Chapman Lily Director, Brett Spiller, has greeted the current consultation on the draft Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy with enthusiasm; stating: ‘The consultation started earlier this month and I would encourage those in the development industry to engage’.
Brett welcomed the shared vision, joint mission and useful terms which aid accessibility to a non-technical audience. He added: ‘the DLRS will help to inform future Local Plans and potentially reduce the multiplier for off-site Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) contributions through the identification of Opportunity Areas’ .
In his capacity as an independent Local Nature Partnership Board Member, Brett has already recommended that the strategy should ‘not seek to prevent the development of new homes, economic growth or infrastructure recognising that the choice between development and nature is not either / or’; Going on to point out that ‘… new development can actually help to enable land to be brought forward (including for biodiversity purposes) and has an important delivery role through biodiversity net gain, nutrient neutrality, application of the SUDs hierarchy’. The one issue that has yet to be confronted is the impact of climate change on our habitats and species (including those migratory species that will ). This is likely to lead to profound changes regardless of agricultural or development practices and we need to ensure that protecting or creating particular habitat types is a resilient strategy. In my opinion this is a national challenge and one that I am pleased to see Natural England embracing through their recent consultation papers’.
[All quotes are Brett’s personal views rather than necessarily representing those of Chapman Lily Planning or the Local Nature Partnership]
For further information about the LNRS consultation visit: Get involved in nature recovery – Dorset Council
