The Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership is advocating for a stronger role for Local Nature Recovery Strategies in the planning system. Our chair Richard Benwell and manager Matt Whitney met with the the Minister of State for Housing and Planning to ask that the new Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) be made part of local development plans.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are new spatial strategies for nature mandated in the Environment Act 2021 and have the potential to be a powerful tool that will help restore our natural habitats and green spaces. To do this, they need to be properly integrated into the local planning system. As it stands, we are concerned that the duty described in the legislation to 'have regard to' LNRS in planning decisions will not give them the weight they merit at this critical time for our natural world.
Earlier this year, we proactively co-ordinated a letter from 21 local nature partnerships in the country to the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities to ask for a more robust role for LNRS in the planning system. We were pleased to be invited to meet and discuss this with the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, where we argued that it was vital that LNRS be properly considered in Local Plans.
We will continue to work with our fellow Local Nature Partnerships to advocate for a stronger role for these vital tools for nature's recovery.
