Agenda item

 

To receive the presentation on the work with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority on the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

 

 

At the Chair’s invitation, Councillor Marshall, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Green Spaces (Cabinet Member), introduced the item and explained that in2021, the new Environment Act had introduced a statutory requirement for the preparation of local naturerecovery strategies. South Yorkshire was one of 28 areas in England that had worked on producing a strategy, led by the South Yorkshire MayoralCombined Authority (SYMCA).

 

The Cabinet Member explained that the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (Strategy) sought to identify existing valuable habitats, priority species, priorities for nature recovery and opportunities for enhancing biodiversity across the sub-region. The Strategy had been developed collaboratively with the four South Yorkshire local authorities and the Peak District National Park Planning Authority, alongside voluntary and public sector partners and would provide a strategic evidence base for nature recovery.

 

The Strategy would not place legal obligations on landowners but would inform planning, support funding bids, influence wider policy, and would help to attract public, voluntary and private sector investment into South Yorkshire's green environment.

 

Kevin Burke, Principal Officer - Creative Programming & Visitor Experience (Principal Officer) took Members through the update presentation, highlighting the following points:-

 

·       The origin of the Strategy could be traced back to the 2015 Paris Agreement, where European and world countries agreed to aim for 30% of all land to be under positive management by 2030. The current level in South Yorkshire was reported to be around 15%.

 

·       The Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had been leading on the introduction of Local Nature Recovery Strategies, with the aim of identifying locations to create or improve habitats and provide the greatest benefit for nature and the wider environment.

 

·       The Strategy was intended to be community-centred, with the aim of helping communities map out what actions they would need to take to enjoy and interact with their local environments fully.

 

·       It was a statutory requirement for South Yorkshire to produce a Strategy and whilst there was no statutory requirement to implement it, the local planning authority would have to have regard to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy when preparing its next comprehensive local plan, and in taking decisions on planning applications once the Strategy had been approved. The Strategy would provide a basis to build upon. The Principal Officer explained that SYMCA had been working closely with the Planning and Green Spaces teams. Planning would be central to how the Strategy moved forward and there would be a need to consider the existing Local Plans that were already in place in order to try and align priorities.

 

·       The Strategy would provide an opportunity to co-ordinate the response to bio-diversity loss across the South Yorkshire area. It would also encourage action through highlighting opportunities for targeting investment in wildlife creation and could help to guide private investment in nature and carbon markets.

 

·       The Strategy would not provide the ability to force landowners or managers (including the council itself ) to make changes to an identified piece of land, nor would it prevent land uses or grant permissions. The Strategy would provide non-binding guidance but could be viewed as an opportunities map for bio-diversity in the South Yorkshire area.

 

·       It was explained that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries globally. There were a number of areas across South Yorkshire that were islands of habitat that could be improved. One of the aims of the Strategy would be to try and connect those corridors to link the islands of habitat up.

 

·       Species abundance had declined by 19% on average, with 1 in 6 species in the UK threatened with extinction. The Strategy would provide a positive opportunity to pull people and organisations together to protect and increase wildlife populations and habitats.

 

·       An example of recent work carried out in Rotherham in joining two ancient woodlands in Herringthorpe via the creation of a new meadow was provided. This kind of work would help to re-connect wildlife habitats. There were many local wildlife sites and areas of bio-diversity across the borough where small tweaks and improvements could be made to make a big difference to species habitats.

 

·       As the Strategy covered the whole of South Yorkshire, it would provide opportunities to work with bordering local authorities to create soft boundaries for wildlife and nature. Detailed overview maps had been produced for Rotherham where each type of land and habitat had been identified and mapped. This would be very useful but some ground-truth work would need to be carried out to verify the accuracy of the maps.

 

·       It was explained that the Strategy was due to be published in December 2026. The council had been provided with the latest draft (version 3) but the process of the constituent local authorities within South Yorkshire reviewing it had been slowed down by local elections in some areas. The next version of the Strategy (version 4) should be provided to local authorities imminently for their approval and then a period of public consultation on the Strategy would be launched over the summer months. Various events had been arranged for this consultation period. The draft Strategy for consultation would be presented to Cabinet in June 2026.

