Written evidence submitted by Humber Nature Partnership

 

Executive Summary

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership is a well-respected and financially stable organisation that works with its members to deliver the sustainable management of the Humber Estuary.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership has been successful to date because it has a strong track record in delivering services that are required locally and these services are valued by its members.

 

  1. Whilst the Humber Nature Partnership is sustainably funded at present, this is not the case with all LNPs and challenges still exist in securing the resources needed for both coordination and delivery.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership has an important role to play in coordinating the work of its members to deliver the best results for the environment, the economy and for local people.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership makes a number of recommendations for both the Inquiry and Government to consider.

 

 

Introduction

 

  1. The Humber Nature Partnership (HNP) is one of 48 Local Nature Partnerships around England announced by the Government during 2012. Formally established in November 2013, HNP builds upon the strong the foundations of the Humber Management Scheme Partnership and Humber Industry Nature Conservation Association (Humber INCA). These two organisations have a track record of delivering positive results for the environment stretching back to 2002.

 

  1. The focus of HNP is the Humber estuary and its immediate environs. HNP provides a single point of contact for environmental matters on the Humber Estuary. HNP believes that the Humber Estuary must be managed as a single entity for environmental purposes, not with one regime or organisation for the South side and another for the North. HNP therefore has good working relationships with its neighbouring LNPs to ensure that the estuary is properly represented in work being developed in their areas.

 

  1. The Humber estuary is of outstanding importance for nature conservation with national and international statutory protection. It is also vital for the UK economy with its ports and logistics, energy, chemicals and other industries, which in turn provide employment for communities such as Hull, Grimsby and Scunthorpe. The Humber is strategically placed for servicing offshore windfarms; there are permissions for large scale turbine manufacture and assembly at sites on both the north and south banks of the Humber. Gaining wins for the environment, community and economy along with resolving conflicts is central to HNP's work.

 

  1. The tidal surge of December 2013 demonstrates the vulnerability of industry, agriculture, services, homes and some wildlife to flooding. HNP provides information and expertise for reducing the environmental impact of flood defences and to gain biodiversity benefits from works, for example the realignment of banks to create new inter-tidal habitat.

 

  1. HNP is a not-for-profit, private company which works with its members to protect and enhance the Humber Estuary’s world class environment for wildlife, the UK economy and people, gaining benefits for all.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership would like the Committee to consider the evidence below during the course of its inquiry. We believe that properly supported and funded Local Nature Partnerships can make a real difference in integrating the natural environment into decision making at a local level as well as developing innovative approaches to solving some of the challenges faced in achieving this integration.

 

 

Governance, composition and funding

 

  1. Nationally, there are a wide range of models amongst Local Nature Partnerships which reflect both the opportunities and issues within the local area they serve and previous legacy bodies they have incorporated. Humber Nature Partnership is a not-for-profit private company which is overseen by a Board of Directors appointed from amongst the membership.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership has a membership and board comprised fairly equally of Local Authorities, local industry, NGOs and Statutory Agencies. The Partnership Board is chaired by a major industry representative. Humber Nature Partnership is therefore a balanced organisation, representative of localism and the sustainable growth agenda around the Humber estuary.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership is not an environmental lobby group, but acts as an ‘honest broker’ seeking to balance the often competing requirements of the economy and the environment. A significant part of the support we provide to our members, involves assisting in pre-application development advice. We also help our members to fulfil and maintain their aspirations for corporate social responsibility at a local level.  

 

  1. There is no central funding provided for Local Nature Partnerships. The Humber Nature Partnership incorporates Humber INCA and the Humber Management Scheme Partnership and as such, has inherited a membership fee model which provides the major part of its core business income.  Finances are reasonably healthy at present.  Having this strand of income puts us in a far more stable position than many other LNPs around the country.  Funding is still an issue though with our public sector partners (for example local authorities) who have to find membership fees from very tight budgets.  

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership is also able to obtain income by hosting and delivering projects for its members and deriving an element of project management income for this work.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership assists its paying members in meeting their obligations and aspirations in two main ways:

 

17.1.                   The Humber Management Scheme has been established to help those bodies with statutory duties under the Habitats Regulations, known as ‘Relevant Authorities’, to discharge these duties in a coordinated manner. An Action Plan has been developed which contains a series of targets and deadlines to be met in order to ensure the estuary meets ‘favourable condition’ status. The Humber Nature Partnership’s role is to assist in delivering coordinated action to ensure the various targets are met.

