: Implementation depends on landowners, partners, and funders.
409 00:45:13.520 --> 00:45:21.699 Stephen Dury: and it doesn't freeze the map permanently, the LNRS will be updated over time as evidence and circumstances change.
410 00:45:21.970 --> 00:45:37.239 Stephen Dury: So, in short, an LRS guides where and how nature recovery is best delivered, but it does not compel, fund, permit, or directly implement actions. Next slide.
411 00:45:38.830 --> 00:45:49.499 Stephen Dury: So these are some of the examples for priorities in nature recovery. So across the 48 local nature recovery strategies across the country, you'll have one for your region, your county.
412 00:45:49.650 --> 00:45:55.849 Stephen Dury: So, priorities could be increased biodiversity in urban areas, nature-based solutions used to address
413 00:45:56.000 --> 00:46:08.929 Stephen Dury: flood risk, air quality, and heat stress, and so on. And these are all developed locally with lots of compensation and engagement locally. Next slide.
414 00:46:10.110 --> 00:46:13.860 Stephen Dury: And so those priorities are the outcome we wish to see achieved.
415 00:46:14.010 --> 00:46:20.699 Stephen Dury: The actions, or the measures to achieve those priorities are also listed in NLRS.
416 00:46:20.710 --> 00:46:35.080 Stephen Dury: And I'm conscious I've got a few slides here, Graeme, so I might speed up or skip some of them, because we do want to leave a bit of time for Q&A, but I'll… let me know, Graeme, when I've got 5 minutes left, and I'll adjust accordingly.
417 00:46:35.410 --> 00:46:39.219 Stephen Dury: So these are some of the, potential measures
418 00:46:39.430 --> 00:46:48.509 Stephen Dury: That support, the priorities, increase biodiversity in urban areas, and improve connection to nature. Next slide.
419 00:46:50.270 --> 00:46:54.830 Stephen Dury: So, what is in the Somerset Local Nature Recovery Strategy? Next slide.
420 00:46:56.250 --> 00:47:05.920 Stephen Dury: So, the NNRS… all NNRSs are formed of two main parts, a written report, statement to biodiversity priorities, and the local habitat map.
421 00:47:06.160 --> 00:47:13.830 Stephen Dury: So the habitats, priorities and potential measures in the document… in the report, identify what we want to do.
422 00:47:13.980 --> 00:47:21.869 Stephen Dury: The potential measures are then presented on the map, showing where these would deliver the greatest benefit. Next slide.
423 00:47:23.950 --> 00:47:38.430 Stephen Dury: So, I'll just skip over this one very quickly, so that all LNRSs conform to the DEFRA guidance on what they should contain, and that slide just lists what they should contain. Next slide.
424 00:47:40.550 --> 00:47:46.999 Stephen Dury: And there's also… we look at species, endangered species, we draw up a short list of
425 00:47:47.120 --> 00:48:04.099 Stephen Dury: priority species in… in our case in Somerset that are endangered, and we… some of these require their own bespoke measures, so we also have a section on those species that require additional bespoke measures. Next slide.
426 00:48:05.820 --> 00:48:12.290 Stephen Dury: And then the… so the very important element is the map, so this contains two layers.
427 00:48:12.340 --> 00:48:20.270 Stephen Dury: So it contains those areas that are already designated, the already important areas.
428 00:48:20.300 --> 00:48:36.229 Stephen Dury: known in the jargon as areas of particular importance for biodiversity, and then most importantly, it contains those areas that, we, we… I have identified as the most important areas
429 00:48:36.270 --> 00:48:45.240 Stephen Dury: to restore and create new habitats, and these are called areas that could become of particular importance. Next slide.
430 00:48:49.030 --> 00:48:54.169 Stephen Dury: So, this is just an example of the map. So, the colored areas are,
431 00:48:54.230 --> 00:49:13.500 Stephen Dury: those areas that… the opportunity areas that could become of particular importance, colored according to different habitat types, and you can click on any of those, and you can see there is a preferred action measure, and there may be some alternative options to do on that site. So this is really…
432 00:49:13.520 --> 00:49:17.589 Stephen Dury: the core part of the LNRS. Next slide.
433 00:49:19.500 --> 00:49:33.449 Stephen Dury: So we've seen, the LNRS contains what we're going to do, we've seen it contains where we're going to do it, and the final element is who is going to make it happen. Next slide.
434 00:49:34.410 --> 00:49:44.440 Stephen Dury: And in the Somerset LNS, we have a chapter on how different end user groups can use the LNRS, and I'm sure all LNRSs will contain this. Next slide.
435 00:49:47.860 --> 00:49:58.850 Stephen Dury: So, for example, we have a section on individuals, community groups, and businesses, how they can use it. We have some, some case studies that we include as well. Next slide.
436 00:50:01.100 --> 00:50:08.980 Stephen Dury: We also have a section on town and parish councils, and there's a case study there from town council. Next slide.
437 00:50:11.070 --> 00:50:17.959 Stephen Dury: We'll very briefly, just outline some of the ways in which individuals, community groups, and businesses can use an LRS.
438 00:50:19.550 --> 00:50:26.219 Stephen Dury: And, well, I won't spend too much time on this, because we're a bit short of time, but those are the ways that,
439 00:50:26.590 --> 00:50:32.460 Stephen Dury: We have outlined that individuals, community groups, and businesses can use an LNRS. Next slide.