 

·       The draft mission statement of the Strategy would be not to only restore thriving, connected natural habitats across South Yorkshire, but to create new ones and to reverse the decline of species and to do this urgently for people in South Yorkshire.

 

·       The draft principles that underpinned the mission statement would be to:-

1.    Improve the quality and extent of habitats;

2.    Build climate resilience;

3.    Work in partnership;

4.    Value wildlife everywhere; and

5.    Connect people with nature.

 

·       The different categories of habitats within the borough would be looked at to identify the issues affecting them. This would include areas of urban nature, which were often overlooked. There were many good examples in Rotherham of the development of areas of nature within the urban landscape, such as the current public realm works being carried out along the River Don in the town centre.

 

·       The potential delivery mechanisms for the Strategy would be via the public and private sector, the Environment Agency, community groups and DEFRA, whose overarching vision would be to embed the Strategy into local decision-making, such as planning. This represented an opportunity for Rotherham to work with partners and local communities to identify what the Strategy could do for Rotherham. Overall governance and oversight on the Strategy would come from SYMCA, which had established a Steering Group to drive the Strategy forward.

 

The Chair invited Members of IPSC to raise questions and queries on the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy and in the ensuing question and answer session the following points were raised:-

 

Councillor Sheppard expressed his encouragement for the valuable work being done on the Strategy. With regard to engaging and reconnecting people with nature, Councillor Sheppard enquired whether engagement with local schools would form part of the Strategy, given that it would be young people who would be valuing and, hopefully, protecting nature in the decades ahead.

 

The Principal Officer responded that there were some pilot projects underway with local schools, such as at Winterhill School. However, the resource available within the Green Spaces team to deliver such community projects was limited and increased resource would be required to carry out more engagement work with schools. The Service Director for Culture, Tourism & Sport (Service Director) was looking into potential bids and grants that could support this kind of engagement work. The Principal Officer agreed, however, that youth involvement was vital to the success of the Strategy and that wherever communities asked for help or guidance, the council would do its best to provide it. 

 

In a further question, Councillor Sheppard commented that there been a recent increase in the percentage of DEFRA money going towards natural flood

management in the new funding settlement and asked whether any work had been done with Connected by Water, which had a South Yorkshire footprint. There could potentially be some overlap in the delivery of schemes which would benefit local nature and could open up potential funding sources. In response, the Principal Officer confirmed that service had been working with the Flooding team closely on two projects at Whiston and Laughton. This had highlighted simple things that could be incorporated into larger-scale infrastructure projects that were fantastic for bio-diversity and there was increased partnership working between internal council services on this.

 

Councillor Stables mentioned that as Councillor for Maltby, representations had been made for the planting of more trees in the Maltby area.  Councillor Stables had encountered difficulties in finding any information on Maltby within the interactive map. The Chair confirmed that at the last SYMCA Overview & Scrutiny meeting, it had been explained that not all of the information had been incorporated into the interactive map but that it was hoped it would be completely accessible by the time the consultation draft of the Strategy was published.

 

The Principal Officer confirmed that the interactive map was not yet fully functional. The Principal Officer commented that Maltby is an area valuable with an underlying rock strata of magnesian limestone, which created rare habitats across part of the borough. The Maltby area presented a lot of opportunities under the Strategy and the Principal Officer offered to visit the area and conduct a walk around with local Councillors to talk through what could be proposed with regard to habitats in the area. Councillor Stables confirmed that they would be keen to arrange this visit.

 

Councillor Jones expressed their support for the aspirations of the Strategy and echoed the sentiments expressed by Councillor Sheppard that work with schools and young people was vital. However, Councillor Jones expressed concern for the lack of any enforcement powers within the Strategy and whether as an all-encompassing vision for nature recovery, all parties would genuinely buy into it or whether private landowners or companies would continue to oversee the destruction of natural habitats without fear of any consequences or sanction.