 

 

17.2.                        The Humber Nature Partnership provides a range of ecological services to its paying members. These services include:

 

17.2.1. Involvement in pre-application discussions relating to development proposals around the Humber;

17.2.2.  Scoping of ecological surveys and interpretation of the results;

17.2.3.  Contributing to environmental impact assessments;

17.2.4. Advising on the nature conservation aspects of applications for planning permission, discharge consents, Environmental Permits, and other types of permit;

17.2.5. Assisting with the discharge of planning conditions concerning nature conservation and landscaping;

17.2.6. Advising on the management of protected or other sensitive species found on industrial sites;

17.2.7.  Monitoring and advising on impacts on biodiversity during construction work;

17.2.8. Identifying opportunities for the enhancement of biodiversity on industrial sites and providing management for practical projects including with conservation volunteers

17.2.9. HNP with Humber Chemical Focus, supports the Humber Environmental Managers' Network, which considers industrial regulation and relevant biodiversity issues

 

17.3.                   Humber Nature Partnership’s private sector members recognise the need to understand the implications of operating adjacent to one of Europe’s most highly protected wildlife sites. Their membership of Humber Nature Partnership helps them to obtain the information they need in a supportive environment allowing them to continue to operate in a responsible manner.

 

  1. Humber Nature Partnership also works with its members to develop innovative and collaborative approaches to the challenges faced in achieving sustainable economic growth alongside the conservation of a legally designated wildlife area. Further details of this work are given below (paragraphs 30 to 35).

 

 

Impact on Nature Improvement Areas, habitats more generally and on the planning system

 

  1. Whilst the Humber is not a Nature Improvement Area (NIA) it should be noted that NIAs have enjoyed dedicated and direct funding at their creation. LNPs have not benefited from this initial pump priming support. Part of the area covered by the Humberhead Levels NIA falls within the Humber Nature Partnership’s boundary and a good working relationship exists with the NIA Partnership.

 

  1. The Humber is a Ramsar site, a significant Natura 2000 European designation (SPA, SAC and EMS), and a major underpinning Site of Special Scientific Interest. The scale and size of this one designation will influence the overall biodiversity 2020 delivery target to get 50% of protected sites into favourable condition by 2020.  The Humber has major growth plans that need to be accommodated alongside this European designation.

 

  1. Stability and continuity are critical for success. The Humber Nature Partnership has co-ordinated the South Humber Gateway project (paragraphs 30 to 35 below) which will secure well connected habitats and landscapes alongside industrial and infrastructure developments on the south bank of the Humber. To bring this to fruition has taken about eight years of resource input and coordination; success should be measured in that timeframe. 

 

  1. The partnership promotes a strategic planning approach in line with the Lawton principles outlined in the Natural Environment White Paper, 2011. This includes planning the creation of significant and joined up new habitat creation e.g. compensatory habitat creation for development and flood defence as well as working with local industry to actively manage their land banks for wildlife. Realising nature conservation benefits on industrial sites fits well with Lawton's principle of 'stepping stones' to create and enhance connections between the country’s most important wildlife sites.

 

  1. Via our partner members, we are looking at  connecting these landscapes with our existing local authority, Wildlife Trust and Natural England Nature Reserves to build greater momentum and publicity around local (eco-) tourism opportunities, including linkage with the soon to be designated England Coastal path which will run along both banks of the Humber.

 

  1. The Humber Nature Partnership also acts as River Basin Catchment Coordinator for the Humber River Basin District Management Plan which meets the country’s obligations under the Water Framework Directive.

 

  1. There is a need for effective coordination at a local level of the range of environmental plans and strategies which operate around the Humber. The Humber Nature Partnership is well placed to fulfil this role in an integrated way, providing sufficient resources and support are in place to deliver this effectively.

 

 

Links and co-ordination with other environmental and planning organisations and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

 

  1. The work of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will play a major role in influencing the environment of the Humber in the coming years. The Humber Nature Partnership is able to assist the Humber LEP in identifying measures to ensure that businesses, both new and existing, can continue to grow around the estuary in a manner which also provides benefits for the environment.

