Report of public meeting 17 July 2025

July's guest speaker was Ruth Rolls, WNC Nature Recovery Strategy Officer. Ruth gave us an excellent overview of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy for West Northamptonshire. The meeting was recorded and is available to watch on YouTube¹, and Ruth's slides are available to download².

On Saturday 13 September, we are having an informal social get together downstairs in the café at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, from 2pm. All welcome to drop in.

Apologies: Eluned Lewis-Nicholl, Maria Lee, Peter Nalder, David Garlick, Clare Slater
Present: Stephen Austin, Leonie Beale, Annissa Beale, Alexina Cassidy, Peter Conquest, Teresa Cox, Bruce Durham, Caroline Gooch, Jonathan Harris, Roy Hawkesford, Hilary Haynes, Patsy Hollingum, Richard Hollingum, Tom Knott, Rupert Knowles, Mike Longman, Mick Lorkins, Stewart Manley, Harry Mellor, Lynda Moran, Alan Morgan, Orianne Neyroud, Michael Pickles, Clare Robertson-Marriott, Jane Wood

Introduction to Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)
Why is West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) leading development of a LNRS? Note: leading not writing - it is a collaborative process.
Almost 1 in 6 species in the UK are at risk of extinction; this includes 1 in 4 mammals – the Hazel Dormouse, Water Vole and Barbastelle bat for example.
Even species that seem to be common are classed as being as at risk of extinction³, because their pace of decline is so fast.
We know wildlife is important for our health and wellbeing and we can see for ourselves that insects and other species are in decline. We also now have understanding about the important role nature plays in our life - 'ecosystem services'.

Supporting these benefits are processes within ecosystems like soil formation and photosynthesis. When thinking about nature we need to consider not just what we can see but those invisible processes within soils and water.
Natural capital is the sum of all the elements of ecosystems.

Environment Act 2021
This introduced a set of tools including LNRS, also biodiversity net gain (BNG) and the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS).  
The goals of the Act were not just about wildlife, which was ground-breaking at the time.

Species Decline
Butterflies are good indicators of habitat. Ruth used to work for the Butterfly Conservation Trust (and several other conservation organisations).  
Some butterfly species that are in decline:

• Black Hairstreak – our area is a stronghold for these. They rely on old, well-established Blackthorn
• Brown Hairstreak – now found in the county for the first time in 100 years. This is a species of hedges and woodland rides, which likes younger Blackthorn
• Wood White – a very rare butterfly which has a stronghold in Northants. It likes woodland rides with vetches that are only cut every 3 years or so (quite awkward!)
• Grizzled Skipper – relies on open mosaic habitat, and the caterpillar feeds on wild strawberries. Has shrunk from 10 sites in the county 15-20 years ago to just one site now.

All butterflies are different and all have their challenges!

What is a Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
WNC is one of 48 responsible authorities across England that are leading development of LNRS.  Northamptonshire is the only county that has been divided in 2, but the North and the West have been working closely together during LNRS development.
LNRS has a very specific role; it is there to identify the best places and actions for nature recovery that also have wider environmental benefits. It is a document comprised of a Statement of Biodiversity Priorities and a Local Habitat Map. This has been developed using a lot of existing information such as National Character Areas⁵ – there are 5 of these in WN.
There has been extensive engagement on the LNRS. WNC worked with the Nene Rivers Trust throughout 2024 to engage with various audiences, and identify priorities, measures and provisions. This included in-person workshops, online surveys, and questionnaires.

Strong themes that came through included:

• Protect existing wildlife
• Urban areas
• Development
• Farming for nature
• Adequate funding for actions
• Concerns over climate change

The LNRS takes in a lot of information, including feedback from the public and existing habitats that are managed for nature: ancient woodlands, special protection areas, SSSIs, local wildlife sites and priority habitats.
Looking at these showed that we have one of the lowest levels of wildlife in England. WN has a lot of small isolated sites.  
The government asked for priorities to be drawn up, reflecting local communities and places.

What’s unique about our area?
The Northamptonshire Uplands, which contains the sources of many rivers, including the Avon and the Nene.
The Nene Valley and Nene Washlands, formerly important for meadows and grazing, though many are now lost for gravel extraction (which results in creation of a new kind of habitat).
Some ancient woodlands, and in the south near Brackley valuable limestone grasslands.

The map also needs to include towns, cities, roads and railways to add context.

The WN LNRS has been drafted and is with government.  Ruth has = a second Defra panel meeting next week.

Where are we now with the LNRS?
The steps of LNRS development are illustrated below. This is now complete and the draft LNRS is being reviewed by Defra.