440 00:50:33.720 --> 00:50:39.450 Stephen Dury: And, likewise, and then the next two slides might be of more interest to you.
441 00:50:40.280 --> 00:50:51.869 Stephen Dury: Next slide. How a parish council can use a LNRS, so it can be used to inform local projects and priorities, guide responses to planning proposals.
442 00:50:52.280 --> 00:50:56.639 Stephen Dury: Support funding bids, and partnerships. Next slide.
443 00:50:58.780 --> 00:51:01.380 Stephen Dury: Guide neighborhood plans.
444 00:51:01.680 --> 00:51:15.019 Stephen Dury: connect with landowners and community groups, and contribute local knowledge. I'm skimming over these, but I'm assuming you will be sending these slides around, Graham, to everyone to read at their leisure. Next slide.
445 00:51:16.930 --> 00:51:21.139 Stephen Dury: And how was it delivered? We're on the last couple of slides now. Next slide.
446 00:51:22.310 --> 00:51:26.789 Stephen Dury: Well, there is a… there are delivery mechanisms that are based in law.
447 00:51:26.920 --> 00:51:33.009 Stephen Dury: I'm sure you've all heard of biodiversity net gain, where developers have to,
448 00:51:33.330 --> 00:51:38.290 Stephen Dury: Result in a 10% net gain in biodiversity of anything that they destroy on site.
449 00:51:38.490 --> 00:51:42.130 Stephen Dury: And those opportunity areas identified.
450 00:51:42.130 --> 00:51:42.710 lisa scott: Oh, mate.
451 00:51:42.710 --> 00:51:45.470 Stephen Dury: considered areas that are strategic significantly.
452 00:51:45.470 --> 00:51:46.269 lisa scott: If you can apply.
453 00:51:50.740 --> 00:52:05.260 Stephen Dury: And, so it makes it attractive for both developers and the landowners to choose those sites if developer has to look off-site for where to, implement biodiversity net gain.
454 00:52:05.310 --> 00:52:11.159 Stephen Dury: those opportunity areas identified through an LNRS are more likely to be chosen.
455 00:52:11.280 --> 00:52:18.079 Stephen Dury: There is a duty on public authorities to conserve and enhance the environment. This is a legal duty.
456 00:52:18.440 --> 00:52:21.820 Stephen Dury: And they will use the LNRS
457 00:52:21.960 --> 00:52:32.019 Stephen Dury: to inform their relevant regulatory decisions. And also, it influences planners, both in local plan development.
458 00:52:32.360 --> 00:52:43.349 Stephen Dury: So, local planning authorities need to take the LNRS into account when developing their local plans, and also they need to use the LNRS as an evidence base
459 00:52:44.340 --> 00:52:54.109 Stephen Dury: that may be a material consideration in planning decisions. So the NRS carries some weight in the planning process. Next slide.
460 00:52:56.910 --> 00:53:11.150 Stephen Dury: And so, in summary, there's a whole range of delivery mechanisms of which, the LNRS, outcomes will be delivered. So, through planning and regulation, which I've summarized in the previous slide.
461 00:53:11.560 --> 00:53:25.079 Stephen Dury: through public funding, so agri-environment schemes, ELMS, and other grants that pay farmers, landowners, community bodies, will… may well reference the LNRS as we move forward.
462 00:53:25.830 --> 00:53:38.479 Stephen Dury: Private finance and offset, so developers, utilities, and corporates, use the LNRS map to target compensated or voluntary nature investment to the right places.
463 00:53:38.950 --> 00:53:55.590 Stephen Dury: partnership projects, so catchment groups, NGOs, councils and landowners working together to co-deliver restoration of nature-based solutions in the priority zones that have been identified within the LNRS.
464 00:53:56.020 --> 00:54:09.769 Stephen Dury: And, finally, to say there will be iterative monitoring and revision. Progress is tracked, and the strategy updated, so resources keep flowing to the highest leverage action.
465 00:54:11.740 --> 00:54:13.630 Stephen Dury: One of the final slides.
466 00:54:15.600 --> 00:54:26.029 Stephen Dury: So, this government have stated that the LNRSs will be reviewed in 3 to 10 years, and republished, updated with any new evidence.
467 00:54:26.240 --> 00:54:27.819 Stephen Dury: That has arisen.
468 00:54:28.100 --> 00:54:31.000 Stephen Dury: And we will measure progress
469 00:54:31.260 --> 00:54:39.689 Stephen Dury: We will be asked… local authorities will be asked to monitor against national and local targets.
470 00:54:39.840 --> 00:54:42.809 lisa scott: And Definitely will be, providing.
471 00:54:42.910 --> 00:54:51.180 Stephen Dury: More information on that, in the very near future, on how the To report on progress.
472 00:54:51.370 --> 00:54:54.030 Stephen Dury: And that is the final slide.
473 00:54:54.160 --> 00:55:01.409 Stephen Dury: A bit of a rush through, so apologies for that, but I hope you found that interesting.
474 00:55:04.350 --> 00:55:14.929 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Peter, I'm sorry, Peter. Thank you so much for that, Steve, and I'm sure there's going to be a host of questions
475 00:55:15.080 --> 00:55:27.249 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And I'll let the others get along with it before I ask you all of mine, except just to say that, we discovered yours because you sent out a document that says you're going to, consult.
476 00:55:30.360 --> 00:55:33.330 Cllr Allan Wilson Edgmond Shropshire: Graham, can you mute Lisa Scott, please?