 

The Principal Officer commented that at a high-level, DEFRA and the Environment Agency had bought into the Strategy and it was hoped that communities and smaller local groups such as Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust would also support delivery of the Strategy and it’s aims, and would report any wrongdoing to the council. There was however, currently no legislation forcing local authorities to deliver on the aims of the Strategy and therefore no associated enforcement powers.

 

Helen Sleigh, Assistant Planning Policy Manager (Planning Officer), further commented that DEFRA oversaw the Environmental Land Management Scheme for the private sector. It was hoped that farming landowners would properly engage in the Strategy, but the buy-in from non-farming private landowners could be more questionable. The Planning Officer explained that when planning applications were received that related to rural areas, the habitat map would be consulted to determine how decisions should be made to maximise bio-diversity net gain. The thresholds for considering bio-diversity net gain were due to change in July 2026, with the smaller sites net gain thresholds being raised and changing to 0.2 of a hectare. This would represent a big change for the council as planning authority and also for developers. Bio-diversity net gain considerations should also guide how DEFRA awarded grants to landowners for their land management practices.

 

In a supplementary comment, Councillor Jones shared the view that if there was no ability to prevent people, developers or companies from destroying existing habitats, there was a risk that the Strategy would be nothing more than an aspiration.

 

Councillor Thorp referred to the proposed Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project at Whitestone Solar Farm, which if approved, could devastate large areas of wildlife habitat which would be difficult to replace. Councillor Thorp questioned whether if this project was approved, it would defeat the objectives of the Strategy.

 

The Principal Officer commented that there would continue to be examples where the preservation of nature and habitats had not been managed well. However, the Strategy did provide an opportunity not seen before with habitat loss, to quickly identify other areas and to try and to develop these and move on.

 

Martin Hughes, Head of Neighbourhoods reminded Members that they had the opportunity to consider and promote nature recovery as part of their ongoing ward priorities, and that some wards within the borough had already identified these issues on their list of priorities. Members were due to review their ward priorities in June 2026 and the Head of Neighbourhoods suggested that Members may wish to consider the discussions that had taken place at this meeting when reviewing these priorities.

 

In relation to the off-set of bio-diversity net gain, Councillor Tinsley asked what was being done to focus re-investment from companies/developers within South Yorkshire, to ensure that the local area felt the benefit? The Planning Officer explained that the way bio-diversity net gain worked was that more would have to be delivered to off-set the further away from the development itself. The council would first try and get the net gain delivered on-site (within Rotherham), but if that wasn’t possible, it would be hoped that it could be delivered off-site within the South Yorkshire area or other neighbouring authorities with similar character areas, such as North-East Derbyshire and Bassetlaw. The aim would be to replace lost habitats with the same type of habitat.

 

The Planning Officer confirmed that there was currently only one established habitat bank within the Rotherham area and that the council was keen to establish further habitat banks within the borough, once resource and funding would allow. Some initial work looking at potential sites and reviewing local wildlife sites under council ownership had been started but needed to be progressed to the next step. Work on the Strategy had recently taken priority due to the tight timescales involved.

 

In response, Councillor Tinsley commented that it appeared that work to establish further habitat banks within the borough should be prioritised to ensure that Rotherham was not left behind when large scale developments came along and the net gain work was delivered in other areas outside of the borough, to the detriment of local wildlife. Councillor Tinsley asked that an additional recommendation to this effect be considered by IPSC.

 

Councillor Mault asked how the Strategy, as a SYMCA-led project, would link in with Local Plans across the South Yorkshire local authorities given the increased targets for housing developments that have also been placed on local authorities to deliver.

 

The Planning Officer confirmed that in the work of writing planning policies, local councils had been told to “have regard” to the Strategy and to try to embed it within their Local Plans. It was clear that the Strategy should inform Local Plans going forward and guide decision-making when considering developments on green-belt land.