There are:

• 14 priorities
• 113 measures, of which 26 are mapped
• 57 LNRS species chosen

The LNRS is due to be published December 2025 (originally due March 2025). It's the first time this exercise has been done, and it's been very complex to draw a lot of information into a few measures and express them in a way that is easy for people to understand.
Public consultation is likely to start mid/end August, after which the feedback will be reviewed and the final draft approved by the council.

Priorities and measures
There will be an interactive map to explore the local habitat map.
Measures (i.e. actions) are grouped together under 5 habitats:

• Farming
• Urban
• Wetland
• Grassland
• Woodland

The map shows which measures are linked to each habitat. Under Wetland, for example, there is a measure about creating new wetlands, and under Urban, one about increasing tree and shrub cover to improve air quality. Each measure is also linked to a priority within the LNRS.

Priorities - Example: Priority 5 Urban

Conserve, restore and enhance existing habitats within and on the outskirts of towns and settlements, encouraging the creation of multiple stepping-stones and multifunctional corridors through innovative urban greening, improving biodiversity in gardens, community sites and road verges, and expansion of existing biodiversity sites.

Measures will have large and small scale actions, so there should be something everyone can do.
Priority 5 measures include (see slides 29 & 30 of Ruth’s presentation for full details):

• Improving air quality by planting trees and shrubs (using right tree, right place principles). They will be looking at diversification of species and not relying only on native trees.
• Improving connectivity for wildlife by creating and expanding corridors for people and wildlife, linking in to national Green Infrastructure plans.
• Support people and businesses to do what they can in their own spaces to encourage wildlife.
• Conserving and protecting public green spaces
• Sustainable Drainage Systems
• Urban Greening – important for those who don’t have access to green spaces

Local Principles
Introduced by Sir John Lawton’s Making Space for Nature Report in 2010 ⁶:

If looking at how to help nature recovery in your own area or community it is worth using these principles. Ruth is looking at producing a community tool which is likely to take this approach.

How you can help!

• Take part in the public consultation – can be done individually or as a group, and please encourage others to take part too.
• There will be FAQs and can add to those if there are new questions
• What would help you act to recover nature? Ruth’s role will change from strategy facilitator to enabling and supporting delivery.
• How best to share information and stay in touch? Site visits, demonstrations, social media, newsletters, emails? Ruth is keen to look at grassland management, including different machinery and tools.
• Record wildlife, on phone apps such as iRecord and iNaturalist. It’s important to record common species as well as rarer ones. Some species like Greenfinch once thought common have now almost disappeared.
• Nature Map IT. Need to add to this places where nature is currently found and activities that are already being done. Community gardens, beelines, meadows…
• Plans
• Opportunities – are there skills that can be shared, places that need surveying
• Issues

Q&A

Do you know if there might be grants to help support the actions that you are hoping for?
Some funding sources exist already e.g. lottery grants. There is ELMS (though that may change).
Money can be available from developers, who have a legal obligation to meet 10% biodiversity net gain, this can be through credit schemes which can be used on mapped wildlife sites.
Some companies offer grants e.g. Biffa for heritage and environment.
Money is always a challenge, there are some green finance initiatives but it’s early days. 

It would be good to understand what wildlife is threatened in the local area to know how to increase numbers to help with priorities
Ruth discussed this in her talk at the 2024 Climate & Nature Summit - slides available⁷
The LNRS includes species by habitat (e.g. Swifts and Hedgehogs, once common species in urban areas, now in decline) but it’s important to look at the whole ecosystem – looking after plants and insects takes care of species higher up the food chain. The emphasis should be on putting as much dynamics into a space as possible – not just habitats but a mix of conditions i.e. wet/dry, sunny/shady.

I’ve just volunteered for the NCALC (Northants County Association of Local Councils) Climate & Nature Champion Scheme for the Local Parish Council to be a point of contact for the council to promote climate and nature
[JW] This is a great scheme – all parish or town councils have been asked to nominate a Climate & Nature Champion. Please consider contacting your council to find out who is the Champion for your parish and what they are doing (or encourage them to nominate one if they haven’t already).

Ruth mentioned Citizen Science? Can she envisage links to the arts (storytelling, poets, artists)... thinking of children, but other ages too.
Yes, that would be great, this is something that came out strongly in the feedback from public engagement. Our landscape is intricately linked to our history. It’s too soon for Ruth to do anything in this space but it would be great to see others taking the initiative.
Teresa recommended a free exhibition on at Northampton Museum until 10 August by a recycling artist, Val Hunt, highlighting endangered and extinct animals⁸.