477 00:55:33.330 --> 00:55:34.210 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Not doing that.
478 00:55:34.540 --> 00:55:35.330 lisa scott: Sorry.
479 00:55:40.810 --> 00:55:51.769 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: So, Somerset is bringing out a consultation period with everybody that's going to be involved. Is that a requirement? Do you think all 48 areas are going to do that?
480 00:55:51.970 --> 00:56:00.770 Stephen Dury: Yes, all 48 hours areas. It is a requirement, so ours is currently out to public consultation, for a six-week period.
481 00:56:00.870 --> 00:56:13.790 Stephen Dury: All have either done it, or are in the process of doing it now, or will be doing it very shortly. So, if in your area you've not heard about it yet, keep an eye out for it, because it will
482 00:56:13.790 --> 00:56:20.919 Stephen Dury: probably come up soon. And we, you know, we want to use the public consultation as an opportunity to make sure
483 00:56:21.040 --> 00:56:37.719 Stephen Dury: that what we are saying is accurate and evidence-based, so it's a bit of sense-checking, really, so it's very important. We've done a lot of public engagement, but, you know, not everyone would have seen the draft. We now have a draft.
484 00:56:37.840 --> 00:56:48.159 Stephen Dury: We want to get it sense-checked to make sure that when it's published, it's as accurate as it can… it's never going to be perfect, but we want it to be as accurate as it can be.
485 00:56:48.390 --> 00:56:52.889 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And my last question for you, Steve, is do you see a lot of
486 00:56:53.590 --> 00:57:02.270 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: communication between you and other LRSs. If someone learns something, does it get passed around, or are you all operating in silos still?
487 00:57:02.990 --> 00:57:20.049 Stephen Dury: No, very much so. We have a Southwest regional group, stretching from Gloucestershire across Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, West of England Combined Authority, where we regularly meet once a month to compare notes.
488 00:57:20.360 --> 00:57:23.670 Stephen Dury: And that's been very useful. And also.
489 00:57:23.750 --> 00:57:37.459 Stephen Dury: ensure a degree of consistency across boundaries, because we've all taken… we've been given flexibility in how we produce the maps, you know, what type of modeling we use, how we put them together.
490 00:57:37.500 --> 00:57:51.879 Stephen Dury: So there is a possibility for a degree of inconsistency there, but by working closely together, we make sure that there are no very peculiar, sharp boundary lines at boundaries.
491 00:57:51.890 --> 00:57:58.869 Stephen Dury: So we have been working very closely together, and I hope that will continue as we… as the delivery phase starts.
492 00:57:58.870 --> 00:58:06.629 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Right, so once Somerset has decided that they're going to share all their data with Parish Online, we can expect it to go nationwide. Splendid.
493 00:58:06.930 --> 00:58:09.659 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Should, would you like to carry on, please?
494 00:58:10.470 --> 00:58:13.690 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Yeah, thank you, and I'd like to thank Steve for,
495 00:58:14.080 --> 00:58:19.200 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: a very interesting whistle-top, sort of tour of LNRS.
496 00:58:19.370 --> 00:58:22.450 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I, I, I think fundamentally, it's,
497 00:58:22.730 --> 00:58:26.310 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: A really good, worthwhile, thing to do.
498 00:58:26.520 --> 00:58:36.640 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Many things worry me about it, though. On the implementation side, a lot seems to rest with the landowners and farmers.
499 00:58:37.160 --> 00:58:45.610 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And as far as I'm aware, the farmers have been hammered at the moment. The ELMS program has been suspended.
500 00:58:45.740 --> 00:58:50.969 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: They are not getting the proper funding for land regeneration.
501 00:58:51.210 --> 00:58:54.460 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: hedge planting, this, that, and the other. So…
502 00:58:54.570 --> 00:58:57.739 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And, from a report yesterday.
503 00:58:57.880 --> 00:59:03.390 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: About 40% of farmers are either losing money or just breaking even.
504 00:59:03.500 --> 00:59:12.369 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I don't think they can be expected to participate in something like this if it is possibly going to affect their bottom line.
505 00:59:12.640 --> 00:59:15.089 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And my other, sort of, main…
506 00:59:15.370 --> 00:59:20.099 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Query is about how we're measuring the results?
507 00:59:20.510 --> 00:59:26.839 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: We know that we're one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.
508 00:59:26.990 --> 00:59:32.040 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: We are going to implement some of these things. Should we not be measuring the outcomes?
509 00:59:32.190 --> 00:59:39.469 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And I'm not entirely sure who's going to measure, BNG for 10 years, especially if it's off-site.
510 00:59:40.240 --> 00:59:42.400 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I was wondering if you could comment on those.
511 00:59:43.840 --> 00:59:54.949 Stephen Dury: Yes, thank you, thank you for those questions, Stuart. So, in terms of the farmers, I do very much sympathise. I mean, in some rural counties like Somerset.
512 00:59:55.410 --> 01:00:03.690 Stephen Dury: 75% of our farm is farmland, so farmers are really important in terms of delivering nature recovery.
513 01:00:03.740 --> 01:00:22.350 Stephen Dury: But that partly depends on what incentives, and funding are available. And you're quite right, some of the ELMS has been pulled… well, certainly paused, if not pulled, so Sustainable Farming Initiative, SFI, was… was paused. I gather it will be coming back.
