Opportunities for landowners in the LNRS framework

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are part of an initiative introduced under the Environment Act 2021. When completed, there will be 48 strategies in total covering the whole of England. The individual strategies will also be combined into a singular England-wide strategy. The idea is that these strategies identify where nature recovery projects could have the most impact, so that funding can be used effectively. The CLA has consistently argued that it is vital that the maps do not result in funding ‘not spots’ where funding is not available.

Landowners experiences with the LNRS process has been mixed, with some Local Authorities doing a really impressive job of understanding all the pressures on landowners, and others being less successful. We have lots of guidance on the CLA website about what LNRSs are and what you need to know as a landowner.

In June, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) published a review of LNRSs which focused on how they could operate more effectively.

The OEP review made seven core recommendations, all of which were broadly accepted in a recent government response:

1. Publish all strategies at the earliest possible opportunity
2. Define how LNRSs contribute to national nature recovery commitments
3. Establish the long-term governance and resourcing arrangements for LNRSs
4. Clarify funding streams and delivery mechanisms for coherent on-the-ground nature recovery action
5. Update the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
6. Establish a baseline for the spatial components of LNRSs
7. Require early review of LNRSs

The complete formal response from the government can be found here.

The LNRSs can be split into two phases: development and delivery. Many of the LNRSs are currently open for consultation, or have recently been consulted on but not yet been published. You can check the status of your area’s LNRS on our status tracker. The OEP recommendation to publish the LNRSs swiftly is welcome, but it is important that the process is not rushed.

We were pleased to see the OEP recognise the need for a review at three years from the final LNRS being published, but disappointed that the government response did not make a firm commitment to doing this. The CLA has been lobbying for a review of the LNRSs in the near future for some time, as government guidance states that it could be between three and ten years. 

We know that lots of landowners had little or no opportunity to engage in the development process, so a review in the near future will allow more landowners to get involved in this step.

The OEP recommendation which will be most significant to CLA members is the suggestion to clarify funding streams and delivery mechanisms. The CLA will continue to engage with Defra and Natural England on this issue.

The government's response to the OEP recommendation does not propose anything new in terms of planning; the incoming legal duty to on plan makers to ‘take account’ of LNRS has been discussed for some time. It is not clear in practice what the distinction is between ‘take account’ and the existing duty to ‘have regard’.