Regulation 19 Rutland Local Plan
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS)
What will this Policy do?
This policy will ensure that development proposals that are not subject to mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain requirement will still be expected to make a positive contribution to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
Policy EN2 - Local Nature Recovery Strategy Comment
Development proposals will be expected to demonstrate that a positive contribution will be made to Local Nature Recovery Strategy and for maintaining or creating local ecological networks through proposals such as habitat creation, protection, enhancement, restoration, management, ecological corridors and stepping stones.
Where off-site biodiversity gain is proposed, the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Local Nature Recovery Strategy, once published, should be used to guide the locations of BNG. In addition, the following locational hierarchy should be followed:
- Within Rutland;
- Within Leicestershire;
- Within the adjoining counties of Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire
- Elsewhere in England.
- Only when it is demonstrated that there is no possibility of delivering BNG within the above locational hierarchy will the purchase of statutory credits be supported
The proposed local locational hierarchy is not intended to diminish the statutory guidance, or to change the way in which the Statutory Biodiversity Metric should be completed, with regards to the spatial risk multiplier.
Why is this policy needed?
The Environment Act 2021 establishes a new mandatory system of spatial strategies ensuring that opportunities to recover nature are joined-up. Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), part of the Government's 25-year Environment Plan, are aimed at improving, expanding and connecting habitats to address wildlife decline and provide wider environmental benefits for people. They will map the most valuable existing areas for nature, establish priorities, and map proposals for specific actions to drive nature's recovery and wider environmental benefits.
A Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland is currently being prepared. Across this area, less than 1% of the area has a high biodiversity score and only approximately 6% is covered by woodland, compared to the national average of 13%. The LNRS is needed because Rutland Council has declared a Climate Crisis and Ecological Emergency and there is a need to work together as communities to deal with the problems and impacts of climate change and the loss of species and habitats. It will help to guide nature-based approaches to carbon removal and storage, and flood prevention. The LNRS will be used to inform the preparation of the Local Plan and will guide policy requirements, such as in relation to Biodiversity Net Gain under Policy EN3, by informing the delivery of biodiversity offsetting. Policy EN2 is also aimed at ensuring that development proposals not subject to the mandatory BNG requirements will still be expected to make a positive contribution towards the LNRS. Statutory guidance on alignment between Local Plans and LNRS is anticipated as part of the Government's work on planning reform.