514 01:00:22.720 --> 01:00:26.930 Stephen Dury: I think the intention, DEFRA's intention.
515 01:00:27.090 --> 01:00:33.820 Stephen Dury: is to align some of the elms schemes moving forward.
516 01:00:34.330 --> 01:00:47.699 Stephen Dury: to make reference to LNRS. So, potentially, if land is identified on an LNRS map, it may give that farmer, that landowner, if it's part of their land.
517 01:00:48.020 --> 01:00:58.520 Stephen Dury: greater opportunities to tap into some of the agri-environment funding. At the moment, the links aren't there, apart from through landscape recovery schemes.
518 01:00:58.520 --> 01:01:11.449 Stephen Dury: But I think that is the attention. It's interesting, when we ran workshops with farmers, we initially thought they would be quite nervous about having their land identified on an LNRS, you know, in case they were worried about
519 01:01:11.450 --> 01:01:22.140 Stephen Dury: protections and designations, but actually, it appears that farmers are… the feedback we've had, farmers are more worried if their land isn't identified on an LNS,
520 01:01:22.140 --> 01:01:37.229 Stephen Dury: Because they then think, well, that might reduce their chances of some future funding. But farmers are really important, and it depends so much on the national funding scenario, which is obviously, you know, down to government
521 01:01:37.260 --> 01:01:39.660 Stephen Dury: Control and government finances.
522 01:01:39.700 --> 01:01:43.630 Stephen Dury: In terms of measuring results.
523 01:01:43.810 --> 01:01:59.489 Stephen Dury: That is important, and DEFRA are very keen for all 48 areas covered by an LNRS to monitor results, because DEFRA have to do their own reporting under the Environment Act.
524 01:01:59.610 --> 01:02:05.890 Stephen Dury: on the national targets, and how the national targets are being met. So DEFRA's thinking on this is that
525 01:02:05.960 --> 01:02:11.180 Stephen Dury: if all 48, LNRS regions in England, covering the whole of England.
526 01:02:11.250 --> 01:02:22.500 Stephen Dury: can report on, what's, being, achieved locally, at a local level. This can then all be collated and feed into the national targets.
527 01:02:22.520 --> 01:02:38.760 Stephen Dury: So we haven't had all the information exactly about how we're going to report, but there is an expectation that local authorities will collect information and report. So those achieved through public funding, will probably be reported by the DEFRA
528 01:02:38.760 --> 01:02:48.460 Stephen Dury: Arms Length Bodies, Natural England, Forestry Commission, Environment Agency, everything else will need to be collected and reported by local authorities.
529 01:02:49.240 --> 01:02:53.060 Stephen Dury: And finally, BNG, how are we going to measure that?
530 01:02:53.380 --> 01:03:06.750 Stephen Dury: Well, there is a… I gather there is a legal requirement for, contracts to be joined up… to be drawn up when BNG agreements are drawn up.
531 01:03:06.950 --> 01:03:10.190 Stephen Dury: And there will have to be monitoring and surveying
532 01:03:10.370 --> 01:03:24.019 Stephen Dury: at least a couple of times as part of that agreement. It's a long-term agreement. I don't know all the legal detail, but it is a legal requirement. That's what I do understand.
533 01:03:24.170 --> 01:03:30.259 Stephen Dury: And there will have to be some monitoring to ensure that there is a change taking place.
534 01:03:32.720 --> 01:03:34.980 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Thank you very much, Stephen. Amanda, you're next.
535 01:03:34.980 --> 01:03:42.670 Amanda Davis: Thank you, and thank you for the presentation. I've been to so many presentations on nature, recovery strategies.
536 01:03:42.680 --> 01:03:56.509 Amanda Davis: And I have to say, that was one of the clearest I've heard. So, thank you for that snapshot. I'm, yeah, very helpful, thank you. So, I'm both a parish councillor and a board member of our Cotsword National Landscape.
537 01:03:56.630 --> 01:04:12.699 Amanda Davis: And, my question's a simple one, it's just about understanding the areas. The 48 areas, are they coterminous with, unitaries? Counties? Which authority boundary is it that…
538 01:04:12.700 --> 01:04:17.479 Stephen Dury: has a LR… a local nature recovery strategy.
539 01:04:17.760 --> 01:04:18.730 Stephen Dury: Bit of a tongue twister.
540 01:04:18.730 --> 01:04:23.350 Amanda Davis: It is, isn't it? LRNS is what I'm used to saying.
541 01:04:23.990 --> 01:04:40.919 Stephen Dury: It… it is upper-tier local authorities, but in some areas, it's combined authorities. So, for example, in… we have the West of England Combined Authority, which is Bathur North East Somerset, North Somerset, I think it's South Gloucestershire and Bristol… Bristol.
542 01:04:41.020 --> 01:04:58.300 Stephen Dury: So generally it's upper tier, but if there is an existing combined authority, it will be the combined authority, and as part of devolution, I think there's a move towards more combined authorities, and the plan is that if new combined authorities are formed.
543 01:04:58.510 --> 01:05:09.050 Stephen Dury: the responsibility for reporting will then fall on the combined authority rather than the constituent, existing LNRS regions.
544 01:05:10.220 --> 01:05:24.280 Amanda Davis: That's superbly helpful. I'm in Gloucestershire, where we have got reorganisation, and then devolution to look forward to. So, and then we've got the not coterminous in any way at all, Cotswold National Landscape Boundary.