 

In a follow up question, Councillor Mault asked whether communication and connections between the South Yorkshire local authorities were likely to improve over their individual Local Plans?

 

The Planning Officer responded that SYMCA would be working on a spatial development strategy, which would be a South Yorkshire-wide overarching development strategy. With regard to the current Strategy under consideration, the four local authorities, along with the Peak District National Park Authority, the Environment Agency, the Forestry Commission and the local Wildlife Trusts had all been heavily involved and had collaborated in pulling the Strategy together. DEFRA would be providing funding to SYMCA for delivery of the Strategy but decisions on exactly how that funding would be spent would be taking place at Chief Executive-level across South Yorkshire.

 

The Service Director commented that they felt very positive about the future of work related to nature recovery in Rotherham, which had been supported excellently by the Principal Officer and the Planning Officer and their teams. The Service Director pointed out that it was important to remember some of the wider benefits of engaging with nature in an area like Rotherham, which has a greater volume of green space than the national average in England.

 

However, the challenge for Rotherham would be that there were fewer than average numbers of people engaging with this green space. Engagement with green spaces helped residents in supporting their mental and physical health and was proven to be important for child development. It also encouraged social interaction and community cohesion, which in turn would contribute to reduced loneliness. The Service Director commented that the green spaces within the borough represented a source of civic pride for residents in Rotherham.

 

The Service Director confirmed that work would be carried out to create a departmental officer group to ensure that colleagues that worked on the Strategy were supported by teams across the whole council. Service was also working closely with the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, Connected by Nature and a range of other partners to try and secure funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support further bio-diversity and natural heritage work.

 

Councillor McKiernan commented that he was encouraged by the evidence of joined-up working across the council on nature recovery and the Strategy

 

Councillor Allen commented that whilst they appreciated that the work on the Strategy was entirely necessary and laudable, they remained concerned that it could be of little meaningful value without any powers or sanctions attached to it. Councillor Allen requested that IPSC consider writing to SYMCA and DEFRA to express Members’ concern around the lack of any enforcement powers behind the Strategy.

 

Councillor Steele, as RMBC representative on the Overview & Scrutiny Committee at SYMCA and as Overview & Scrutiny Management Board Chair, advised Members that once the consultation draft of the Strategy had been released, IPSC would be able to write a letter to SYMCA and DEFRA expressing their concerns. Councillor Steele agreed that the Strategy represented excellent opportunities but was lacking in any power.

 

The earlier proposed recommendation by Councillor Tinsley regarding the development of further habitat banks within the borough was also discussed. The Planning Officer explained that delivery of habitat banks would be within the remit of the council rather than SYMCA. The council would sell “bio-diversity units” to pay for the long-term creation of habitats and approval from Cabinet would be required to create further Council-owned habitat banks .

 

The Executive Director confirmed to Members that the Strategy was due to go to Cabinet in June, shortly after the Strategy would be released for public consultation. At this point, it would be possible for IPSC to make additional recommendations to Cabinet as part of the council’s formal response to SYMCA under the consultation.

 

As a final comment, Councillor Allen suggested that, bearing in mind the Head of Neighbourhoods’ point around setting ward priorities, a Member Briefing on the Strategy could be useful.

 

The Chair thanked officers for their input and members for the questions asked.

 

Resolved:-

 

1.    That the contents of the presentation in relation to the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy be noted;

 

2.    That the following matter be referred to the Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board for presentation to Cabinet, on behalf of the Improving Places Select Commission, when Cabinet considers the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy in June:-

a)    That, as part of the Council’s wider work on bio-diversity net gain, it be requested that the Service give consideration to prioritising the development of additional habitat banks within the Borough, to ensure that these are established in advance of any large-scale infrastructure projects which could create an urgent requirement to compensate for habitat loss; and

 

3.    That the Chair, on behalf of the Improving Places Select Commission, writes to both the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) expressing Members’ concerns around the advisory nature of the Strategy and the absence of any associated enforcement powers.