Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has reassured concerned local members and supporters about plans put forward by Hive Aggregates to extract pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from adjacent land adjacent to the charity’s Idle Valley Nature Reserve, by outlining its commitment to ensuring that the site’s wildlife and nearby habitats are not threatened by the proposals.

The Trust, which has been standing up for wildlife across the county since 1963, is keen to reassure supporters, reserve visitors and local residents that it is fully aware of the proposals and has already provided feedback on the plans as part of the County Council’s pre-application consultation. The Trust has also engaged in a professional manner with the Applicants for over a year, to ensure that the ecological importance of the Idle Valley Nature Reserve and SSSI has been understood by the Applicants from the earliest stage.

Speaking on behalf of the Trust, Head of Nature Recovery (North) Janice Bradley said:

“Idle Valley Nature Reserve is at the heart of our local work and is cherished by people who care about and wish to connect with nature. We very much understand why these proposals are causing concern and are determined to ensure that plans will not threaten wildlife or people’s enjoyment of the reserve or other vital wildlife habitats nearby.”

As a long-standing technical consultee for the Nottinghamshire Mineral Planning process, the Trust recently responded to the County Council’s pre-application process relating to the proposals – highlighting what it wishes to see built into the Environmental Impact Assessment process for any future planning application. 

Janice continued: “Our response reflects robust planning principles and our strategic goals for protecting and restoring priority habitats and species, but as we were consulted as a technical ecological consultee, rather than because of the proximity of the proposal to land we own, it is vital that we treat this application the same as we would any other. As a trusted consultee we feel it is important not to rush to judgement before we’ve seen all the details - but we will do everything we can to protect the site’s wildlife and nearby habitats through the planning process.”

In recent years, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s input to the minerals planning process has helped protect Misson Carr Nature Reserve from the threat of fracking and, after eight years of campaigning, the charity helped secure the withdrawal of damaging plans for a huge sand and gravel quarry on the opposite bank of the Trent to our Attenborough Nature Reserve.

Janice added: “We will apply the same rigour and passion to our efforts to protect the Idle Valley Nature Reserve and adjacent habitats as we have to protecting many other sites down the years. We will base our response to any future planning application on robust science and our target to secure nature’s recovery on 30% of land in Notts by 2030 and where appropriate, we will seek to mobilise members, supporters and local residents.”