545 01:05:24.930 --> 01:05:25.250 Stephen Dury: Right now.
546 01:05:25.250 --> 01:05:34.559 Amanda Davis: very much about partnership working and being aware of each other's data and working together. But what we do have with being a local, with being a…
547 01:05:34.560 --> 01:05:47.809 Amanda Davis: national landscape is, we have DEFRA funding to distribute, and so we can enable and sort of lever in some of this change with the help of funding that maybe other areas don't have.
548 01:05:47.820 --> 01:06:01.880 Amanda Davis: So, that helps, and it also helps the authorities to work with us as well, because there's that bit of incentive. It'd be nice if it was more widely available to more areas, and not just the national landscapes.
549 01:06:01.880 --> 01:06:12.540 Amanda Davis: But I guess we've got to do more than our fair share, if you like. Well, it is a fair share, by us doing a lot more, because we're in a protected landscape, and so we can contribute so much more.
550 01:06:13.280 --> 01:06:27.240 Stephen Dury: Absolutely, I think there is an expectation that national landscapes and national parks will do a fair amount of the heavy lifting on this, because they have, you know, they are designated areas for their landscapes, they have a lot of potential for nature recovery.
551 01:06:27.260 --> 01:06:37.780 Stephen Dury: And they have very good partnerships, they have some funding streams in place, and I'm aware that the Cotswold National Landscape are doing some, really, some superb work. I've come across some of it.
552 01:06:37.850 --> 01:06:41.919 Stephen Dury: So, it's great that they are in that position to be able to do that.
553 01:06:43.460 --> 01:07:07.710 Amanda Davis: I guess the, if I… if I may just say one more thing, it's… it's the challenge is getting the parish and town councils within those areas to understand what's being done. And, whereas the principal authorities' representatives on the board of Cotswold National Landscape, are very closely involved with their local nature recovery strategy, the formation, hearing it presented from start to finish.
554 01:07:07.830 --> 01:07:23.670 Amanda Davis: and the implications of it. Parish and town councils really don't get to hear it. And when my parish and my parish council was consulted on our Gloucestershire one, which the consultation's now finished, it found it almost too difficult
555 01:07:23.690 --> 01:07:38.209 Amanda Davis: And in the end, it was… it was delegated to individual councillors to, to write their own responses in, and, you know, who knows what… what people… the degree to which people would have looked at it. It almost needs a presentation like you've just given.
556 01:07:38.410 --> 01:07:48.999 Amanda Davis: Then I look at the map together in a room, and saying, as I looked at mine, my new development… I live in a new development where it's 8 years old.
557 01:07:49.030 --> 01:08:06.019 Amanda Davis: And it's down for, flood area restoration. In other words, water, well, short of drowning our new estate. That's not gonna happen. So I guess that's the nature of this stage of, having a look at it. It's sense-checking at this stage, isn't it?
558 01:08:06.020 --> 01:08:20.309 Stephen Dury: Yeah, absolutely, it's sense checking, and that's the sort of feedback that we would hope to get, you know, if something's being earmarked as a sort of flood storage area, and it's actually now a development, there's obviously something gone a little bit awry there.
559 01:08:20.310 --> 01:08:27.899 Amanda Davis: But I guess what I'm saying is that connect is not quite there, that unless we go out to these parish and town councils can be quite small.
560 01:08:27.899 --> 01:08:41.859 Amanda Davis: And can be quite, what's the word? They're not used to new things, necessarily. And if we're just used to looking at planning applications, and maybe the local plan, and if we're really lucky, a neighbourhood plan.
561 01:08:42.010 --> 01:08:53.709 Amanda Davis: This is something that's… that's new, and it's kind of the how can we spread thin resource, scarce resources out so thinly to.
562 01:08:53.710 --> 01:08:54.090 Stephen Dury: Oh, no.
563 01:08:54.090 --> 01:08:57.210 Amanda Davis: Plans to help do this sense checking.
564 01:08:57.569 --> 01:09:05.869 Stephen Dury: I guess it comes down to resourcing and capacity… staff capacity within local authorities. I mean, we've… I know in Somerset, we've tried to do some engagement
565 01:09:05.929 --> 01:09:15.869 Stephen Dury: And as we move to delivery, we hope to do more engagement, particularly with parish councils and clusters of parish councils. In fact, we've just hired two
566 01:09:15.869 --> 01:09:26.579 Stephen Dury: graduates, both of whom are on this call, I believe, who I hope will be assisting with that. It is very important to go out, raise awareness.
567 01:09:26.579 --> 01:09:37.049 Stephen Dury: make sure people are aware that the local nature recovery strategy exists, and what opportunities it offers. And that comes down to staff resources within local authorities.
568 01:09:37.069 --> 01:09:46.399 Stephen Dury: But we have got a little… we've got some funding for at least the first year, as we transition to delivery. We hope we will secure funding beyond that as well.
569 01:09:47.300 --> 01:09:47.640 Amanda Davis: Thank you.
570 01:09:47.649 --> 01:09:48.759 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Maybe…
571 01:09:48.979 --> 01:09:51.489 Stephen Dury: You raise good points, it's very important, yeah.
572 01:09:52.109 --> 01:10:03.759 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Maybe something that Amanda is looking for in the link that Shropshire has put up, Alan Wilson's put up in our chat, that they have prepared a document for all of their parish councils.
573 01:10:03.909 --> 01:10:06.999 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: to follow, and I suspect that it could be very useful.