 

  1. In the Hull and Humber City Deal the Humber LEP has set out an aspiration to create a twenty five year spatial plan for the Humber. One of the aims of this plan is to accelerate development across the estuary by providing clarity around legal requirements relating to the estuary’s internationally recognised status for wildlife. The Humber LEP aims to create a “Compensation and Mitigation Plan” which is supported by good quality evidence. Humber Nature Partnership is well placed to assist the LEP in delivering this work and will seek to engage with the LEP through the development of this work.

 

  1. A number of the Humber Nature Partnership’s Board are represented through their organisations on the Humber LEP’s Single Conversation Group which coordinates and facilitates the strategic planning of the Humber LEP’s economic growth agenda. Significant effort is being made to build relationships and overcome initial uncertainty about LNP’s on the part of the Humber LEP but more needs to be done on this score and is being taken forward by our constituent governance representatives.

 

  1. Our value to the Humber LEP is that we have:

 

29.1.     Strong private sector engagement as a result of the trust and respect that we have built up through the operation of our predecessor organisations

 

29.2.     The ability to provide environmental knowledge, data and support to reduce the planning lead time between strategic development ideas and implementation on the ground

 

29.3.     A track record in successfully integrating the statutory need to protect the estuary with the aspirations of commercial developers

 

  1. A major piece of work which has recently come to fruition on the Humber is the South Humber Gateway Project. In late 2006 Humber INCA, funded by the North and North East Lincolnshire Councils, the former regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, the Environment Agency and RSPB, commenced a programme of ecological survey work in an area adjacent on the south bank of the Humber known as the South Humber Gateway.

 

  1. The main purpose of the surveys was to identify important areas for wintering and migratory birds. The data resulting from these surveys has been made available to developers investing in the area to reduce the lead-in times for development proposals. In addition to this, following changes to the Habitats Regulations in 2006, Local Authorities are required to undertake Habitats Regulations Assessments on their strategic associated land-use allocations. The strategic nature of the surveys that have been carried out allows the data to be used as part of the evidence base which informs the required Habitats Regulations Assessment.

 

  1. By working in partnership with local authorities, developers, land owners and conservation organisations (both statutory and non-statutory), it was determined that the most effective course of action in the SHG is to allocate areas of land which can be used to mitigate against the loss of land currently by waders for foraging and roosting. This has resulted in the production of the ‘South Humber Gateway Mitigation Strategy’ which sets out the requirement for ecological mitigation in the area and identifies where it will be created.

 

  1. This approach will create clarity and confidence that the impact of direct land take from within the South Humber Gateway can be mitigated both inside and outside the SHG. Such an approach will enable the local authorities to allocate this area for future estuary related activity and identify a clear framework for potential investors. Of particular value is the fact that the strategy operates approach across the two unitary authorities, in place of an ad hoc site-by-site approach to mitigation which is better for both developers and for conservation.

 

  1. The mitigation principles established during this work formed the basis of discussions which lead to the securing of consent for the development of an offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility in North Lincolnshire by Able UK. More recently, £2 million of Growth Deal funding has been secured from the Humber and Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnerships as part of the South Humber Industrial Infrastructure Project. This investment in the environment and recognition of its status as infrastructure is a positive move and one which Humber Nature Partnership hopes to see replicated elsewhere in the country.

 

  1. This is an innovative piece of work and we believe that this is the first time that this approach has been used nationally to tackle the complex challenges faced in creating employment adjacent to one of Europe’s most important and legally protected wildlife sites.

 

 

 

Recommendations

 

  1. On the basis of the above evidence, Humber Nature Partnership makes the following recommendations:

 

  1. That the Inquiry recognises that LNPs have been established to meet local needs and will therefore be different in their aims, objectives and capabilities around the country

 

  1. That the Inquiry recognises that establishing credibility and then delivering outcomes takes significant time particularly in an area as complex as the Humber

 

  1. That the Inquiry recognises that LNPs have not received central funding and that progress made by LNPs in some areas will be limited as a result of this

 

  1. That the Government makes it clear what is expected from LNPs in terms of national policy delivery at a local level and to what timetable

 

  1. That the Inquiry recognises that if LNPs are viewed as delivery bodies for national policy they should be funded as such

 

  1. That LNPs are offered central funding to deliver national environmental policy outcomes where this fits with an LNP’s stated aims and objectives

 

 

23 February 2015