Nature plan ‘incompatible’ with homes plan
A leading councillor is not supporting a key nature recovery strategy because in his view local plan proposals for thousands of new homes on farm land means it is “morally dishonest”.
Both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Councils have recently received formal approval from Natural England to move ahead with one county plan to help nature ‘recover’ in the county.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy got the nod in June and the council can now move ahead with launching a public consultation.
But Conservative group leader Councillor Tim Nelson (Newport North) told a meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council’s environment scrutiny committee on Wednesday (July 2) that he believes such a strategy is incompatible with having local plan proposals to build “8,000 homes” on farmland.
“These houses and roads will be an absolute desert for nature compared to farmland,” said Councillor Nelson.
“I just want the council to be morally honest about this. You can either protect biodiversity or build houses that meet the needs of other areas, but you can’t do both.”
Officers responded on behalf of the council.
One said that “development needs to happen in the borough and I hope that a number of policies have been designed to increase biodiversity”.
“We have an aspiration to have a biodiversity net gain of 20 per cent through the local plan.”
He also said that Telford is built on the principle of creating a forest town which gives the council “more green space than most”.
And a second officer emphasised the ‘importance’ of having a local plan which includes a duty to cooperate with other council areas over helping with their housing needs.
“I’m not a politician but ultimately you don’t want to end up like Shropshire and not have a local plan,” he said.
“If we do not deliver on a duty to cooperate, the plan will fail and we will have no control over development.”
Councillor Nelson added that instead of building on farmland, the council should be “intensifying in Telford”.
“This is frankly disingenuous and I will not be supporting it.”
A previous meeting of the full Telford & Wrekin Council was told that the local plan would involve the loss of 2.8 per cent of the borough’s farmland, defended as a ” balance we need to strike”.
The committee was told that that strategy will not include powers to enforce or have any money to support its delivery.
The LNRS process is taking place in 48 counties across the country and is “required to deliver a step-change in the conservation and recovery of biodiversity across England to meet our international and national obligations”.
Background papers to the committee said that central to the plan is the creation of a Local Habitat Map, which identifies areas of existing and
potential ecological value. It will not have a role in restricting land use or development.
“Rather it is to identify where specific conservation measures could be most
effective should the land manager wish to undertake them,” the report reads.
The document said that the consultation will be about correcting errors in the data that the council has on local sites.
“Addressing and refining these will be a key objective of the forthcoming public consultation,” it said. Consultation events are planned for two agricultural shows at Burwarton and Minsterley in August.
The public consultation is expected to close in October with final versions of the strategy with the Government in December 2025. They could be adopted next year.
Background documents say that “current communications indicate failure to commit to this December milestone is likely to affect future governmental funding”.
Even though Shropshire Council is taking the lead on the plan, the final LNRS will be brought to Telford & Wrekin Council for formal adoption in due
course.
The plan to build houses on farmland has many worried about bio-diversity. A large area of this housing will pass by the line of the old Newport Canal. The restoration of the canal would do so much to increase the bio-diversity. Perhaps it should be made a condition of all builds along the line of the canal are required to restore the canal. It would serve many purposes. The flora and fauna associated with the canal would be massively increase levels for the area. It would better still if the houses were not to be built at all. But if they have to be built, the addition of the canal would make it a much more desirable area to live.
Regulations for new buildings also need somewhere for runoff off rainwater. This can be in the form of soakaways, drainage or a watercourse. Once more the canal could form the answer.
I would suggest that any of these new builds consult with the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust as to how so of this work could be carried out for the benefit of all. Not just those who will move to the area.