574 01:10:08.310 --> 01:10:08.909 Amanda Davis: Thank you very much.
575 01:10:08.910 --> 01:10:17.049 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Tropshire is one of the lead counties, I find, in climate change and so forth, and they're obviously weird on this one, so that might be a very useful link.
576 01:10:17.280 --> 01:10:23.430 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Does anyone else have any more points they want to raise, please, or questions for Stuart, for Stephen, I'm sorry.
577 01:10:26.540 --> 01:10:43.270 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Well, there you go, Stephen, you've managed to fill the bill and, fill the time as well. Thank you so much, as it was a very clear distinction, and I think that the slideshow that you devote will be very, very useful. I'm going to ask you, Steven, if you would please send it to me as a
578 01:10:43.420 --> 01:10:47.960 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: PowerPoint presentation, because then people themselves can use it, rather than
579 01:10:48.150 --> 01:10:51.539 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: In a PDF form, there's not much I can do with it from there.
580 01:10:52.020 --> 01:10:54.970 Stephen Dury: I may have to send it by WeTransfer, Graham, because it won't send…
581 01:10:54.970 --> 01:10:57.499 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Yeah, I'm very happy with that. No problem.
582 01:10:57.940 --> 01:10:58.730 Stephen Dury: Sure.
583 01:10:58.960 --> 01:10:59.630 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: M.
584 01:11:01.470 --> 01:11:12.789 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: In that case, ladies and gentlemen, I would normally, at this point, cheerfully announce to you what next week's topic of discussion is going to be, but this week, I'm going to say I haven't got the slightest idea.
585 01:11:12.990 --> 01:11:16.440 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: But I'm working on it, so we'll see what we can do.
586 01:11:16.700 --> 01:11:20.660 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: So keep your eyes peeled, and I'm sure we'll come up with something.
587 01:11:20.660 --> 01:11:21.840 Amanda Davis: Graham, may I
588 01:11:22.190 --> 01:11:35.810 Amanda Davis: Thank you, it's Amanda again. We're currently going through a refresh of our local plan, not least of which because of the housing requirement, that's doubled the requirement to build in the Cotswolds.
589 01:11:35.810 --> 01:11:48.050 Amanda Davis: So I'm imagining we're not alone at our planning authority having to go through this. So what it means for Paris and Town Councils is we're reviewing a number of things, including our green space allocations.
590 01:11:48.050 --> 01:11:59.710 Amanda Davis: And I'm just, you know, I don't know if others are doing the same right now, and whether there might be anything about the different designations. So, for example, we've got some SSSI,
591 01:11:59.750 --> 01:12:13.300 Amanda Davis: We've got, the whole area covered by nature reserve, another bit of scheduled monuments, and then we're looking at, at, I think, rail, railways. We've got some old embankment.
592 01:12:13.300 --> 01:12:23.610 Amanda Davis: that's protected differently, and I'd be really interested to know about the different designations, as it… as it relates to both nature and planning.
593 01:12:24.300 --> 01:12:44.999 Amanda Davis: So, it kind of follows on from this, but it's also very timely, because we're going through it right now. And then we've got the, Regulation 19 consultation coming up in the new year. And I would imagine, because this has been spurred on by the additional housing requirements, there'll be other areas that are in the same sort of,
594 01:12:45.060 --> 01:12:46.250 Amanda Davis: time frame.
595 01:12:46.780 --> 01:12:47.470 Amanda Davis: So it's just…
596 01:12:47.470 --> 01:12:54.509 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Brief, tantalizing moment, Amanda. I thought you were offering to tell us all about it next week, but…
597 01:12:55.160 --> 01:12:56.890 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Mike, what you had in mind.
598 01:12:57.230 --> 01:13:01.009 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Thank you for the ideas, I'll go out and see if I can find anybody to fill the bill.
599 01:13:01.170 --> 01:13:14.309 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And that does remind me that if anybody has any ideas that they'd like to see being discussed, or they have people in mind that they know give good presentations, then I would be delighted to hear from you.
600 01:13:14.770 --> 01:13:18.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: And in the meantime, thank you all very much.
601 01:13:18.160 --> 01:13:20.989 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: I will see you next week, I hope.
602 01:13:21.280 --> 01:13:22.800 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Thanks, Graeme. Thanks, Stephen.
603 01:13:22.800 --> 01:13:25.290 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Come back and see you all then. Take care.
604 01:13:25.290 --> 01:13:26.190 Amanda Davis: Thank you, as always.
605 01:13:26.190 --> 01:13:26.660 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Isle of Wight: Bye bye.
606 01:13:26.660 --> 01:13:28.290 Ken Huggins north Dorset: Yeah. Bye-bye. Thanks, Graham.
Marked-down version of the presentation (for AI search):
# Slide 1
- Steve Dury, Somerset Council
- Understanding Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS)
# Slide 2
- Why do we need a LNRS?
- Purpose of LNRS
- What will the LNRS do (and not do)?
- Examples from Somerset LNRS
- How will the LNRS be delivered?
# Slide 3: The State of Nature: England
- England is widely considered to be one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. The Environment Act 2021 brings into law requirements to halt the decline of species and improve our natural environment.
- Average 32% decline in species’ abundance since
- 1970.
- Average 18% decrease in the distributions of invertebrate species.
- Decreases in the distributions of over half of plant species.
- 13% of 8,840
- species in England
- are threatened.