WNC and town/parish councils do not own/control much land.  How do you communicate with farmers and other landowners such as golf courses?  
And what about householders who don't like trees dropping sticky stuff on their cars?
Some audiences are hard to convince!
Farmers are really key stakeholders. They were engaged in the LNRS process back in March 2023, were involved in workshops in 2024 via the NFU, CLA, and Young Farmers, and still have a presence at the LNRS partnership meetings. Ruth does have a lot of contact with landowners – the council can’t make them act but will do their best. It is worth bearing in mind that council landholding tends to be in urban areas where there is the most potential for wider benefits.

Are FWAG⁹ (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group) active in this area and are you in touch with them?
Yes, they are on Ruth’s radar but she’s not been actively involved with them recently as they are quite a small group and have recently changed their contact person. Re-engagement needed.

Mick Lorkins from Northamptonshire Woodland Community Volunteers: you emailed me a while ago about tree harvesting and replanting at Ravensthorpe, which I still want to do. I’ve had no luck engaging with Salcey Forest about tree harvesting, what’s your experience with Salcey and the Forestry Commission?
There is a dedicated nature recovery person at the Forestry Commission; Ruth will help facilitate contact if she can. The Commission has worked really well locally with the Butterfly Conservation Trust.

Northamptonshire Woodland Community Volunteers harvests trees and then needs to find homes for them - will there be places identified where people can come and plant trees?
There can be damage done if people plant trees in the wrong area, or plant unsuitable trees, so there is a need for care. It’s also about connecting the right people – Ruth is keen to find out what would work for us.

Bruce Durham from Harborough Woodland: we have been planting trees for an agroforestry project in Great Oxendon and have 5 large flood management schemes in WN, working up the Jordan Valley. We use community groups to develop projects as farmers are part of the community and don’t trust government agencies. We’re also working with Northamptonshire Woodland Community Volunteers to get more projects going – we have an opportunity on a farm near Clipston but can’t find anyone willing to take it on and don’t have enough capacity ourselves.  
Response from Jonathan Harris – please get in touch as Clipston used to be in my ward until recently so might be able to find some volunteers.

Individual gardens are important, but despite town centre regeneration Northampton is still a concrete desert – more needs to be done to connect places like the Racecourse and Becketts Park. Both of these could be more diverse as well as better connected. This needs WNC and their contractors to be on board, which could be a hurdle. There is a target for 30% canopy cover and an increase in biodiversity in urban areas. Once LNRS is published in December what are your plans for working with businesses and other stakeholders to achieve this?
Ruth is looking to form working groups to develop the plan for identifying and making use of opportunities. The council is doing a grounds maintenance review which Ruth has got involved with and is being listened to.
The council has a duty to conserve and enhance priority habitats and species; Ruth will make sure that is integrated into parks management plans.

WNC has a number of other strategies including a Parks Strategy which went to Cabinet this week and includes a suggestion for Naseby Country Park. This is quite a long way off but a good  opportunity for canopy cover. The Tree Strategy has a specific objective to increase canopy cover. How to make sure all these things stay wired together?
Both of those strategies were introduced ahead of the LNRS, however the LNRS is a legal duty whereas the other strategies are desirable. The Tree strategy is more broad and the canopy target in it is aligned to the LNRS. The proposed canopy outlined on the LNRS map reaches and exceeds the canopy cover target. By the way, WNC has recently appointed a new Tree Strategy Officer, Adam Barrett.
LNRS includes creation of new parks as well as expansion of existing ones. The proposed Naseby park is probably more about heritage, what Ruth is really interested in are the ‘linear parks’ such as canals and disused railways; these are key wildlife corridors as well as being great mosaic habitat.

Date of next meeting:
There is no CA-WN public meeting in August, so the next meeting is on Thursday 18 September at 7.45pm, with guest speaker Mike Reader, MP for Northampton South.

More details of these and other events on our Whats On page.

References

1.     https://youtu.be/zBF9rsG4SwY

2.     https://ca-wn.org/MemberDocs/Local_Nature_Recovery_Strategy.pdf

3.     In line with the classifications set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) https://ourworldindata.org/extinction-risk-definition

4.     https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan

5.     https://nationalcharacterareas.co.uk/

6.     https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130402151656/http:/archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/biodiversity/documents/201009space-for-nature.pdf

7.     Ruth summit slides - link to be added

8.     https://www.northamptonmuseums.com/directory-record/511/

9.     https://www.fwag.org.uk/about-fwag; https://www.fwageast.org.uk/