Comments on the UDC Local Plan from Walden Countryside

Nature Nearby - Accessible Natural Green Space Guidance [ANGSt]

The above is the title of an important Natural England report that sets recommended levels of access to natural green space for the inhabitants of England. These recommendations are aimed mainly at the various layers of local government and should be addressed in local plans.

UDC seems not to distinguish properly between ANGSt sites (eg nature reserves with full, free public access) and Recreational Green Space (children's playgrounds and team-sport fields).

These comments are concerned only with ANGSt areas and mostly those within northern Uttlesford: the area in which Walden Countryside provides and promotes ANGSt.

The Natural England guidelines are:

• Everyone, wherever they live,, should have access to ANGSt

  • At least 2 ha within five minutes walk
  • At least one site of 20+ ha within 2 km of home
  • One site of 100+ ha within 5 km of home
  • One site of 500 ha within 10 km of home
  • A minimum of one ha of statuary Local Nature Reserve (LNR) per 1000 inhabitants.

It is obvious that UDC achieves nowhere near these targets. For example it should have almost 90 ha of LNR for its current population (89,000) but in fact has none and no plans to provide any are included in the Local Plan. Statuary LNRs are council run nature reserves and should not be confused with nature reserves run by voluntary bodies.

Local authorities are also expected to provide Country Parks – UDC has none and there are no plans to provide any in the draft local plan. A UDC staff member told us that two sites are under consideration – Audley End & Easton Lodge. These aspirations should go in the Local Plan.

Protected natural habitats which have some official status are designated by different official bodies and managed by in various ways..

In order of importance these designations are:

SACs - Special Areas of Conservation. Uttlesford has none and would not be involved with their management if they did have any. The local plan includes a very long consultant's report on SACs listing all those in neighbouring areas – something entirely irrelevant to UDC responsibilities.

NNR – National Nature Reserves. Uttlesford has one with public access – Hatfield Forest – a hugely important area, well managed by the National Trust

SSSI – Sites of Special Scientific Interest. These are designated by Natural England but not owned by them, Their management and conservation status are reviewed from time to time by Natural England but they have little control over SSSI management. UDC should be aware of them and not accept planning applications that would damage them.

SSSIs are not listed here as they are already listed under nature reserves or are private with no public access,

Nature reserves run by conservation bodies and and equivalent ANGSt managed by Forestry England or common land.

Below is a list of north Uttlesford sites in this category:

Common land is only included if it is an acre or more in size. Very small bits of common land are usually close mown and of little value as ANGSt

These should be covered and mapped in the local plan but the consultant's report and map has many omissions (including all three Walden Country nature reserves)

Local Wildlife Sites. There are over 200 of these in Uttlesford and the details and maps of those in northern Uttlesford are given on the Walden Countryside web site .

https://walden-countryside.co.uk/living-landscape/LoWS-in-Walden-Countryside.html

Local Wildlife sites are almost all privately owned or are nature reserves managed by a conservation organisation.

Designation of LoWS is the responsibility of a committee involving Essex CC, Essex Wildlife Trust and (in theory) UDC. UDC is responsible for undertaking reviews of the status of its LoWS every few years but UDC's list was published in 2007 and is completely out of date. A UDC staff member says a new review has just been commissioned. This, and plans for subsequent reviews (and consideration of LoWS affected by any planning applications), should be in the Local Plan but seem not to be.

Essex CC is supposed to oversee contact with LoWS owners, to encourage sympathetic management of their land and encourage them to take advantage of relevant national land management grants. ECC does not do that because they (and UDC) have not bothered to identify the owners of the LoWS. EWT used to have a LoWS manager but no longer does and seems to have lost interest in LoWS.

Those LoWS which are roadside verges are managed by ECC contractors. They are supposed to manage LoWS wildflower verges in appropriate ways as designated by ECC. Local EWT members and UDC museum staff survey some verges . Some verges are marked by signs saying they are managed by ECC & EWT but they provide only partially successful management.

Recommended Priorities for UDC ANGSt

• Aim to create at least one country park within three years
• Resurvey all UDC Local Wildlife Sites, identify owners and discuss with them possible improvements to their management plans that would probably qualify for financial aid from DEFRA
• Use BNG to increase ANGSt via planning gain. This is a valuable new system for Biodiversity Net Gain

Why is biodiversity net gain (BNG) important?

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Updated 10 Sept 2024