- Source: State of Nature (2023)
# Slide 4
- Purpose of LNRS
- New statutory system of spatial strategies for nature’s recovery
- Help reverse an ongoing decline of nature and biodiversity in England.
- Provides a clear, place-based plan for restoring and protecting nature in a way that supports both people and the environment
- Target resources effectively
- Lawton review 2010. “We need to make our network of sites bigger, better, and more joined up.”
# Slide 5
- What will the LNRS do (and not do)?
# Slide 6
- What will the LNRS do? (1/3)
- 1. Identify Priorities
- Set out the most important local priorities for nature recovery – for example, restoring wetlands, planting woodlands, or creating urban green spaces.
- Link local priorities with national environmental targets, like improving biodiversity or tackling climate change.
- 2. Map Opportunities
- Produce a map showing where actions would have the most benefit for wildlife, people, and the climate.
- Highlight existing important habitats (like ancient woodland or peatland).
- Show opportunities for new habitats or improvements, such as connecting fragmented sites to allow species to move more easily.
# Slide 7
- What will the LNRS do? (2/3)
- 3. Guide Investment & Action
- Provide a blueprint for farmers, landowners, councils, and developers to align their projects with nature recovery goals.
- Help target public and private funding (e.g. government grants, biodiversity net gain contributions, carbon markets) where it will have the biggest impact.
- 4. Support Collaboration
- Encourage local partnerships between councils, community groups, environmental organisations, businesses, and landowners.
- Creates a shared vision for nature recovery that balances environmental, social, and economic needs.
# Slide 8
- What will the LNRS do? (3/3)
- 5. Deliver Multiple Benefits
- By coordinating efforts, LNRSs aim to:
- Boost biodiversity by protecting and restoring habitats.
- Improve water and air quality.
- Reduce flooding risks and improve climate resilience.
- Provide better access to nature for people’s health and wellbeing.
- 👉 In short: an LNRS tells everyone “where and what to do” to recover nature locally, making sure effort adds up to meaningful ecological and societal outcomes.
# Slide 9
- 🌿 Why the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) Matters to Everyone
- For Communities#🏡 Helps plan local projects — tree planting, wildflower areas, ponds, and wildlife corridors.#💚 Supports cleaner air, reduced flooding, and greener neighbourhoods.
- For People#🚶♀️ More access to nature-rich places to walk, relax, and enjoy.#🌤 Healthier, more resilient environments for future generations.
# Slide 10
- 🌿 Why the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) Matters to Everyone
- For Landowners & Farmers#🌾 Shows where land management can bring the greatest benefit for nature and people.#💰 Helps target funding and new environmental schemes.
- For Local Decision-Makers#🗺 Provides a shared evidence base to guide investment and planning.#🤝 Encourages collaboration across parishes, councils, and communities.
# Slide 11: An LNRS does not:
- ❌ Create new legal designations or protections
- ❌ Regulate or impose obligations– it guides rather than compels.
- ❌ Provide funding directly – it can influence where funding should go, but it doesn’t guarantee investment by itself.
- ❌ Replace planning or environmental law– it does not override local plans, permits, or statutory protections.
- ❌ Deliver projects – it is a strategy and evidence base; implementation depends on landowners, partners, and funders.
- ❌ Freeze the map permanently
# Slide 12: Examples of priorities for nature recovery
- Increase biodiversity in urban areas
- Increase tree cover in the region
- Create and maintain sustainably functioning waterways
- Nature based solutions used to address flood risk, air quality and heat stress
- Roads and railways support habitat corridors and nature connectivity
- More and better managed
- coastal and intertidal habitats, supporting healthy
- species populations
- 12
# Slide 13: Examples of potential measures to support priorities
- opportunities
- Create new pocket parks
- Increase local food growing
- Plant more street trees
- Manage gardens for wildlife
- Use permeable paving for driveways
- Support green prescribing
- initiatives to get people outside
- Re-naturalise urban rivers and canals
- Adapt mowing and maintenance regimes in green spaces
- Increase biodiversity in urban areas
- Improve people’s
- connection to nature
- 13
# Slide 14
- What is in the Somerset LNRS?
# Slide 15: What forms the Somerset LNRS?
- The LNRS is formed of two parts:
- The Statement of Biodiversity Priorities
- The Local Habitat Map
- The habitats, priorities, and potential measures in the document identify what we want to do.
- The potential measures are then presented on the map, showing where these would deliver the greatest benefit.
# Slide 16: Statement of Biodiversity Priorities
- Identifies and describes the key habitats and species within Somerset.
- Identifies the pressures and threats to nature in Somerset.
- Identifies opportunities for nature recovery and the wider benefits from these.
- Identifies ‘priorities’ and ‘potential
- measures’ for nature recovery, taking into account wider benefits and nature- based solutions.
- The priorities are what we see as being the most important things to achieve in order to deliver nature recovery.
- The measures are the actions that if taken, would help to deliver the priorities of the LNRS
# Slide 17: Species
- Most species will markedly benefit from the LNRS in general
- Measures for species recovery are embedded within the relevant habitat sections of the Statement of Biodiversity Priorities
- 136 priority species identified from a long list of 396 species assessed as rare, threatened or significant within the county.
- From this,15 individual species and 8 species assemblages were identified that require bespoke actions
# Slide 18: Local Habitat and Opportunity Map
- Created from national and local datasets.
