Councils have a key role to play in increasing local biodiversity
The LGA’s Planning Advisory Service has been talking to local authorities about how they are addressing the global biodiversity and climate emergencies at a local level.
This includes action being undertaken to help nature recover and increase biodiversity, while also securing a wealth of health and economic benefits for communities.
The UK Government published its Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) in January, building on commitments made five years ago in its 25 Year Environment Plan to improve the environment within a generation.
The ambition is to protect and effectively manage 30 per cent of our land and sea for nature, halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, with a new commitment that everyone should live within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space.
Central to achieving the EIP23’s apex goal of recovering nature is the Nature Recovery Network – the biggest nature-restoration project in our nation’s history.
It will be a single national ecological network of wildlife-rich places, and is being supported by a range of delivery mechanisms, many of which have been introduced by the Environment Act 2021. These include the preparation of ‘local nature recovery strategies’ (LNRS) from this April and mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) from November.
From then, planning permissions granted in England (with a few exemptions) will have to deliver 10 per cent BNG, requiring all developers to leave the natural environment in a better state than it was pre-development.
PAS has interviewed 12 local authorities across the country to explore how they are preparing for these changes and to showcase projects that are facilitating positive environmental outcomes.
Every local authority faces unique circumstances and a plethora of challenges when undertaking a nature-recovery project, but the case studies also show the multiple benefits that nature can bring for people, environment and economy.
Four themes emerged when councils were asked to give their experiences of biodiversity and nature recovery.
First, many councils expressed difficulties in securing finance to support the long-term resourcing of staff on nature-recovery projects.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s case study showcases how it is developing innovative funding models, blending private and public sector funding opportunities. Similarly, Essex County Council’s recruitment of new environmental officers allowed it to leverage additional resource and create sustainable funding opportunities for new nature-recovery projects.
Second, early preparation is important.
The case studies of Cornwall Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council illustrate the benefits of introducing BNG policy into local planning processes early, examining how supplementary planning documents and chief planning officers’ notes can be a way of learning ahead of the introduction of mandatory BNG.
A review of planning applications submitted to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and the London Borough of Sutton sheds light on the application of BNG policies in practice, the challenges that are common, and how they are being tackled.
Third, wider corporate objectives can be me met through nature recovery.
Sheffield and Birmingham City Councils’ case studies reflect on their experiences of delivering nature recovery in urban environments, and examine how mapping can be a beneficial tool to pinpoint areas where nature recovery projects would prove the most valuable for people and nature.
The concept of delivering social and environmental outcomes is further explored in the examples of the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington, which reconsider how greater footfall in the boroughs’ green spaces can be positive for nature and local communities.
Finally, coordination and partnerships are key.
Buckinghamshire Council’s case study illustrates how cross-departmental working with ecology teams, legal departments and planning teams is useful when preparing for mandatory BNG, while Hampshire County Council demonstrated the benefits of external partnerships for county-wide nature recovery.
Walsall and Lichfield District Councils’ case study explores their experiences of collaborating with Natural England on a landscape-scale nature recovery project.
PAS is funded to help local authorities with planning and service delivery.
Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs fund our work on BNG and nature recovery.
You can find out more about all the case studies featured here, and please get in touch if you have experience of biodiversity and nature recovery that you’d like to share, by emailing [email protected].
Generating investment in natural capital
In Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), a range of innovative ‘natural’ capital initiatives are seeking to reverse the decline in nature, secure much-needed investment and deliver wider environmental and socio-economic benefits.
The main challenge has been to move the focus from high-profile political ambition to delivery on the ground, and to do this at scale – which requires long-term funding and investment beyond that within the control of the GMCA and its constituent local authorities alone.
So, the GMCA developed its Natural Capital Investment Plan, which encourages investment in the natural environment to secure financial and social returns through a range of innovative finance models, including habitat banking and carbon trading.
Consequently, GMCA has been pioneering a new approach, the Greater Manchester Environment Fund (GMEF), formed in 2021 by a partnership between it, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and Finance Earth – the first of its kind in the UK. The GMEF provides a mechanism to collect and distribute funds for natural environment projects across Greater Manchester. To date, it has brought in more than £5 million.
Effective partnerships have been critical to the GMCA’s progress. Greater Manchester has a long history of partnership working and existing partnerships were used to build capacity for natural capital investment.
For example, rather than create a new partnership, a key forum for the GMCA was the Natural Capital Group, which is Greater Manchester’s Local Nature Partnership. The group is now embedded within the GMCA’s wider structure, providing the profile, relationships, and authority it needs to accelerate project delivery on the ground.
Delivering green infrastructure
Essex County Council facilitated collaboration between different organisations and partnerships to identify, target and accelerate its green infrastructure commitments.
After the publication of a green infrastructure strategy in 2020, the council brought together more than 30 stakeholders to launch a climate action commission in May 2020.
The group regularly meets to collaborate on reports, and advises the council on tackling climate change and enhancing the county’s green infrastructure.
The council welcomed the commission’s first net-zero report, published in 2021, and recognised the urgent need for action, both throughout the commitments in its corporate plan, ‘Everyone’s Essex’, and its climate action plan.
The council has also given the commission £5 million to deliver the net- zero report’s recommendations. Part of this funding supported the employment of two green infrastructure planning roles and a green infrastructure delivery officer.
Alongside the commission, the council facilitated the creation of a local nature partnership in March 2022, to bring together a range of local organisations, businesses and charities to work together to deliver the commission’s recommendations.
The council highlighted some challenges from increased collaborative working with stakeholders on nature recovery projects, which included stakeholder disengagement over time.
It aims to resolve this through quarterly publication of a newsletter, to support efficient decision-making by the partnership while keeping wider stakeholders abreast of progress.