Standing up for wildlife through the planning process
Standing up for wildlife is in our DNA. The Trust grew out of a campaign to save the area now known as Attenborough Nature Reserve in the 1960s and around the same time, volunteers were working to save other wildlife areas such as what would become Clarborough Tunnel Nature Reserve near Retford.
Today, with the backing our members and supporters, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust acts as the first line of defence for wild species and habitats in our county. We campaign tirelessly for wildlife, protecting threatened habitats such as wildflower meadows and species such as badgers, otters and water voles. We influence government policy and local planning decisions that affect the future of wildlife and the quality of our environment. Our efforts also help to secure positive gains by restoring, recreating and reconnecting cherished habitats.
Idle Valley Nature Reserve - Hive Aggregates PFA Extraction
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust recognises that many local residents and visitors to Idle Valley Nature Reserve are concerned by the proposals put forward by Hive Aggregates to extract pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from land adjacent to the reserve.
Whilst the Trust has no formal involvement in the proposals, we have been engaged in discussions about the plans with the Applicant for around 18 months as a result of contact with neighbours and our long-standing involvement as a technical consultee for the Nottinghamshire Mineral Planning process.
We have recently provided detailed feedback as part of the County Council’s EIA Scoping Opinion - part of the pre-application consultation. Our response reflects robust planning principles and our strategic goals for protecting and restoring priority habitats and species. Such scoping consultations are sent directly by the County Council to selected technical planning consultees. We were consulted at this stage due to our longstanding involvement in the minerals planning process – not because of the proximity of the proposal to land we own.
Given our position as a trusted and fair consultee, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust feels that it is vital to treat this application the same as we would any other. This type of scoping consultation is not a binary support/object consultation. They are designed to gather information from consultees (such as ourselves) and what they expect to see in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that would accompany any full application.
If a full planning application is submitted, we will scrutinise it rigorously - as we do for all mineral applications, particularly when close to sensitive wildlife sites. Our rigorous approach to Minerals Planning has also helped ensure that Nottinghamshire has some of the strongest policies relating to habitat projection and restoration.
Neatholme Scrape at Idle Valley Nature Reserve - Photo by Agnes Kiemel
Having invested in nature conservation across the wider Idle Valley area for over 30 years, Idle Valley Nature Reserve is at the heart of our local work. The reserve is cherished by people who care about and wish to connect with nature and we very much understand why these proposals are causing concern. We are determined to ensure that plans will not threaten wildlife or people’s enjoyment of the reserve or other vital wildlife habitats nearby.
Our input to the minerals planning process in recent years has helped protect Misson Carr Nature Reserve from the threat of fracking and, after eight years of campaigning, we helped secure the withdrawal (at least for now) of damaging plans for a huge sand and gravel quarry on the opposite bank of the Trent to our Attenborough Nature Reserve. We will apply the same rigour and passion to our efforts to protect Idle Valley Nature Reserve and adjacent habitats, basing our response to the future planning application on robust science and our target to secure nature’s recovery on 30% of land in Notts by 2030. Earlier this year we helped defeat proposals for hundreds of houses on land adjacent to Quarry Lane Local Nature Reserve in Mansfield – with the Planning Inspector rejecting the applicant’s appeal - citing impact on local wildlife as a material consideration.
We have already provided an update on this particular planning case to our Local Member’s Group and will continue to keep them informed. Where appropriate, we will seek to mobilise members, supporters and local residents, as we have in a number of the cases outlined above and many others down the years.
As well as standing up for wildlife locally within the planning system, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is currently working to defend nature from the impacts of the so called ‘Bulldozer Bill’ which could see up to 1000 vital wildlife laws from being wiped from the statute books.