- Map a baseline of our important habitats across the LNRS area i.e. irreplaceable habitats and designated sites - Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity:
- Identify and map areas where we need to restore and create new habitats to create a joined up sustainable network for nature - Areas that Could Become of Particular Importance
# Slide 19
# Slide 20
# Slide 21
# Slide 22
# Slide 23
- How Individuals, Community Groups and Businesses can use a LNRS
- Explore opportunity maps to identify opportunities
- The map is a starting guide so use it to generate ideas
- Assess community spaces to understand which opportunities will work best for your land
- The LNRS can provide evidence when commenting on planning applications, showing where nature recovery opportunities or sensitive habitats exist and helping ensure development considers them properly
- Decide what projects you want to pursue and explore funding opportunities
- Align your priorities with the right funding.
# Slide 24
- How Individuals, Community Groups and
- Businesses Can Use a LNRS
- Develop an action plan for nature recovery
- Take guidance from our nature recovery principles and consider the short and long-term, and how you could monitor positive impacts
- Help set up or join an existing local community nature recovery group, friends of or voluntary group working to manage local greenspaces for the benefit of both wildlife and people.
- Align business operations with nature recovery priorities where possible
# Slide 25
- How a Parish Council Can Use a LNRS
- Inform local projects and priorities
- Use the LNRS maps and priorities to identify where parish-level action would deliver the greatest benefit. It helps focus effort and funding where it matters most.
- Guide responses to planning proposals
- The LNRS can provide evidence when commenting on planning applications, showing where nature recovery opportunities or sensitive habitats exist and helping ensure development considers them properly
- Support funding bids and partnerships
- When applying for grants or working with local groups, referencing the LNRS shows that your project fits with wider strategic priorities — making bids stronger and more likely to succeed.
# Slide 26
- How a Parish Council Can Use an LNRS
- Guide neighbourhood plans
- Build LNRS actions into neighbourhood plans or village design statements, ensuring long-term benefits for wildlife and residents.
- Connect with landowners and community groups
- The strategy can act as a shared starting point for conversations about habitat creation, sustainable farming, or access improvements, helping to coordinate efforts across boundaries.
- Contribute local knowledge
- As the LNRS is updated over time, parish councils can feed in on-the-ground observations, community priorities and small-scale successes to keep the strategy current and locally relevant.
# Slide 27: What is in a Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
- WHAT
- are we going to do?
- e.g. activities that:
- Create new habitats (woodland, grassland, wetland)
- Improve existing habitats
- Support or reintroduce species
- Make cities greener
- Make farming more sustainable
- WHERE
- are we going to do it?
- e.g. places that:
- Reconnect fragmented habitats
- Buffer protected sites
- Extend habitat corridors (canals, railways)
- Reduce green injustice
- Mitigate environmental risks (flooding, heat stress, air quality)
- WHO
- is making it happen?
- Everyone has a part to play, big and small
- Land managers (anyone from farmers, governments, community centres to your own garden or balcony)
- Policy makers (to set new standards)
- Investors, developers
- 27
# Slide 28
- How will the LNRS be delivered?
# Slide 29: Delivery mechanisms – based in law
- Biodiversity Net Gain
- LNRSs will determine where habitat creation or enhancement for BNG will be of ‘high strategic significance’ supporting a strategic approach to off-site BNG delivery.
- Developments aligned with LNRS areas receive higher metrics in net gain calculations, making projects more attractive or profitable for developers and land managers, thereby incentivising action where it matters most
- Duty on Public Authorities to Conserve and Enhance the Environment
- LNRSs will inform how all public authorities in England meet their legal duty to conserve and enhance biodiversity.
- Public authorities must understand how they can contribute. This could be through:
- Managing areas of land that they are responsible for in a way that supports what the LNRS proposes
- Using the LNRS to inform
- relevant regulatory decisions
- Planning Law
- Planners have a legal requirement to ‘take account’ of the content of the LNRS, when preparing local plans and other spatial strategies.
- The key documentation is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/natural-environment but is summarised below:
- For local plan development:
- Local planning authorities should be aware of mapped areas and proposed measures in the relevant LNRS and consider how these are reflected in their local plan.
- For planning decisions:
- The LNRS is an evidence base that may be a ‘material consideration’ in planning; the decision-maker determines its relevance based on circumstances.
- THE LNRS DOES NOT PREVENT DEVELOPMENT
# Slide 30
- In practice delivery comes from a mix of:
- Planning and regulation — local plans, development control and mandatory biodiversity net gain use the LNRS to steer where nature gains must land.
- Public funding — schemes like ELMs and other grants pay farmers, landowners and community bodies to do the priority actions the LNRS identifies.
- Private finance & offsets — developers, utilities and corporates use the LNRS map to target compensated or voluntary nature investment to the right places.
- Partnership projects — catchment groups, NGOs, councils and landowners co-deliver restoration and nature-based solutions in priority zones.
- Iterative monitoring & revision — progress is tracked and the strategy updated so resources keep flowing to the highest-leverage actions.
# Slide 31
- WHEN WILL THE STRATEGY BE REVIEWED?
- The Government have stated that LNRS will be reviewed in 3-10 years, at a time that will be determined by the Secretary of State.
- HOW WILL WE MEASURE PROGRESS?
- The strategy is intended to enable and inspire action, and progress will be monitored against national and local targets. Doing so will inform the next version of the strategy
# Slide 32: Public Consultation Overview
Nicola Jordan
- Questions and/or Comments?Last updated