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To issue Cheltenham Borough Council’s response
to Gloucestershire Local Nature Recovery Strategy pre-consultation
stage.
 

Reasons for the decision

England is considered one of the most
nature-depleted countries in the world following historic and
ongoing declines. The government has made legally binding
commitments to end these declines and for nature to recover it will
require targeted, coordinated, and collaborative action. One of
those commitments is the creation of Local Nature Recovery
Strategies (LNRS) covering the whole of England with no gaps or
overlaps.

LNRS' purpose is to provide local maps of key
habitats and set priorities for recovery. Gloucestershire County
Council is one of the 48 responsible authorities across England to
lead on preparing a LNRS, delivering this through the
Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership (GLNP) of which Cheltenham
Borough Council (CBC) is part of.

LNRS is now ready to progress to public consultation
and we are required to issue an official response supporting this
going forward.

The LNRS will set biodiversity priorities for our
area, providing measures for habitats and species that will serve
as up-to-date evidence base for both the emerging Strategic and
Local Plan (SLP) and the emerging Nature Recovery Supplementary
Planning Document, as well as being a material consideration for
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and nature recovery
decisions.

Through the various Gloucestershire Local Nature
Partnership LNRS Working Groups, it has been recommended that each
Local Authority’s pre consultation response does not need
cabinet approval.
 

Alternative options considered

Our biodiversity duty sets that we need to
proactively pursue actions with the potential to conserve and
enhance biodiversity.

Not providing a timely response will mean the County
Council could decide on the LNRS without our input as a form of
affirmative silence.